The form of this movement is very similar to the slow movement of op. 10 no. 1, from two lectures ago; it’s a four-part form, essentially ABAB, kind of like a sonata form, but without a development, where the B sections are the second theme areas. So, I’ll play now the first A and the first B: the first half of the movement. (MUSIC) So, what this shares with the second movement of op. 10 no. 1, beyond its form, is its suggestion of opera. Opera seems to have been a bit of a preoccupation for Beethoven in these op. 31 sonatas. The slow movement of op. 31 no. 1 plays as a kind of loving parody of an Italian opera aria, and the scherzo of op. 31 no. 3 has definite notes of opera buffa in it. And of course, the recitatives in the first movement of the Tempest are deeply evocative of the world of opera. (Without getting ahead of myself, I should mention that even though Beethoven only wrote one opera, Fidelio, and he's really first and foremost and instrumental composer, this borrowing of operatic tropes did not end with op.31 – the penultimate sonata op. 110, for example, makes devastating use of both recitatives and also of ariosos.) But I really don’t want to get ahead of myself: back to the Tempest’s second movement. If the first movement’s references to opera were all recitative, here, we are in the world of bel canto. From the very start of the movement, Beethoven juxtaposes very different registers – to me, this suggests a conversation between voices, more explicitly so than in any other instance I can think of. (MUSIC) This is consistent throughout the movement: when this material comes, it is ALWAYS a duet, never an aria. (MUSIC) It's not only a duet but, I think, a love duet, making the contrast with the first movement even more stark and even more touching. So while there’s lots of opera here, there’s also a lot of instrumental writing – by "instrumental", I don’t mean pianistic, but rather, evocations of orchestral instruments. As the first theme comes to a close, these chords, (MUSIC) they sound very much like chords you might hear in a string quartet. And immediately after, in the transition towards the B section, the left hand seems clearly to be imitating a timpani roll. (MUSIC) I cannot think of another instance of Beethoven so obviously evoking another instrument on the piano until the "Lebewohl" Sonata, op. 81a – which is coming in the next lecture, so stay tuned! Perhaps one of Beethoven’s "new paths" had to do with color. We generally think of Beethoven as being far more concerned with structure, rather than the imitation of voices or instruments. By contrast, Mozart was more inclined to do so, and the generation of composers who followed Beethoven were MUCH more inclined to do so. But in the Tempest, he does seem to be testing those waters. So when we begin the B section, it's very much back to the world of opera: this time, aria rather than duet. (MUSIC) It’s a phrase you could almost hear one of Mozart’s heroines singing – Susanna, or maybe Dorabella. Along with this being operatic, this music is very warm and very generous: qualities that were conspicuously lacking in the Tempest’s first movement.
