So, onto the last movement: the movement in which the kinship to op. 7 feels closest to me. Both are rondos with the most classic of forms – ABACABA – and both are very much "grazioso" in character. The light, grazioso rondo strikes me as an essential component of this early period 4-movement sonata model: the first movements are muscular and driven, and lying at the other end of the piece is a movement that acts as a foil – much less determined, possibly also less witty, more focused on lyricism and charm. Remember, that’s Beethoven’s early period way: the pieces are front-loaded. The epic finales come later in his life. (And perhaps that is why this is the movement of op. 22 that hews most closely to its counterpart in op. 7: since the rondo of the earlier work was already predominantly graceful, it's a more natural fit for op. 22, which in general prizes grace, and its cousin, proportion, more highly than most Beethoven sonatas do.) So, as a reminder, here is the main, the "A" theme of op. 7’s rondo. (MUSIC) And now, the op. 22 rondo theme. (MUSIC) The similarity is pretty striking. One difference, however, is that the op. 22 theme is subject to quite a lot of embellishment. One feature of a rondo is that its main theme comes MANY times, and in the case of op. 22’s, with each appearance, it is more decorated: these playful decorations are another indication of Beethoven’s easy confidence in this work. In the second iteration, the difference is a subtle one: just an extra passing tone interpolated into the melody. (MUSIC) The next version is far more elaborate: first he transfers the theme into the left hand, and then back to the right, but with broken octaves, making it quite florid. (MUSIC) And then finally, the most embellished version of all: the four notes per beat become six, and then he adds octaves, just for emphasis. (MUSIC) This is Beethoven’s early period variation style: the point is decoration, not deep exploration of the material. So, just as the A section does, the B and C episodes of this rondo correspond closely in character to those in Opus 7. Op. 7’s B section, while still grazioso, was a bit more playful and more assertive than the A, (MUSIC) and so too is op. 22’s. (MUSIC) Op. 7’s C section brought the movement's first moments of drama, and of gruffness, (MUSIC) and once again, that’s the case in op. 22. (MUSIC) I suppose that one difference is that in op. 22, the B and C episodes share a bit of material: The B, (MUSIC) and the C, (MUSIC) obviously in very different contexts, and with drastically different characters. While this sharing of material doesn’t happen in op. 7, it’s hardly unusual or noteworthy. Although I now have noted it: so, apologies. This movement differs from the previous three in the piece in that there IS a coda – I might be missing something, but I cannot think of a single Beethoven rondo without a coda, one that simply ends with a last A section. In op. 22, that last A section is, as discussed, pretty elaborately decorated, and so we arrive at the coda in festive fashion. (MUSIC) So this is, in the main, new material. This motive, (MUSIC) refers, pretty obliquely, back to the B section, (MUSIC) but I think it would be fair to describe it as a new theme. So, the coda exists (obviously!), and it even has an event in it – a new motive – so I suppose it could be considered one more instance of op. 22 conforming to the op. 7 model. But really, though they both have codas, these two codas are very different animals. Op. 7’s coda, arriving just as the piece seems ready to wrap up, first stops the piece cold, and then takes it into a distant, dream-like E Major. (MUSIC) By the time Beethoven makes his way BACK from E Major, the piece has acquired new layers, and what began as merely a grazioso movement has become truly profound. (MUSIC) By contrast, the op. 22 coda, while it does indeed have that new material in it, still has no surprises, harmonic or otherwise, and it's really just there to tie a bow around the piece. (MUSIC) This modesty, I will say yet again, is not a flaw! It's perfectly in keeping with the rest of the work, and once more shows Beethoven’s unerring sense of proportion. But it does simultaneously show that this sonata, however beloved it was to its composer, is not the be-all and end-all in terms of daring. I come to the end of this lecture with a nagging sense of guilt: I worry that in focusing so heavily on what this work isn’t, I have failed to give it credit for what it IS, and in the process, demeaned it. I have played op. 22 often, and enjoyed it every time: I have nothing but affection for it. But I think it's instructive that we’re more than 13 lectures into this course now, and this is the very first time I’ve spoken about a sonata NOT pushing the boat out. It really shows just how remarkable was Beethoven’s achievement: how time and again he managed to find fundamentally new things to say about the sonata genre. And even in this rare case when he didn’t, the result is still gorgeous and generally irresistible. Having written it, he was very ready to move on, which he did, dramatically, with the next group of sonatas, op. 26, op. 27 and op. 28. But that is no reason to overlook this sonata, which is impeccable, well-washed, and full of delights.
