Beethoven\'s Piano Sonata No. 31

Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 31 Op. 110: A critical analysis

The Prolific German composer and pianist, whose some thirty-two piano sonatas span a lifetime of achievement and professional success, managed to produce an impressive number of works which boast of a variety of classical styles. On the heels of compositional greats such as Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven is placed in the Classical Period of classical music, with its focus on order and structure with particular attention to magnificent arpeggiated runs, a robust counterpoint and larger-than-life almost anthematic themes. With this in mind, any exploration of his work must keep in mind the era in which it is produced apart from technical features of musical theory. However, innovations in style and musical taste and perspective helped form a solid basis for Beethoven's work. It is arguable the extent to which Beethoven 'changed' the musical landscape of his time. But either way, his influence as a composer of compelling, emotionally gripping and thought provoking material is indisputable. Though most who consider his music are immediately drawn to his symphonies, there is much to be said of his less bombastic works. In particular, his sonatas, or more specifically his piano sonatas, an instrument Beethoven proved exceptionally proficient as a performer with, demonstrate not only an unparalleled level of sensitivity but also compressed intensity. And while one could easily distinguish between certain stages of the composer's artistic development as a composer, one work especially deserves some attention. For Beethoven's thirty-first piano sonata, one composed in his later years, clearly demonstrates a break from his earlier preoccupation with indulgent themes, employment of frequent accidentals and exaggerated crescendos and contrasting expressions. In light of this, here we will take a closer look at this work and its unique treatment of monophony, polyphony, homophony, counterpoint and theme as well as how all of these complement and contrast other works by this giant of Germanic classical music.

Tragic Beginnings

Born in 1770, during a period of dynamic musical composition from the region of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, Ludwig Von Beethoven was born under the shadow of his successful grandfather after whom he was named. Unfortunately, the hopes invested in the young boy were cast under a tragic light. for, "his mother's death in mid-July, along with his father's chronic alcoholism and hopeless abdication of family responsibility, had left Beethoven a virtual orphan at sixteen (Lockwood)." As to how this contributed to his work as a composer is left up to the biographer or historian of musical trends. Needless to say, Beethoven adopted a distinct style of composition which, though expressing some evolution throughout his life, possessed a uniqueness that many listeners and critics recognized. Particularly in his latter works, there is a clear return to the cozy simplicity and traditional charm he had embraced in his earliest compositions. And so, after contracting an illness, the nature of which is still debated to this day, ultimately died in the early spring of 1827. Of course, throughout his life, he produced a healthy repertoire of works ranging from sometimes almost painfully long symphonies to cleverly sculpted whimsical pieces of a rudimentary nature. And as to his sonatas and their form we will turn to some more technical inquiries into their nature.

Op. 110: Homophony and Harmony

The use of harmony in works by many classical composers is not what one would call a science, but more of an art. for, although there is music theory which governs much of what we see as harmony in a work, there is a sense of instinct and experience. Beethoven, above all else would attest to this. His enjoyment of music as a child and its profound affect on him during these formative years helped shape how it is Beethoven composed the way in which he did; his understanding of the relationship between notes and the like. It is common knowledge of his influence by the likes of Mozart and others he often emulated and respected as composers. So, it should come as no surprise that Beethoven's employment of harmony should not, at least in some respects, mirror those of his predecessors. These harmonies were far from dissonant, though at times adopting a jarring second or forth that, at the time, could be uncomfortable to the late baroque ear. Composers such as Vivaldi and even Biber, some hundred years before Beethoven, had already experimented with accidentals and the occasional employment of these jarring harmonies.

And yet, the harmonies employed in his thirty-first sonata almost possess a pre-classical feel with a dominance of thirds and fifths. However, the fugue like cycle as in the first and the last movements of the work, playfully alternate keys from a major to the weighty minor key. This alternating, so characteristic of Beethoven, is one of the many elements of his compositional style evident in this later work. How it so carelessly and effortlessly changes key while maintaining the same harmonic structure offers insight into its overall tonal structure.

Looking at an example of the music we can see how the harmony is represented in this work.

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Here we find a remarkable treatment of the use of fourths in one sample of the work. And while thirds are more common here we have a variety of chording types and harmonies which exemplify the distinctive use of harmony for Beethoven. In the a flat over top the E flat transitioning to a more traditional third as in the E flat over top the C. Of course this is in the bass clef. For in the higher register of the treble clef the C. over top the a flat while simultaneously sounding a fourth in the lower produces not so much a jarring affect as it does the extraordinary soothing and almost elementary nimbleness so characteristic in his later works.

And yet the key signature allows the second double stop of a C. over top a B flat to be less striking as it resolves in the upper register of the treble with a B flat over top a G. natural. Of course the latter, had the time signature been a B. natural, would have been a third, but as it is we have a pair of second over top of each other. Of course this is not unprecedented in the period which it is written. Indeed, one may find it almost predictable, but this is the charm of Beethoven's almost puerile and simplistic treatment of harmony in his latter works. This may have been related to his disenchantment with Austrian trends in compositional styles later in life. For Beethoven found himself as anachronistic even in regards to his works of the middle period; which is regarded as the obviously more innovative period of his professional career. And so, if it were the case that these works, which were produced in his prime, were to be regarded as 'old-fashioned' then naturally anything following this would be regarded likewise. With this in mind, and perhaps this is purely speculative, this may be the reason for his return to a more rudimentary and less ostentatious style than that of the heroic period.

Other examples can be cited of Beethoven's unique employment of traditional harmonies in concert with less tradition ones. Consider these examples.

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Here, in his sixteenth piano sonata we can see some similarities and differences in Beethoven's use of harmony. In the fifth bar of the example, in the lower register of the bass clef, we have a typical octave chording below the triple stop of B, D and G. The pattern is thrown off by replacing the G. with the octave of the B. And then resolving at the end of the bar with a return to the G. Here we have an example of a striking difference in harmonic employment from Beethoven's later works; particularly his thirty-first sonata.

Analysis of Harmony for Each Movement

The moderato first movement is in sonata form marked "con amabilito." After a pause at the dominant seventh it continues in a songlike "cantabile" theme. The harmony in this next part of the movement is characterized by dominant E flat and a base which descends form E flat to G. three times while the melody rises by a sixth.

The development stages of this theme begins another theme in which Beethoven does recapitulate with the opening theme in a flat major. He then combines it with an arpeggiated motif gradually modulating to E major. The harmony then modulates back to the key of a flat major. The movement finally closes by climbing a scale-like ladder in octaves and thirds to establish tonic tonality.

Beethoven gives a rough humorous feel with the use of this type of harmony and starts the second movement without pause or measured rests. His continuation from movement to movement is deliberate bridging of each feeling portrayed by the harmonies.

The second movement, or scherzo, is marked allegro malto and is the shortest of the three movements. In this movement he uses antiphonal, or equal bars of forte and equal bars of piano as the movement opens with a six note falling scale motif for this harmony. Finally there is a trio in D major, side by side, taking abrupt leaps and descents and which ends quietly with a modified recurrence of the scherzo. The first "repeat" was written out to allow an extra ritardando. There are then some syncopated chords and the movement soon rests with a short coda in F major by way of a long broken arpeggio in the bass.

The third and final movement alternates two slow ariosos and two faster fugues. The movement starts by using the final ritardando bass arpeggio in F major and then moving to B flat minor. This Beethoven has written it this way to form a bridge from the rough humor of the scherzo to the doleful sounds of the arioso in a flat minor.

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Here, like Beethoven, and certainly influenced by the Classical Period, we have traditional chording as would be found in any traditional employment of harmony. However, there is a blurring of the theme as it moves away from the central theme in an almost tangential event. The preoccupation with 'feel' or 'emotive-free improvisation,' is the order of the day. And while certainly Beethoven was not immune to this temptation to move in such a direction, he certainly helped to reinforce this. Consider one author's perspective.

"We cannot even claim that Beethoven's harmonic license within the classical style was a step towards the greater freedom of the romantic generation, or that his magnificent stretching of the tonic-dominant polarity made it possible for those who followed to supersede it, or at least to bypass it (Rosen, 384)."

Accordingly, the harmonic employment of Beethoven's while certainly seeing a break from his predecessors, was clearly distinct from those in the Romantic Period. For his insistence on resolving on thirds or more 'westernized' tonic chords, which to the western ear is more pleasing than the dischordant legacy of the Romantics; and particularly the atonal scales and chords of the Twentieth-Century composers. For even to the late Baroque, Beethoven's usage of scale modulation and harmony would be as foreign as Beethoven as up against a Dvorak or Chopin. However, in reference to this stark contrast let us look at an example of a piece by Bach, as a retrospect of harmony in contrast to the Romantic legacy as compared to Beethoven.

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Here we have an F. over C. In the very first bar accompanied by nimble runs and brisk scales; so characteristic of the time. And unlike Beethoven, the strict adherence to structure and tonal preservation is the order of the day here. For accidentals are almost unheard of in the employment of harmony in the Baroque period. This is yet another example of this. For although the key signature, which is comprised of an a, B and E flat, it is immune from deviation from this. Beethoven is quite fluid with not only frequent modulation but the changing of tonic and note naturalization without any change to the key signature.

With this piece by Bach, like the fugue-like theme in Beethoven's sonata, the manipulation of harmonic treatment is contrived but nonetheless accomplished as if with a natural feel. Consider in the fifth bar of the example of Bach's Little figure as shown above, the C. over top the a flat, coupled with the a flat in the bass clef, is immediately followed by fluid runs intermittently spaced with a other chords and double stops. The structure suggests a commitment to tonal integrity. As such, the presence of accidentals or irregular tonal harmony is altogether absent. As mentioned earlier, although some late Baroque composers were comfortable with including, which was at the time altogether foreign, accidentals, the general schematic was one of keeping to the tonal pattern and strict adherence to key signature. Rarely were naturals employed, or flats and sharps not included originally in the key signature. However, as we see in the works of Beethoven, some rebellion against this principle is employed. Clearly, not as much as what one would expect from later periods, but it is enough to set it apart as unique and innovative.

But this is not to say that Beethoven's employment of harmony was revolutionary. For the force behind Beethoven's compelling style was its passion and triumphal expressions and meaningful passages. His cannot be considered avante garde or significantly out of step with current trends in music notation. Indeed, if this were the case, treatment of his scoring would be speculative. Rather, what we find is a manipulation of traditional harmony in austere settings and what it means to be Germanic. One can not compare, obviously, Beethoven's interpretations as anything like subsequent heroic composers, such as Wagner, whose epic works verged on nationalism: For although the setting of Beethoven's works were on the heels of the French occupation of Austria. Clearly there was reason for Beethoven to include this sentiment in his works. Indeed, at times he did, but not to the extent to which many had after him. And so, although several works were dedicated to Germanic princes and royalty that employed him, his dedications to them clearly suggested a disdain for the French occupation, Beethoven's inspiration of heroic themes and harmonic greatness reflected more of an attitude towards life and nature, not so much political fervor.

In fact, one could interpret his treatment of harmony as a reflection of his associations with the likes of greats such as Goethe and other Germanic writers. Indeed, these giants of literature were not so much interested in reaffirming Germanic culture, but rather of what would be called now a transcendentalism of Nature and Reality. The grandeur of beautiful vistas as spotted from the Brocken, or dark forested paths twisting and turning through the Black Forest are more likely truer to the feel Beethoven was trying to achieve. It was larger than life. But of course, avante garde harmonic structures and revolutionary forms of composition were hardly attractive to Beethoven. These served very little purpose in achieving the sense in which he sought to imbue his works with. The fact was, western styles of harmony, though at times restricting, were in a sense liberating. It is the idea of the picture frame which allows freedom, not constraint, for the painting. It is the grandest of all paradoxes and Beethoven clearly recognized this and felt he should exploit it. He was in an ocean of orchestral harmonies all of which found their uniqueness not in atonality or bizarre harmonic structures, but rather in modulation, expression and play between major and minor keys.

And as any good teacher of music will tell you, the success of any great piece, in terms of harmonic treatment, is not in its bizarre harmonies or obscure chording, but rather in expression. This is especially true of Beethoven's 31st piano sonata, as it treats harmony. One author puts it this way.

"In the beginning, the melody of the two opening bars of the sonata, at the original pitch, is first reharmonized over a dominant pedal in the key of the relative minor and then repeated over and over, descending stepwise until all the notes of the a flat scale from C. To C. have been played (Rosen, 490)."

In reference to his 31st sonata, as is the focus of this paper, we find a variety of examples of the appeal of expression and dynamics as serving as the force behind the power of this work. For its appeal is in 'how' the work is played, not so much in how it incorporates innovative and new methods of harmonic treatment. This is especially true of his latter works. In the sense that Beethoven ironically returns to his earlier method of harmonic employment, this is the charm of the later works. It is strange indeed that his works as early as when he was sixteen, would be in the same style as those he produced late in his life. And though he died only in his fifties, a common fate of many great composers of his time, one could only speculate as to whether he would have continued this trend of returning to earlier sentiments of composition. Needless to say, the similarities and differences between earlier periods of harmonic treatment and Beethoven's are at times striking and at others almost facile. And this is the uniqueness of Beethoven's force of harmony. For it always keeps the listener, and the critic, wondering, "What is the primary motivation of his treatment of harmony?" Perhaps no one will ever be able to ask this question. Perhaps there is really no reason save the idiosyncratic nature of the composer. It could be a mixture of his tragic beginnings, his disillusionment with current trends in compositional styles and many other reasons. With this in mind, any attempt to address his motivations for his treatment of harmony is empty from a musical analytic one. For here, we are concerned with exploring the ways in which he employed harmony.

In summary of Beethoven's harmonies as expressed in the piano sonata op. 110, there are a lot of features we have covered: For one, the likenesses that exist between its treatment of harmony and earlier composers of the early Classical and late Baroque period. There was little in the way of unique innovation or what one could consider revolutionary. However, it is enough to say that in many respects Beethoven, as far as harmony is concerned, held closely to traditional forms of harmony, as seen in the employment of thirds, occasionally fourths and subdominant chording, which could very well have been employed in earlier periods. but, although this is the case, his employment of accidentals, forceful expressions and modulating manipulations of themes in the harmony were quite uncharacteristic of what one may see in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century music. This may not have been revolutionary, but certainly was unprecedented, jarring for the conservative critic and clearly an enterprise which has stood the test of time.

Monophony and Theme

Now turning to single note, or single tone passages, we find an interesting assortment of ways in which Beethoven's style of composition is treated: For there is much to be said of the art of the writing of a theme in a composition. but, how this is expressed in a classical setting, or more particularly in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century music, is another thing. For this period was known for being conventional. It was the revival of the classics, the ideals of the Greek and its form of romanticism and the glory of Roman principles and philosophy. A true stoicism had crept into the culture of the west again, and this was reflected in its music. For centuries, formal music was, if anything, produced by or under the governance of the church. Anything outside of this was unprofessional, colloquial, folk and sung and performed around the bonfires of peasant villages. Anything that was 'larger than life' and required the musical education of scholasticism was employed by the church and usually for some ecclesiastical purpose. However, in Beethoven time this was changing. It was beginning to be quite common that music, outside of folk and colloquial, were being produced not merely for clergy but for people and to suit the tastes and ideals of men and women. Writing a piece like Fur Elise as opposed to Gloria Deum or what have you was then acceptable.

And under this new spirit of music and a perspective towards it, we find passages of music, lines of notes, in pure ecstasy of life, or nature of society of love of the world. It was excess and no other place was this more evident than in Austria. Politics were hardly held in serious regard. The futility of the feudal and imperial powers, which were then directed by the French occupation of the region, left those in the region with nothing other than something aesthetic, something of higher and more noble thoughts and aspirations than the practical. The dogma of the medieval was waning and the ideologies of the countries further west could hardly hold the attention of the German. Instead, the palate of the German was satisfied more by the transcendentalism of Goethe and Schiller more than the ideals of Rousseau or Voltaire. Issues of God, the state and society were nothing more than mere words. What the German spirit longed for was that wind of aestheticism which would eventually take hold of the Victorian some fifty years later. But needless to say, Beethoven sonatas, which unlike his grandiose symphonies, exemplified the exigencies of thought, the fullness of experience and the aesthetic ideals Germany longed for.

And no other example could be more 'ideal' than that of his 31st piano sonata. Its flowing runs and brightly shining melodies flow forth like the waters of the Rhine. And even more, its sensitivity and careful sentimentality demonstrate a level of maturity but adolescent playfulness that is attractive for any age. As such, here we will look at one example of the music's notation as it pertains to monophony.

Given the chording and gentle striking of the keys, we have an example of a bridge between the classical and the romantic. For austere it may be, but sentimentality wins. As that the chord of B, D and F. To the rest and next measure of a chord a half a step up, climbs higher to the next measure of a rest and then another half step up from that. This results in a whole step chord jump. As that the chords serve as a melody line with harsh brilliance but romantic sentimentality.

One author remarks on this situation of melody lines.

"Beethoven's use of sforzando over syncopated chords at the end of the second movement of op. 110 seems to require a slight lengthening of the chords in preparation for the poco retardando four measures from the end (Drake, 60)."

This is a remarkable situation, in that, chordal structure can serve as the melody line of a work. But it should come as no surprise. For Beethoven's heavy handed, at times, piano compositions would take chords and transform them into melody lines themselves. Individual note passages, though frequent, take the back seat to thematic presentations by way of chordal progressions. And sometimes we can see the nimbleness with which Beethoven treats his runs which serve as the undergirding of a theme, as in this portion of the work.

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As is evident by this example, while there is some simplicity, the free expression of scale progression and arpeggiated runs demonstrate Beethoven's insistence on nimbleness. His almost Mozart-esque approach to celebratory expressions is almost unanimous. But most importantly here we have a return to a dependence on arpeggios and arpeggiated runs which dominated his most earliest of works. For some, this may have been a sign of his 'showing off' or making a piece more technical and difficult to play than necessary. Stylistically, it speaks nothing to the work itself but rather to the sense the work is trying to express. In this respect we find something far more than mere technical proficiency. It again represents the ideal, the shadow of perfection. In an almost Platonic sense, the grasping of the transcendental perfection of aesthetic idealism can be achieved by nothing short of such fancifulness. What may be seen as excessive arpeggios, long drawn out scales and superfluous rests all attest to this. What would soon become the non-cursory themes of the Romantic period, in a sense, could be said to have originated with Beethoven and in particular with his later works.

Tonal Analysis of Each Movement

In the arioso consists of a three voice fugue. The left hand's evenly spaced chords contrast harmony with the right hand's long melodic lines. This is constructed from three parallel rising fourths. The opening theme of this movement starts a fugue subject with the motif of a flat, D flat, B flat, E flat. There is a countersubject moving in smaller intervals.

The subject of this fugue opens with three ascending fourths….A flat to D flat, B flat to E flat and C. To F. It then goes downwards in outlining fourths & #8230;.like F. To E flat to D flat to C. The counterpoint has two themes working together to highlight the fourth. The piece then comes to rest on the dominant seventh which then resolves into a G minor chord which brings back the arioso dolento in G minor marked "ermattet" meaning 'exhausted'. The arioso ends with repeated G major chords increasing in strength and repeating the minor to major; a device which concluded the scherzo.

Now a second fugue emerges marked "wieder auflebend." The pianist is instructed to initially use the soft pedal (una corda). The final fugue then increases in intensity and volume. The treble begins in three voices and the bass later enters the fugue in C minor and ends in E flat (the most dominant of the entire piece). The pianist is then instructed to lift up on the soft pedal and leads to a final four-bar tonic arpeggio and a final chord of a flat major.

The fugue subject consists of an ascending fourth and a descending minor third; another ascending fourth and descending minor third; a final ascending fourth and a descending diatonic scale fragment containing two whole steps and a half step.

To recapitulate the tonal plan of this piece; the opening theme is in a tonic a flat major. This leads to dominant E flat to G. The tones of this movement are predictable and sonata form. The second movement moves to a terse and humorous tone even though the movement begins in a minor key. It resolves into D flat major and ascends and descends with a rhythm that is syncopated and ambiguous. Beethoven is deliberately using the key tone, harmony and rhythm to get the feel of an organized sonata. He then takes a turn to E major, a seemingly remote key, and then back again to the home key of a flat major.

The final movement of two ariosos and two fugues bridge the movement from scherzo with an F major resolving to a B flat minor. This then starts with an a flat minor, bringing a lament to the piece. This arioso then leads into a three voice fugue; a flat, D flat, B flat, E flat which then brings in an "Agnes Dei" sound to the piece. It then reprises with an arioso dolente and describes a second arioso "through sobs" in G minor. It then goes from a G major using a minor to major device closing with "exultant." This then leads to a four bar tonic arpeggio in a flat major lending itself to "gathering strength after despair."

In comparison, again, to earlier works, such as say the so-called Moonlight Sonata, the thirty-first sonata, though not as popular in our time, certainly had similarities, differences and a clear evolution of his style. Here in this example we can see how the Moonlight Sonata is distinct.

This is "the most famous sonata ever written, partly due to the fact that its evocative first movement is relatively easy to play (Siepmann, 25)." And while the arpeggiated runs are almost in the same manner as his later works, we see an almost ostentatiousness and indulgence not present in such works as the 31st sonata. The repeated run of G. sharp, D sharp and E. has an almost repetitive feel, but with an exuberance and almost arrogance. This is not only evident in his middle work but his life in general. For there have been many situations where Beethoven, in his early adult years, presented himself as arrogant and proud. As a good friend of philosopher, writer and scientist Goethe, the two would often spend many leisurely times together. And on one particular occasion it has been said that Beethoven, in noticing some of the local peasants going about their business did not recognize the two of them. Well Beethoven was upset and arrogantly proclaimed to his friend that they should know who they are. but, Goethe, in his wisdom, mentioned to Beethoven that it was remarkable, and quite excellent, that they didn't. Obviously the reason for this is that greatness comes not in the worldly standards of success but in the quiet, simple and humble ways of everyday life. It was almost an existential statement and although it can't be said that Beethoven took it to heart, it is safe to say that in his later career, whether consciously or not, he learned his lesson of what greatness is.