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Beethoven, Ludwig van : Sonate für Klavier Nr.24  2.Satz Allegro vivace

Work Overview

Music ID : 25886
Instrumentation:Piano Solo 
Genre:sonata
Total Playing Time:3 min 00 sec
Copyright:Public Domain

Commentary (1)

Author : Maruyama, Yoko

Last Updated: February 19, 2025
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Note: This article is automatically translated from the original Japanese text. The author of the original work did not supervise this translation.

The chord progression of the theme and its regular bar structure, at first glance, suggest a clarity diametrically opposed to that of the first movement's theme. However, the ambiguous harmony, which begins with a chord far removed from the tonic F-sharp major triad and settles on B in the melody, imparts the same "obscure" quality to the theme as can be discerned from the form at the beginning of the first movement.

The rondo-like formal structure also recalls the first movement. Firstly, the point at which the theme seems to conclude, only to immediately transition into an episode consisting of a continuous succession of small figures, closely resembles the transition from the main theme to the transition section in the first movement. A second similarity between the movements can be found in the fact that the movement does not adhere to the conventional rondo form structure, which typically alternates a rondo theme with contrasting episodes. Instead, it essentially consists solely of the alternation between the theme and the aforementioned continuous episode. Just as the first movement lacked the binary opposition characteristic of sonata form, it is difficult to say that the second movement presents musical ideas of a contrasting character that possess thematic coherence.

Furthermore, it has been pointed out that the first movement's introduction and theme have the character of a slow movement, while the second movement possesses a scherzo-like humor, suggesting that a typical four-movement structure is condensed into two movements. Including this point, the work forms a condensed whole, centered on ambiguity, the juxtaposition of materials and their abstraction into primal sonic figures, and the deconstruction of existing formal principles.

Writer: Maruyama, Yoko