5. Ragtime 2/4

Ragtime began to gain popularity in the United States from the late 19th century and was embraced in Europe as a musical idiom symbolizing Black music throughout the 1920s. Characterized by its extensive use of syncopation, it is generally considered a precursor to jazz.

Rondo form, including short breaks that serve as transitional passages.

A: Measures 1–12

Begins with an introduction (measures 1–3) where intense ff dissonances descend like an avalanche. The music, crude and rapid, proceeds with ff and fz, rhythmically exaggerated by syncopation.

B: Measures 13–16

The dynamic marking changes to mf, and while the preceding intense musical motion subsides temporarily, accents on weak beats are persistently repeated.

A': Measures 17–27

The motif from the introduction is transitionally repurposed (short break: measures 17–18), and the same musical development as in A gradually ascends in register from measure 25.

C: Measures 28–39

Dissonances are repeated in the high register, reaching a peak (short break: measures 28–29), and material used in A is varied. The dissonant sonorities are further emphasized, and the movement in register is relatively stagnant.

A'': Measures 40–50

The repetitive musical motion from measure 37 onwards continues (short break: measures 40–41), returning once again to A.

D: Measures 51–79

The dynamic marking changes to mf, and the previously aggressive and extroverted musical character shifts to a somewhat introverted one. The upper voice forms a melody primarily based on stepwise motion, carrying new musical development, while the bass persistently marks the final sixteenth note of each measure, demonstrating the piece's predilection for weak beats. From measure 76, fragmented motifs from the introduction and A are employed.

A''': Measures 80–90

Inheriting the fragmented flow from measure 76 onwards, the opening introduction is developmentally recapitulated with a change in register (short break: measures 80–83). Measures 84–90 are identical to the musical development from measure 19 onwards in A' (in a form omitting the last two measures of A').

Coda: Measures 91–116

For the first time in this movement, the dynamic marking rises to fff, reaching ffff in measure 95. From the second beat of measure 95, dissonances descend as if gradually tumbling down from the second highest register in this movement (measure 95: "as if falling headlong hinabstürzenAllmälich etwas breiter werden," where the right hand evokes the motif of A, and the left hand gradually raises the register, increasing musical tension. At measure 108, where this tension reaches its peak, the highest register in this movement is attained, and with the performance indication "broad Breit," dissonances are emphasized with a slight tenuto as they descend rapidly to the lowest register in this movement. The dissonances (F major triad + E-flat minor triad) struck three times in measures 111–112 brutally sever the already violent and gruesome musical development, and from measure 113 onwards, a partial variation of the A motif is repeated three times, bringing the movement to a close.