Beethoven’s Theme of the Slow Movement of Piano Sonata Op. 13: Phrasing, Functional Cycles, Metre and Dramaturgy

Abstract

In this article the author tackles the issues of phrasing, functional cycle, metric hierarchy, form and dramaturgy as related to the analysis of the second movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op. 13. These elements are heterogeneous and, perhaps, would be better discussed separately. However, the author goes back to nineteenth-century music scholarship as an example of dealing with heterogeneity despite the incompatible character of its elements. Phrasing is thus related to tonalfunctional cycles of various designs; these are both linked to the metric hierarchy on the local level (iambic unit) and on the level of the metric period, as suggested by Hugo Riemann. The author points to some parallels with the poetic structure of the four-foot iamb. Beethoven mixes and matches diverse patterns in a contemplative and reflective flow of ideas, appropriate for such a noble Adagio. The author then compares several editions of the Adagio with regard to articulation of phrasing. Finally, Beethoven’s slow movement is analyzed in terms of musical dramaturgy – a category well researched in the Russian tradition by Viktor Tsukkerman and Viktor Bobrovsky. The ultimate goal of the article is to bring to the attention of the readers the complexity and perfection of Beethoven’s musical poetics on the 250th anniversary of his birth.