# Sonata form and slow movements



## Resuri

A friend of mine told me sometime back that he had seen mentioned is some music book that (i) the slow movement of Beethoven's 6th Symphony is in Sonata form and further (ii) to write a slow-movement in Sonata form is an extremely difficult task. I was baffled by this information as I have listened to this symphony easily more than 50/60 times without ever realizing that it was in Sonata form. Now that I have got (i) confirmed (even though I still cannot make out distinctly the separate themes, bridge passages, working out etc. that are part and parcel of the form) I would like to pose the second proclamation to the learned gentlemen of the forum for answers and views, of course if you agree with it in the first place. Actually all my friends who are keen classical music listeners (including a practicing conductor of my acquaintance in this country) expressed surprise that the movement is in Sonata form!


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## Falstaft

Hmm, that's a really interesting point Resuri. I actually think slow movement sonata forms are all that uncommon, but for various reasons classical era composers tended to eschew full-fledged development sections with in them. This, I surmise, was in order to sustain the generally more placid or stable affect of that movement. Further, slow movements often partake of a more theme-and-variations approach to generating musical material, which is rarely a formal principle that mixes with sonata structure. But you've convinced me to go and listen to the Pastoral with renewed attention to see if I can spot it. Beethoven was rather ingenious in synthesizing various formal patterns and I would not be surprised to hear him doing it there!


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## Olias

You should check out this CD:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000065THN/ref=dm_dp_cdp?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1290133272&sr=8-41

It is a very detailed walk-through of the entire symphony with a really nice booklet to follow along with.


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## jdavid

*Beethoven 6th Sym. Mvmt II - formal analysis*

I don't know if it's 'definitive' but here's the Moore/Hegel formal analysis of the Beethoven Sym. No. 6 in Bb, movement II, 'Scene by the Brook' _Andante molto mosso_ - Sonata Allegro Design:

*EXPOSITION*: Main Theme 1-20, Episode 21-32, Subordinate Theme 33 - 49, Cadential Close 50 - 53...
*DEVELOPMENT*: in 3 sections - 1st section 54 - 68, 2nd section 69 - 78, 3rd section 79 - 90
*RECAPITULATION*: Main Theme 91 - 96, Episode 97 - 104, Subord. Theme 105 - 121 - Closing Group 122 - 128...
*CODA*: 129 - 139

Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, strings.

*THE SYMPHONY AND THE SYMPHONIC POEM* - Analytical and Descriptive Charts of the standard Symphonic Repertory, 6th Rev. Ed.
Earl V. Moore, Professor Emeritus of Music, University of Michigan and Theodore E. Heger, Professor Music, University of Michigan
Ulrich's Books Inc. Ann Arbor, Michigan. 1974

 Hope this helps.



Resuri said:


> A friend of mine told me sometime back that he had seen mentioned is some music book that (i) the slow movement of Beethoven's 6th Symphony is in Sonata form and further (ii) to write a slow-movement in Sonata form is an extremely difficult task. I was baffled by this information as I have listened to this symphony easily more than 50/60 times without ever realizing that it was in Sonata form. Now that I have got (i) confirmed (even though I still cannot make out distinctly the separate themes, bridge passages, working out etc. that are part and parcel of the form) I would like to pose the second proclamation to the learned gentlemen of the forum for answers and views, of course if you agree with it in the first place. Actually all my friends who are keen classical music listeners (including a practicing conductor of my acquaintance in this country) expressed surprise that the movement is in Sonata form!


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## Weston

Falstaft said:


> Hmm, that's a really interesting point Resuri. I actually think slow movement sonata forms are all that uncommon, but for various reasons classical era composers tended to eschew full-fledged development sections with in them. This, I surmise, was in order to sustain the generally more placid or stable affect of that movement.


My first layman's thought was that it is simple logistics. Any development section in a sonata form slow movement would have to be kept pretty simple or it would drag on so long as to put the audience to sleep. Of course Beethoven was rarely one to fret over logistics.

I had no clue the slow movement of the 6th is in sonata form, but I never listened for that. It might improve my enjoyment of the piece if I did. But for me it's a spring piece, not suitable for this time of year in the northern hemisphere.


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