A Feeling for Harmony A 3-Semester Music Theory Course 7C  Beethoven's 5th Symphony

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Beethoven's 5th Symphony

As a method for understand Classical Sonata Form, we will look at the five main sections of Beethoven's 5th Symphony.

Classical Sonata form is traditional defined as have five main sections, not all of which occur in every Symphony or Sonata. They are:

1. Introduction
2. Exposition
3. Development
4. Recapitulation
5. Coda

These 5 sections are broken down into sub-sections, which can be described as follows:

1. Introduction
   1. Almost always in a slow tempo such as Adagio or Grave. Sometimes presents tor suggests themes that will be further developed later on in the piece; just as often it's serves as a dramatic pre-cursor to the main material.
2. Exposition
   1. Traditionally is thought of as having 2 main theme or tonal areas, plus a final closing group or closing area.
   2. The first theme is often dramatic, with short motives that are easily expanded or worked with in further sections of the piece.
   3. The second theme is often more lyrical and melodic.
   4. The closing group serves to bring the 'arguments' or rhetoric of the exposition to a logical and often dramatic conclusion.
   5. The first theme is usually in the tonic key of the piece.
   6. The second theme is either expressed in the Dominant key of the piece, if the piece is in major, or in the relative major of the piece, if the piece is in minor. In the Beethoven 5 example, since the piece starts out in C minor, the second theme is in Eb major.
3. Development
   1. This is where the composer works with the musical material from the exposition. The form of this development is extremely open-ended. In Beethoven 5, you see how the motives that form the core of the two theme groups are worked out into decreasing cells of ideas, until building to a climax before the return.
4. Recapitulation
   1. This is where the material from the exposition returns.
   2. At the simplest level, the musical material from the first theme area is restated precisely, while the material from the second theme area is stated, not in the dominant key or in the relative major, but in the original key. In practice, however, there is a great deal of flexibility. In Beethoven 5, the second theme area is actually stated in the parallel major of the original minor key.
5. Coda
   1. This is rather a 'second development.' Not all sonata forms pieces have a coda, but is included if the composer feels that the musical ideas of the recap need further development. It's the coda, in fact, that gives Beethoven 5 it's incredible conclusion, since the musical ideas just seemto keep on coming in a continuous stream.

The musical sections in Beethoven 5 are as follows. These have been reduced to piano reduction from the original score. You can go to Naxos and listen to the symphony while you listen for the arrival of these key areas:

Here's the exposition, with the two theme areas:

The development transition (begins at the repeat sign):

The return (recapitulation, which happens when the main theme re-appears and falls into the held chord).

Coda:

 

 

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