Beethoven: Sonata No.18 in E-flat Major, "The Hunt" (Kovacevich, Biret)

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Beethoven’s last Op.31 sonata is one of the most warm, big-hearted, lyrical things he wrote. It’s the second-last sonata in 4 movements (the last is the Hammerklavier), and it contains no slow movements. (Also worth noting that 3 of them are in full-fledged sonata form!)

The first movement is a total delight to listen to: from the surprising harmony that opens the piece, to the richly textured chordal response and the theme group that grows out of it, the repeated recollections of the sort-of-motivic-introduction that begins the work (cf the Pathetique!), & the wonderful soaring thing that is the second theme, all air and light.

The second movement is one of my all-time favourites: it’s hilarious & a total earworm. Everything comes together so well: the bassoon-like bass, the off-beat accents, the absurd little held F across bars 2&3, the violent contrasts and semidemiquaver-against-semiquaver textures in the second theme, those repeated Cs that sound like the performer has had a disastrous memory slip.

The third movement is the last minuet movement Beethoven ever wrote: after this sonata it looked like the form didn’t quite have enough dramatic potential for him, although what we have here is a real nice example of Beethoven’s ability to write a beautiful melody when he really wanted to.

The last movement is full of rhythmic swagger: from the tarantella-like first idea, to the vigorously funny second, to the insistent third, & the suddenly coruscating textures (almost Waldstein-like) that suddenly emerge, everything comes together perfectly in an utterly natural expression‎ of pure joy.

MVT I, Allegro
EXPOSITION
00:00 – Theme Group 1, quasi-introduction (two motifs: a dotted-rhythm falling 5th and four chords, three short following by one long). Note recurrence through movement.
00:26 – “Main Entrance” of Theme 1 (developing the two motifs just introduced)
00:45 – Transition, following the quasi-introducion
01:02 – Theme Group 2, Theme 2
01:25 – Theme Group 2, Theme 3
01:46 – Codetta
DEVELOPMENT
03:55 – Development of quasi-introduction, landing on C min at 4:02
04:07 – Falling 5th motif
04:11 – Theme 1, in C
04:21 – A distinctly orchestral variation on Theme 1, emphasizing the three-short-one-long motif with gently muted dissonances in the bass. Modulation to F. Note also that the run at 4:28 (and similar passages) borrows from the arpeggiated flourish in Theme 3
04:38 – Modulation, which
04:48 – lands on an F min chord, in turn revealed as
RECAPITULATION
04:54 – the supertonic chord of Eb maj, thus ushering back the quasi-introduction
05:38 – Theme Group 2 enters, this time without a transition
06:32 – We get the original codetta, which sounds like it’s bringing things to a close, but this only leads to the real
CODA
06:42 – The quasi-introduction, this time implying Ab maj
06:51 – The dominant seventh harmony signals a new harmonic twist
07:01 – which seems to lead back to familiar territory. The quasi-introduction seems to be repeated normallu, but
07:19 – instead pauses, and leads to a lovely closing passage.

MVT II, Scherzo: Allegretto vivace
07:40 – Theme 1
08:23 – Theme 2
08:41 – Theme 3 (or an extended cadence, if you like)
DEVELOPMENT
10:11 – The music slips into C maj
10:14 – Theme 1
10:21 – Theme 2, in Bb min, modulating into C min
10:36 – Theme 1
10:40 – Variation on Theme 1, with glissando-like passages
RECAPTULATION
11:06 – Theme 1
11:30 – More voices are added into Theme 1
11:50 – Theme 2, appearing in a rather shocking key
12:08 – Theme 3
12:05 – CODA

MVT III, Menuetto: Moderato e grazioso
12:33 – Menuet, Part A
13:04 – Menuet, Part B
13:33 – Trio, Part A
14:01 – Trio, Part B
14:51 – Menuet, Part A
15:35 – Menuet, Part B
15:50 – Coda

MVT IV, Presto con fuoco
EXPOSITION
16:11 – Theme 1, Part 1
16:18 – Theme 1, Part 2
16:32 – Theme 2
16:50 – Theme 3 (Or extended cadence)
DEVELOPMENT
17:50 – Theme 1 Part 2, in Gb
17:58 – Theme 1 Part 2, reduction, in F#
18:01 – Transition to B min, beginning of modulating sequence. G maj, C min, Ab maj (VI of C min), Db maj (Neapolitan of C min), V7 of C min/maj, then C maj
18:16 – Theme 1 Part 2, in C
18:21 – Introduction of diminished 7th harmony, modulation
18:32 – Recollection of figuration from Theme 2. Ab, F min, Bb V7 chords.
RECAPITULATION
18:49 – Theme 1, with rhythmic gaps now filled in
19:09 – Surprising shift to Gb maj
19:13 – Theme 2, in Gb
19:31 – Theme 3, which at first refuses to modulate, further establishing Gb
19:38 – Theme 3 slips into Eb min
19:45 – We arrive at V7 of Eb min, which is also V7 of Eb maj, so
CODA
19:55 – Theme 1, in LH (but jumping all over the keyboard) modulating to F min and Ab maj
20:12 – A nice little sequence: pause on a dramatic diminished 7th chord, Theme 1 Part 1 in stretto, an elaboration on the LH texture of T1, and then another pause on a diminished 7th
20:21 – Theme 1 Part 1 in stretto, fragmented, then transformed into a chromatic elaboration on the V7, and then the final cadence.
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