♫ The first time we got that particular question mark, it led to the repeat of the exposition. ♫ Question neatly answered. But the second time around, leading into the development, one question begets more questions. ♫ It’s a very short development, but it’s so eventful and full of character, it feels more than adequate. Beethoven begins by taking the four-note motive question that ends the exposition, ♫ and reversing its direction and transposing it into minor, ♫ leading to the opening theme, itself now in minor. ♫ You’ll note that with the new drama of the minor key, Beethoven gives it the crescendo that was withheld in the opening – this contributes to the feeling when we land on that fermata, of something just waiting to boil over… …which it does. ♫ This continuation – the A of the fermata moving up a step to a B flat -- ♫ it makes you realize that there was something a little strange about the way the piece continued after the very first fermata. ♫ It makes sense, in a way – it’s all based on that opening bar, after all. But that A, ♫ is absolutely crying out for a resolution, or at least a continuation, and what follows the opening fermata is not that. Here in the development, though, that A – more tension-filled than the previous ones, on account of the minor mode – moves up a step to a B flat, which is, while not the most expected resolution, unquestionably a resolution, and sets the music on an almost manically triumphant course. ♫ From that point on, the development is more run-of-the-mill: in keeping with the enormously energetic movement, it barrels ahead with constant eighth note motion, and cycles through a number of keys until landing on the dominant. ♫ From this point on, we stay on the dominant – hovering between major and minor – the tension building the longer it goes. ♫ You’ll notice that rather than lead neatly into the recapitulation, we again land on that final dominant chord and sit there. The recap is a logical result, but once again, not a real continuation. This is not unprecedented or shocking, but it is a choice on Beethoven’s part: to make the transition NOT seamless, to separate the question from the answer, in the process spotlighting the question. It’s a surprising tendency in a movement that in many other ways is an irresistible force, and it foreshadows the last movement of the sonata, which is far less confident and even more question-filled. We don’t need to get into the recapitulation: it does what it needs to, landing on the D major tonic where the exposition moved to the dominant. But this movement does have a coda, well worth getting into, because in it, the movement’s central fixations are again revisited: the rhythmic displacement, the major-minor juxtaposition that we saw not only in the development, but in the second theme, ♫ and this thing of headlong momentum being interrupted by moments of uncertainty. In fact, it begins by getting lost. This was near the end of the exposition. ♫ In the parallel passage in the recapitulation, the resolution is delayed, and we continue modulating, in effect forcing the coda. ♫ And this then launches the longest-yet series of 4-1-2-3 bars, with the rhythm getting more uncertain as things progress. ♫ Just when those accents (PLAY) just when they have seriously muddied the waters – 4!-1-2-3 – 4!-1-2-3 – along comes a good old cadence to resolve us not just harmonically, but rhythmically. ♫ 4-1!! And from there, it’s smooth sailing all the way to the end of the piece. ♫ It’s a fascinating movement altogether – in its markings and in its material, and in its motivic connections, it is as brilliant and confident as any opening movement of any early sonata. But it also plays with the listener’s expectations both through rhythmic trickery, and by frequently interrupting the momentum. In that way, it is not only exciting, but emotionally sophisticated and complex.
