(MUSIC) So, we’ve arrived at the recapitulation, in which this remarkable atmosphere is sustained, and which functions, structurally, much as expected. So, as you may have already figured out, this means that the second theme, played previously on the dominant (MUSIC), has to be restored to the tonic (MUSIC). Beethoven accomplishes this in a way that is both subtle and really enormously personal. (MUSIC) Now, there is one critical event in that – a pivot point – and that is when the eerie unison B-flat from the exposition (MUSIC), is replaced by this gloriously warm F major chord: (MUSIC) The F major is just as out of context as the B-flat was, but whereas the B-flat took all the air out of the room, the full F major chord has the opposite effect, giving the music a sudden benevolence and even generosity. But that, too proves short lived, as the F moves to an F sharp (MUSIC), and the music quickly lands, joylessly, in E minor. (MUSIC) This E minor landing is all the more devastating for following that brief moment of hope, so quickly and thoroughly snuffed out. The rest of the recapitulation follows as expected, leading to a coda which I find almost unbearably moving. When the exposition comes to a close, it does so with three B minor chords – quiet blows of fate. (MUSIC) In the recapitulation, the equivalent E’s fail to come, and it is that failure that launches us into the coda. (MUSIC) If it had unfolded in the same manner as the end of the exposition, we would have had this: (MUSIC) But when those E’s don’t arrive, we get the sighing phrase a second time, up an octave, in continued search of resolution. (MUSIC) Except that doesn’t happen either, so the sighs move yet another octave higher... (MUSIC) and still bring no resolution. So, inevitably, we come to this whispered halting version of the opening, with a ritardando – the seventh ritardando in a six minute movement: (MUSIC) And then, Beethoven stops, the second question unanswered, the yearning reaching impossible proportions, the silence as heavy as could be. And then, finally, terribly, comes the answer: the closing phrase from the opening paragraph of the piece, played now, for the first time, without a ritardando, without mercy. (MUSIC) In a normal piece, the order of events would likely be reversed: if an idea comes three times, including at the very end of the piece, and the ritardando comes only once, it is likely to be the final time. But Beethoven flips the script, taking AWAY the ritardando for this final phrase, making the end of the movement, despite its quietness, utterly uncompromising. That ending (MUSIC) provides the firm V-I cadence which never came at the recapitulation, answers the question that lingered in the air at the end of the previous phrase, and tells us, devastatingly, that there is no reconciliation possible…