B
THE PIANOFORTE.
Continued from iiftli pace.
"Weitzmann in his "Geschichte dcs Clavier
tpiels" likens the Beethoven sonata to a trilogy,
or tetralogy, in which the Satyr play, as he calls
the Scherzo, has n part but as a middle instead
of a final member. The expository part of the
first movement contains a principal subject with
■which are associated a second subject and one
or more episodes or side-themes which are in
harmony with the mood of the whole, and
which, themselves organically developed, bind
together the principal themes. Whereas the
Becond theme of this first movement formerly
entered as a rule in the key of the dominant
for In the relative major in the case of minor
keys) Beethoven practised the liberty of using
other keys which bore relationship to the origi
nal tonality for the sake of modulatory con
trast. In the second division of the movement,
which Is concerned with the development of
this material, Beethoven indulges in modula
tions of great daring, touching at times the
most distant keys, thus stimulating curiosity
touching the return of the principal subject,
and by contrapuntal devices and otherwise
stimulating interest and not infrequently build-
Ing up his climaxes in this development portion
Which English writers call the "free fantasia."
The Coda, which presents the principal mat. rial
of the movement compressed and intensified,
also affords Beethoven a field for his marvel
lously fertile ingenuity. In it he likes to startle
the hearer once again before bringing about the
conclusion for which ear and fancy are waiting.
"Occasionally," says Weitzmann, "Beethoven
arouses the highest degree of expectancy by un
usual resolutions of dissonances and deceptive
progressions. His rhythms, moreover, veiling
the metre, create a feeling of tensity and ex
citement, but the resting places for the fancy
and the emotions are not neglected, and we are
never wearied by too long continued deceptions
or too persistent withholding of that which is
expected." The same writer also directs atten
tion to the labor and care bestowed by Beethoven
on the choice and development of his melodic
material. His compositions always contain mel
cdles which are complete in their expression and
easily gTasped. Sometimes they are even popu
lar in style, and for that reason appeal to the
many who are able to follow the artistic treat
ment to which the tunes are subjected. "The
Adagio, or Andante, in Beethoven has either
the extenled form of the first movement (the
eonata form), with a recurring episode in the
second part, or the song form, with one or more
contrasting themes, which appear but once, or
It constitutes the introduction to the movement
which follows. The movement, lively, bright,
rood humored, humorous, called the minuet or
OVIDE MUSIN
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"Undertow," a picture by Winslow Homer, cf Boston, which holds a timely warning for bathers at this season of the year.
scherzo, which had already received a place in
the sonata scheme, first received a contour ap
j ropriate to the character of the composition as
a whole through Beethoven. In connection with
this it is edifying to compare the structures cre
ated especially to this end by Beethoven, such
as the marchlike movement in the A major
Sonata. Op. 101; the Scherzo of the B-flat
Sonata, Op. Id'",, and the Allegro molto of the
Sonata Op. lltt."
The Scherzo, as everybody knows, is the
offspring of the minuet. It appears in th ■
first thrte Sonatas, Op. 2, dedicated to Haydn,
under whose bewitching hand, as may be seen
in Fome of the string quartets, the old-fash
ioned dance had already received the impulse
toward what it became under Beethoven; but
it was the latter who eventually gave it a
stupendous import in his symphonies, such as
Haydn never could have dreamed of. How
the strange quality of Beethoven's humor af
fected this jocose movement in the sonatas,
and some of the sonatas themselves, is thus
pointed out by Selmar Bagge: "As Beethoven
was always the en- my of formula he some
times introduced this element of humor into
the slow movement and then omitted th'-
Scherzo, as in the Sonata in G major (Op. 31,
No. 1); or he gave tl, minuet the character
of emotional contrast, as in the E-flal Sonata
(Op. 31, No. 3); or he imbued the Scherzo
movement, despite its rapid 3-4 time, with a
serio-fantastic spirit, in which case the Adagio
was dispensed with, as in the Sonatas in F
major (Op. 10, No. 2) and E major (Op. 14. No.
1)."
The conventional finale before Beethoven
was either a rondo or a minuet. In Bee
thoven's sonatas it is sometimes a rondo, in
which a principal theme appears three, four
or more times in alternation with various epi
sodes, side themes and developments; some
times it has the sonata form; sometimes the
principal theme is treated as a free fugue;
sometimes it blossoms into a series of varia
tions, as in the Sonatas Op. I<l9 and 111. It
is in the highest degree noteworthy that in the
last five sonatas there is a return to a multi
plicity of movements (though there are only
two in the transcendent one in C minor, Op.
111. the last of all) and that in these there is
less intimation of a drama playing on the
stage of the individual human heart than of
a projection of the imagination into the realm
of cosmic ideality. Beethoven was frequently
transfigured, but never so completely as in
some moments of these great works with
which he said almost his last word on the
pianoforte. In the Finale of Op. 11l he soars
heavenward like a skylark in the rapture of
the variations. He is "in the spirit" like John
on the isle of Patnios. "With the first move
ment of this sonata he carries us to the thea
tre in which the last scene in Goethe's "Faust"
plays— the higher regions of this sphere, where
earth and heaven meet as they seem to do at
times in the high Alps. There we hear the
song of the Pater I'rufuvdis, and thence we be
gin the ascent to the celestial reals above.
The variations are the songs of the Pater
Ecstatic**, Blessed Boys, Penitents and An
gclx, who soar higher and higher, carrying with
them the immortal soul of Faust.
It would require a detailed analysis of a ma
jority of the sonatas to point out all the signifi
cant instances in which Beethoven changed,
extended and enriched the sonata form as it
had been handed down to him. There is no
steadily progressive development to be traced
in the sequence of the opus numbers, for they
are not always chronological records: nor in the
times of composition, for, as in the case of the
symphonies, there is a rising and falling of the
emotional waters, and a portrayal of either
profound or exalted feelings may be followed
by a composition in which amiable dalliance
with tones is the be-all and end-all of the work.
.Moreover, Beethoven's activities were dispersed
over too wide a field to permit thai each new
production should show such a step forward as
we observe in the lyric dramas of Wagner and
Vtrdi. Yet it ought not to bo overlooked that
as the quality of dr.:;...: 1 expression grew
more and more dominant i.i Beethoven's art the
element of unity was emphasized. Now the de
velopment of melodies gives place in a large
measure to the development of iitotiii such as is
also exemplified in the E-fiat, C minor and D
minor symphonies. Also, as has been intimated,
movements which might interfere with the
psychological unity of all the parts are omitted.
The familiar "Andante Favori" in F was origi
nally written for the Sonata in C, Op. .">;;. So
says Ries, who adds that Beethoven substi
tuted the present slow introduction to the final
rondo for it when it was pointed out to him ;
that the Andante would make the work too
long. A much likelier explanation is that Bee
thoven felt that its association with two such
movements as the Allegro con brio and the
Allegretto moderate would be an artistic misal
liance.
As the poetical, or emotional, contents deter
mined the number of movements, their relative
disposition and the modification of their forms,
so also it led to the introduction of new or un
usual forms. So the stories of the two Sonatas
Op. 27 are told in a rhapsodical way {quasi
fantasia) and in the slow movement of the great
Sonata in A-flat, Op. 110, a fragment of recita
tive, such as had already been employed in the
Sonata in D minor (Op. 31. No. 2), many years
before becomes an element in a vocal form.
This Adagio is a scena, an arioso with an intro
duction in which we may hear (if we wish so to
exercise our fancy) at first an orchestral intro
duction, then a voice speaking in the declama
tory style of the recitative, then the two flowing
together as cantilena and accompaniment.
Whatever the shape and dimensions of the ves
sel, however, it is to be kept in view that they
were determined by the contents which Bee
thoven poured into it. H. E. K.
(To be continued.)
A'Or EVES FOR A BOX MOT.
"Now," said the coy and kittenish lady to the
pert professional humorist she mot on the beadl
"don't you go to writing jokes on my bathfo^
suit."
"I couldn't," he replied. "There isn't rooat*
— Judge.
TOO LATE TO EXCHANGE. '
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"W.•!;."' said the storekeeper, "why don't yoa
exchange your little sister for a boy?"
Johnny reflected for a minute, then he sail
rather sorrowfully:
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