Bagatelle No. 1 from 11 Bagatelles, Op. 119-1

Introduction

Bagatelles... While bearing a title that implies "trifles," these are valuable works that offer a glimpse into Beethoven's "philosophy of daily life." Other well-known examples include Op. 33 and the late masterpiece Op. 126. This Op. 119 is a collection of short pieces that Beethoven composed from the 1790s to the 1820s, and this No. 1 is believed to have been completed in the early period, by 1803 at the latest.

Construct Your Own Story

To the author, this piece sounds like a duet between a man and a woman. Even if the content is "trifling," it seems to unfold with lively exchanges full of daily human drama. Being a short piece, the mood shifts frequently, resembling a fast-paced skit.

The narrative descriptions below are solely the author's conception and hold no absolute validity. However, they are offered as an example of how performers might "enjoy" the score, encouraging you to use the points of focus as inspiration to create your own world.

Beginning ~

At the beginning, a soprano's anacrusis appoggiatura, accompanied by a somewhat dismissive dotted rhythm, rises a semitone (E-flat) from the dominant (D) of the tonic G minor and is then repelled. This serves as a major key to understanding the entire piece. Specifically, if we consider this as motive 'a' and the semitone descent, which is denied an ascent and repelled, as 'x', I have plotted this on the score. (As an aside, please note how this repulsion creates a vastly different mood from the Minuet of Sonata Op. 22, even though the opening notes are the same.)

Musical Example (Opening of Op. 22, 3rd movement)

Section A, consisting of 16 measures, is broadly divided into the first half (A1) and the second half (A2).

Each possesses a classical phrase structure of 2, 2, and 4 measures.

The scale repelled by 'a' descends with parallel tenths in the bass, expressing a sense of futility (being staccato, it's not a serious lament, but rather something like 'Oh, I'm fed up...'). Twice, where the bass or soprano lands on the leading tone (a somewhat thorny sound), they pause briefly and fall silent. (As if each is probing the other's reaction...)

After these two instances and silence, the bass again somewhat dismissively secures the opening soprano-like sighing scale (as if to say, 'Fed up? That's my line...'), while the soprano, as if to vent accumulated frustration, broadly inverts the arpeggio and develops continuous eighth notes. (However, in the end, they are merely exchanging similar complaints in an 'invention-like' manner... 'Oh, I'm utterly sick of it,' 'Why do I have to feel this way?'). Meanwhile, in A1, the bass, interspersing a diminished third as if chewing on a bitter pill, ends with a hypothetical half cadence, asking, 'Will this hateful feeling ever leave me alone?' In A2, it becomes a full cadence with a strong assertion from the bass: 'That's enough! It's over!' (Here, too, the soprano shows 'nagging' irritation with successive appoggiaturas...)

B Section ~

In section B, also consisting of 16 measures like A, the author perceives a trio or more performers. (Has an arbitrator appeared? Their present and past? Or perhaps their true feelings and outward appearances? I enjoy imagining what each might 'represent'.) Here, there is a modulation to the major key a major third below (E-flat major), a modulation Beethoven particularly favored in minor-key works. Examples of this modulation are countless; as seen in the relationship between the first and second movements of the Pathétique Sonata, here too, by placing the tonic G of G minor in the soprano as a common tone and adding the bass a major third below, it instantly creates an effect that sweetly softens the atmosphere, as if smoothly slipping into it.

Musical Example (Between 1st and 2nd movements of Pathétique)

The semitone ascent (B to B-natural) seen in the inner voice, appearing as a third character, suggests the opening 'a', but here it is not repelled; instead, it reaches C, another semitone higher, creating a sense of liberation. 'There's no point just looking at the surface; let's delve a little deeper and explore the true feelings, shall we?' Although this trio is sweet, the overall section is strongly dominated by descending scales, similar to A. (However, the sighs, though still sighs, become more enchanting sighs.)

The parallel octaves seen in measure 20 could be described as charming, with the soprano seemingly perching lightly as if agreeing with the suspended inner voice. However, the author more strongly considers the possibility of an error where the soprano is F-E-flat. (Perhaps a copying error due to a clef mistake?)

The bitter pill (E-flat - C-sharp) chewed in measure 7 enharmonically transforms into the bitterness of sweet chocolate (E-flat - D-flat) in measure 21. (In addition to the sweetness of the subdominant, the upward displacement of the inner voice forms an augmented sixth, bringing an inexpressible sense of exhilaration.) 'That bitterness, this sweetness, both for the sake of the same love!?'

The intricate bowing seen in measure 27 also seems to be savoring the 'sweetness of bitterness' rather than nagging irritation. 'Everything depends on your perspective!' Following this exhilaration, the piece reaches its highest note, C, in measure 30.

After the repeat, the following short 4-measure Eingang appears to repeat the beginning of B. However, the inner voice that ascended by a semitone in B immediately deviates here, ascending by an augmented second. This completely changes the mood. The resulting augmented sixth chord is almost identical to that seen in the third measure of the opening, inevitably raising doubt. 'No, no, there's no such convenient story!' Prompted by a prolonged G minor half cadence accompanied by a six-four chord and a chromatic scale in the soprano, the piece enters A', the return of A.

A' Section ~

A' is fundamentally structured like A, but prompted by the appoggiatura in measure 44, both the soprano (with appoggiaturas) and the left hand (with arpeggiated chords) lose their rests, filling with eighth notes and intensifying a sarcastic irritation. 'How ridiculous to dream when reality offers no salvation!' 'Go ahead and be irritated forever...'

The Coda from measure 53, in addition to this irritation, is accompanied by a dismissive three-fold repetition of V-I degrees with hemiola (itself involving appoggiatura-like motion), seemingly expressing resistance to futility. However, the tonality itself becomes a combination of the subdominant and tonic (a plagal cadence relationship), hinting at the approaching end of the piece. 'This repetition, repetition, repetition! I'm tired of it! (But that's life!)

After an interim cadence (without appoggiaturas), this irritation, accompanied by parallel thirds and sixths, eventually repeats not just three times but five times with altered placement, leading to a hopeless perfect authentic cadence (including appoggiaturas, as if to insist stubbornly) with a chromatic scale and the piece's only diminished seventh (in a Beethoven piece!). 'This is utterly unbearable! Let's put an end to this farce once and for all!'

Subsequently, the coda again shifts to the subdominant C minor, but this C minor half cadence gradually overlaps with the G minor plagal cadence, as if confirming that the fourth and fifth degrees are two sides of the same coin... 'What do we seek in life? What is suffering? What is peace?' The contradictions of life echo in the mind, gradually fading out.

In this process, 'x' is repeatedly presented like a trauma, and through Beethoven's characteristic compression, only 'x' and parallel sixths (or thirds) (C-B natural) remain at the end.

Upon reaching the final cadence, we ultimately realize that the trauma 'a' itself (especially the 'x' portion, which denies ascent), within its sense of futility, contained and implied a Picardy third, symbolizing a prayer for peace. 'Life is a sweet prayer precisely because it is a bitter futility moving towards peace (death).'

Is this not a fine piece that highlights the 'two-sided nature' of all 'trifling' things, including music?