Beethoven: Sonata in D Major, “Pastoral“ (Lewis, Biss)

The 15th Sonata is B. at his most beautiful: a thing of touching and generous serenity that’s nonetheless put together with a lot of skill and subtlety. Mvt 1 is notable for its timpani-like bass drone (which first pretends to be the dominant of G), murmuring like a heartbeat, and for the development, which builds into fury by radically compressing the sonata’s first theme and features 38 bars of unchanging harmony that does not(!) lead to the recapitulation. Mvt 2 begins in stately, profound sadness, and only grows in intricacy as it progresses: honestly, it’s just one of the loveliest things B. wrote. Mvt 3 trades on contrast between long and short notes, and its trio is just the same melody 8 times, though you wouldn’t even notice it, so cunningly (and subtly is it transformed) each time. Mvt 4 is a gently rolling rondo, warmly whimsical in a naïve sort of way. It’s also the first time B. writes ‘ma non troppo’ in any work. MVT I EXPOSITION 00:00 – Theme 1. Melody over tonic pedal, with A-D-E-F#-G-F# motif (Motif A) at m.7. 00:41 – Transition Theme. Motif B at . 01:04 – Theme Group 2 (TG2), Theme 1 01:20 – TG2, Theme 2. Long cantabile melody, moving from dominant of (iii) to (V). Bass hovers first around C#, then B, which becomes the dominant of (V). 01:43 – TG2, Theme 3 01:50 – TG2, Theme 2 reappears, still in (V) 02:06 – TG2, Theme 3, extended 02:16 – TG2, Theme 4 (cadential theme). Note rhythmic anticipation of the Scherzo. DEVELOPMENT 05:27 – Movement into G maj 05:32 – Theme 1 in G 05:42 – Theme 1 in G min, with ornamentation 05:49 – Motif A in RH, with bass counterpoint that partially draws on TG2 Theme 3’s rapid descending scales. Switches into D mi, with Motif A moving into bass. Motif A is broken up, and its tail is increasingly integrated into 2-part invertible counterpoint in 2-bar groups that moves through A min till: 06:11 – Motif A in RH now reduced to a single bar, while counterpoint in bass continues. Treble rises through E min to B min, closing eventually onto 06:22 – 38(!) bars on the dominant of B min, extensively using reduced Motif A in contrary motion 07:00 – After pregnant pause that must lead back to the recapitulation, we instead get TG2 Theme 4, now with new rhythmic angle, and Motif B from the transition smuggled in at 07:03. B maj to B min, then pause on Motif B as question on home dominant. RECAPITULATION 07:25 – Theme 1. At the melody’s repeat, the ornamentation from the development section is included. Another lovely touch is how TG2 Theme 3’s descending scale is incorporated into Theme 1 at 8:03. 08:07 – Transition Theme, answered in tonic instead of enhanced dominant (8:11) 08:32 – Theme Group 2. The cadential theme is extended by 2 bars. CODA 10:13 – Theme 1, its last 2 bars insisted on 4 times, with an interspersed note rising up the tonic chord till it reaches the D. The bass drones on till it too reaches a solitary D, and then final cadence. MVT II A SECTION 10:45 – Melody 1, closing on A minor 11:35 – Melody 2 12:01 – Melody 3 (variant of Melody 1) 12:19 – Melody 2 & 3 repeated B SECTION (TRIO) 13:03 – 16-bar melody in 4 groups of 4. First section ending in dominant, second passing through subdominant to end in tonic A SECTION 14:31 – Melody 1, repeated at 14:55 with demisemiquaver accompaniment, and legato emerging in bass for first time 15:17 – Melody 2 & 3, unaltered, then repeated at 16:02 with demisemiquaver variation CODA 16:42 – First bars w/o accompaniment, with harmonic modifications 17:06 – Allusion to Trio. Triplet descent lengthened into descent down dominant 9th, then a stark 4-bar close. MVT III SCHERZO 17:59 – Idea 1: 4 4 in tonic, 4 4 in dominant 18:22 – Idea 2: Rising sequence, reaching dominant, before Idea 1 returns TRIO [incredibly elegant, almost minimalist construction – same melody heard 8 times!] 19:19 – Idea 3 repeated twice in B min, second time modulating to D maj 19:29 – Idea 3 reharmonised in D maj, then returning to B min 19:34 – Idea 3 yet against reharmonised, with rising contrapuntal bass SCHERZO 19:38 – Repeat, with initial F# sounding as dominant of B min MVT IV 20:32 – A: MAIN THEME, D maj 20:57 – Transition 21:15 – B: EPISODE 1, A maj, with imitative entry 21:38 – Cadence Theme 21:51 – A: Main Theme, with new counterpoint in 22:17 – C: EPISODE 2, G maj 22:35 – New theme in double counterpoint, with added theme in lower thirds. Builds in intensity, moves into G min, and bass voice enters in D min 23:08 – Prolonged dominant, reminiscent of EP 1’s Cadence Theme 23:30 – A: MAIN THEME 23:55 – Transition, diverted at 6th bar into home dominant 24:18 – B: EPISODE 1, D maj 24:43 – Cadence Theme 24:56 – A: CODA. Bass of Main Theme with syncopated chords, eventually rising chromatically at 25:11 over dominant pedal, then descending and ending in a flourish based on Transition (with dramatic pauses). 25:38 – Bass of main theme, with brilliant figuration in RH, then 4-bar flourish to close