This page was last edited on 16/01/06
This page was last edited on 16/01/06
It can be difficult to know what to say about the introduction, other than that's just what it is! Imagine, however, if the work started at the upbeat to bar 19; such light scoring (19 to 28) might suggest a much more feeble movement than we actually have here. So it is worth giving the introduction some consideration. My students started by looking at the harmony an analysis of which is below. Click HERE to hear a midi file of it!
For a collection of comments on the introduction go here.
A collection of comments about the introduction
E-mail me if you have any more
It begins the work in a 'serious' way.
All instruments are involved, with the violin taking the lion's share from bar 12.
The 1st movement is not noted for very chromatic harmony, but the Augmented 6th chord to be heard at bar181 appears as early as bar 7. The juxtaposition of Tonic Major and Tonic minor in bars 8-10 and 10-11 is notable. If it does nothing else, the introduction establishes, without any doubt, the tonality of E flat major.
The anacrustic figure to the 1st subject (upbeat of 3 quavers to 19) is pre-echoed in bars 8 and 10 [both the rhythm (at a slower tempo) and the shape].
One might also say that the three crotchet chords in bars 4 and 6 anticipate the three crotchets in bar 11 and elsewhere, although the time-signature is different!
Look at the texture Beethoven uses. Violin and viola use double-stops in several bars, even though all 7 instruments are playing. In bar 1, it is only these 2 instruments which have the 3rd (G)
The contrast of a very full texture and the 3 strands of sound in bars 8 and 10 is noteworthy.
The dynamic markings are very detailed (also true of the whole work) but this is no namby-pamby soft introduction filling time until the 'big boys' arrive [don't say that in the exam]. The expressive effect is maintained for all the 18 bars bars; in fact bars 16 to 18 range from pp to f.
The frequent perfect cadences (see bars 277 to the end) are hinted at in bars 12 to 15.
I suppose one ought to go through the whole work and see if there are any links between the introduction and other movements - I haven't done this (yet).