Beethoven's First Symphony, movement 1 (part 2: development, recap, and coda)

A public domain PDF of the orchestral score of this piece may be found here, and a piano reduction for ease of reference may be found here. Editions were chosen to prioritize PDF clarity and measure numbers.

Development: mm. 110-177

The introduction and exposition reflect Beethoven’s fondness for some of the techniques and witticisms of Mozart. But the development more closely follows the more serious example of Beethoven’s teacher, Haydn. Rather than employ humor and conjure whimsical characters, Beethoven expands on motives from the exposition as resourcefully and industriously as possible. In fact, all of the development’s motives are sourced from just the first half of the exposition (with two exceptions: the brand-new syncopated motive in mm. 112-113, and a motive ostensibly derived from the introduction in mm. 162-163.) Beethoven’s expansion of this remarkably limited source material occurs over four large phrase structures, which we might term form-functional “arcs.”

Arc 1: mm. 110-121

Beethoven takes the preceding retransitional G7 descent in the woodwinds and cranks the dominant function up a notch to start the development, landing on A7 (pointing toward D minor) in mm. 110-113. These bars contain a two-bar quote of P (specifically, corresponding with mm. 14-15, the second and third measures of P; by leaving out the first “punctuation mark” of P, Beethoven abridges its material and homes in on the more energized portion), followed by a two-bar stretch of novel syncopated material. In m. 114, we see the same four-bar module repeated down a fifth (D7) and again sequenced down a fifth by m. 118 (G7). Thus, Beethoven opens developmental space by wandering downward through the circle of fifths, a common technique for leaving S tonality, using nothing but the P-incipit and a syncopated lilt. It is worth observing that the only notable syncopation or phase-shifting yet to be found in the movement came right before the development in C2 (note the beat 4 sforzandi). The new rhythmic nucleus in m. 112 thus seems to serve a “bridging” purpose, in this sense between exposition and development.

Arc 2: mm. 122-143

The second developmental structure contains material derived entirely from the fourth measure of P—the arpeggiated octave ascent. The arc begins with the collapse of the G7 chord into C minor, the parallel minor of the global tonic. Being the first achieved local tonic of the development, the arrival feels substantial, its minorness significant. It is a chance for Beethoven to dramatize the C Major-minor duality that would so define his later persona. But in this instance, the chance for drama is passed over in favor of continuing the downward fifths sequence: four bars of C minor, four bars of F minor, and six bars of preparing Bb7. Just as easily as Beethoven stumbled into C minor, he leaves it and continues the fifths sequence, allowing us to attend to the expansion and development of the thematic motives rather than the harmonic characterizations. This, again, evokes Haydn, whose attitude toward melodic and harmonic extravagance was one of maximum scorn. To Haydn, it was all about creating a single motivic nucleus that would blossom into the rest of the piece—and so it is here with Beethoven, to an extreme.

Measures 136-143 display the final motive from TR—the sol-sol-sol-sol-fa-mi-re-do gesture—over V7/Eb. But the motive is evolved, appearing in canon with itself in standard form and in inversion. The rhythmic profile is sentential, and the final two measures akin to a stretch of caesura fill. Together, these clues lead us to read this as a TR-dominant lock (with TR motive to boot), to interpret mm. 142-143 as a development-rotation medial caesura, and to crave S material at the heart of the next developmental arc.

Arc 3: mm. 144-159

But in the spirit of maximal, Haydn-inspired resourcefulness, Beethoven opts for a strictly first half-rotational development: the third arc reruns P material in further development and sequence rather than reference S. Contrast this with his approach to the Fifth Symphony, where the S incipit is not only central to the development, it is obsessively wielded throughout the development’s wandering keys as a hopeful antidote to solve the rotation’s harmonic failures, only to be fragmented down to its formless atoms. We are dealing here with a younger Beethoven, one keen on keeping the streamlined development focused on P. The result is the feeling of S evasion, as though Beethoven is opting to save the precious, all-important S material for its proper tonal resolution in the recap. 

Measures 144-147, in the world of Eb Major prepared by arc 2, spread the dotted-rhythm P incipit like playfully glistening sequins throughout the orchestra, strung together by a countermotive sharing function, rhythmic properties, and contour with the syncopations from arc 1 (m. 146, flute/oboe). Rather than sequence down a fifth, the pattern continues up a step to F minor (m. 148) and G minor (m. 152). Just when we are led to expect A minor next, Beethoven then diverts up a fifth and accelerates harmonically: first, to D minor (m. 156), then A minor (m. 158), and finally, E7, or V/a (m. 160) to start arc 4. Thus, after having been led to the doorstep of A minor and effectively instructed to expect it in m. 156 by the three-station sequence that precedes, its arrival is delayed by an ascending fifths sequence that ultimately bookends A minor. Beethoven uses this harmonic acceleration and larger transposition interval to energize this version of A minor beyond the level we anticipated in the original step sequence (see red dashed in the figure below.)

Arc 4: mm. 160-177

This newly tonicized A minor is not explicitly achieved in arc 4. Instead, the phrase amounts to an extended dominant harmony: V7/vi, a standard and powerful choice for retransitional drama. The thematic structure is crafted again from P, taking the eighth note pattern originating in m. 15 and emancipating it from its “typewriter” domain into a furious ascent. The countersubject in woodwinds (mm. 162-163, e.g.) bears resemblance to the dominant extending motive in m. 4 of the introduction. By m. 174, the E7 harmony dissolves into the proper G7 retransition, squarely copying the expositional retransition and preparing for the all-satisfying return of C Major in the recapitulation (m. 178). The preceding drama surrounding A minor thus serves as a practical tool for Beethoven to set our expectations on the minor mode so that the delivery of the major-tonic recapitulation might be all the more fulfilling.

Recapitulation: mm. 178-258

The standard recapitulation questions are: what pre-crux alterations will we experience, where will the crux be, and will the tonal resolution be straightforward or will it contain post-crux alterations?

The onset of recapitulation (m. 178=13) is energized to ff by the rediscovery of C Major. Correspondence continues through m. 188 (=23), where we discover the beginning of pre-crux alterations. Thus, before P is allowed to fully reestablish C Major with I: PAC and the start of TR, we are led off course by nonreferential material, effectively overwriting the PAC and arguably the entirety of TR. In mm. 188-197, we find four measures of one-bar harmonic tempo followed by eight measures of half-bar harmonic tempo, all in a grand crescendo from p to ff. Motivically, we find woodwinds and brass sustaining as in the modulating material of mm. 17-18, but in a dizzyingly compounded sequence bringing us to ever-higher tonics. Each tonicization is punctuated by the five-note descending anacrusis to P, a motivic fragment Beethoven has left undeveloped thus far. By m. 198, the 8-bar dominant lock is achieved, albeit with differing melodic material, in advance of the return of S in m. 206 (=53).

Thus, Beethoven employs what I might propose be termed a “staggered crux,” one in which harmonic-functional correspondence and motivic correspondence resume at different times (we could call them the “partial crux” and the “full crux”). This is perhaps the most tactful option for Beethoven given the exposition’s use of I: HC to announce the medial caesura. The reality is that, if the medial caesura of the exposition follows any sort of half cadence, that cadence must become I: HC in its corresponding spot in the recap should the crux come beforehand. With a single, pre-MC crux in m. 198, Beethoven would thus have been forced to copy out verbatim the exact same pitches into this corresponding point in the recap, something that the conscientious composer surely wished to avoid. Had the exposition borne a V: HC for the medial caesura, at least the tonal resolution’s lead-in would need to be transposed into I: HC, lessening the redundancy. But Beethoven’s solution is instead to use a staggered crux: establish the harmonic-functional correspondence by way of the dominant lock and its phrasing (mm. 198-205=45-52) while overwriting its original melodic material, and save the melodic correspondence for the beginning of S in m. 206.

And the way Beethoven overwrites the exposition’s dominant lock is in the image of the recap’s pre-crux alterations. Specifically, mm. 198-205 contain fragmentation and sequencing of the same P-anacrusis that populated the pre-crux alterations. It is as though those alterations are actually spilling past the crux and flooding the dominant-lock container. Perhaps the sudden arrival of that dominant lock is so unexpected this early in the recap that the preceding fragmented motive hardly has the chance to make way for it.

In the remainder of the recap—mm. 206-258—the tonal resolution proceeds without surprise. In fact, the most significant post-crux alterations we encounter are as unthreatening as inverted accompanimental patterns (c.f. mm. 207, 209 in violins vs. mm. 54, 56 in first violins). Beethoven also occasionally substitutes, pares down, or builds up instrumentation (consider extra timpani, horns, and trumpet in moments such as 228=75 and 250=97.) The recapitulation successfully achieves the tonal resolution, and the only subsequent alterations are thus for the purpose of decoration and reinforcement.

Coda: mm. 259-298

Correspondence with the exposition complete, Beethoven is presented with the prospect of a coda. He begins by continuing correspondence, despite the fact that the rotation has completed. He transposes the development retransition (mm. 259-262 ~ mm. 106-109a, albeit with P motives added to the texture), as if to suggest that we are on the verge of a fourth rotation. Beethoven sequences this retransitional passage three times, giving us the twelve-bar phrase in mm. 259-270. Initially, we are redirected via V7/IV to F Major, but station two redirects us to D minor, and thirdly back to C Major. In mm. 271-276, Beethoven (once again the diligent recycler) attempts to confirm and reenergize this C Major with a quote of the I:PAC from the end of P in mm. 31-32. The first two attempts are evaded as if part of an intentional bid to make the final attainment of C Major, after try number 3, all the more satisfying in m. 277.

In mm. 277-288, woodwinds, trumpets, and strings reach up the C Major triad for the high G, whose arrival in m. 289 brings us to the final tutti victory lap in mm. 293-298. It is no coincidence that this motivic arc that Beethoven uses to conclude the movement—from C to E to G, and then back down to C—can be likewise found at the first tutti affirmation of the movement (the opening of TR in m. 33.) This affirming gesture will become such a staple of Beethoven’s musical cast of characters that its appearance in the finale of his Fifth Symphony incontestably represents one of the most consequential deus ex machina arrivals in the entire musical literature.