(MUSIC) So, the first paragraph completed, we enter into a bridge section, towards the second theme. (MUSIC) So, this is very much in keeping with the opening of the piece, first of all because of the alternation of certain and uncertain music, though in reverse order this time. (MUSIC) Uncertain, certain. But also, the two-quarter motive that dominates the opening theme is still ever-present. (MUSIC) Given how halting the progress of this movement often is, the presence of a unifying device becomes more important than ever, and in this “quarter-quarter” idea, Beethoven has a most effective one. What is strange about this passage is the harmony. When Beethoven writes sonata movements in minor keys, the majority of the time, the second theme is in the relative major. Looking back at the minor key sonatas we’ve already covered, this is the case with all of them – op. 2 no. 1, the Pathetique, the Appassionata. In opus 90’s E minor, the relative major would be G major. But G Major is nowhere to be found in this passage, which instead moves around harmonically at quite a clip. First we move to C major. (MUSIC) And then to A minor. (MUSIC) These keys are not, perhaps, the destination we expect, but they're all closely related, and they represent a logical sequence of events. What happens next, though, is a bit out of left field. (MUSIC) B-flat major! It is no way a logical continuation of the path we’re on, and it arrives like a mirage. Until now, we’d been traveling in steps, down a third each time. E minor. (MUSIC) C major. (MUSIC) And then A minor (MUSIC). Now, we go not down a third, but up a half step. (MUSIC) Not only that, but what were forte chords (MUSIC), is now a pianissimo unison (MUSIC). It’s still that two note “knocking” motive, but it is now disembodied, like a ghostly apparition. And that juxtaposition – the flesh and blood forte versus the unearthly B-flat pianissimo – is totally in keeping with the way the piece has functioned from the outset. But while that B-flat seems to throw a wrench in the piece’s progress when it arrives, it turns out to be a preparation for something that isn’t really too far out of the ordinary. (MUSIC) In short, the B-flat (MUSIC), becomes an A sharp (MUSIC), leading to B minor (MUSIC). Now, B-flat and A sharp are the same note, just spelled differently – this is known as an enharmonic change. Don’t worry about the semantics: the important thing is that in short order, this one note has two very different functions, and the different spelling is merely a reflection of that. So, while the B-flat at first seems to be leading us God knows where, it is shortly revealed to be a preparation of B minor: (MUSIC) B minor is the dominant key. That would be the absolutely obvious destination were we in a major key to begin with. Given that this sonata is in a minor key, the relative major would be more expected, but this B minor is not off the wall or anything. It does mean, though, that unlike most minor key sonata movements, which move to the relative major, there is virtually no major key relief in this movement. I mentioned that the Appassionata was probably the most relentlessly dark sonata written up to that point, but even it had a second theme in major. (MUSIC) Op. 90 is not a work with the Appassionata's kind of rage, but its minor key is even less ventilated than that of the Appassionata. With the secondary key established, we march towards the second theme, again with the two-note motive appearing constantly, this time not static but rising, in a state of tremendous anxiety. (MUSIC) And then, when the second theme comes, the motive reverses into a fall, a sigh. (MUSIC) With so little material, Beethoven is creating an extremely rich and nuanced emotional landscape. And so it continues until the very end of this very compact exposition: in the third, closing, theme, we again see fight followed by giving in, accepting the futility. (MUSIC) The rising octaves, and then that gritty suspension, a violent clash of tones, (MUSIC) is answered by the deep sigh of an appoggiatura (MUSIC). Then Beethoven takes up the fight again (MUSIC), only to see the grief-stricken, defeated music return, and take over (MUSIC). The whole exposition is no more than two minutes long, and it doesn’t aim for the rafters like the Waldstein or the Appassionata, but its emotional landscape is extremely intense and remarkably nuanced.
