# Understanding Beethoven's 9th, Introduction and First Movement



## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Understanding Beethoven's Ninth

_*Introduction*_

In a brief interlude between entries in my ongoing series on Mahler's symphonic works, I have decided to tackle one of the most famous symphonies in the repertoire. Why bother? It's such a well-known, well-understood work, one that almost certainly needs no further illumination from myself.

I have chosen to write this firstly _because_ the symphony is so well-known. By applying the same kind of analysis to a work so central to the canon, my methods will hopefully become more transparent by example, thus shedding more light on my Mahler analyses for those who have read them, or are going to read them. Secondly, because the work influenced Mahler's symphonies, this analysis will highlight similarities in their methods. Conversely, it will also highlight the vast disparity between them, which is larger than the roughly 60 years between this, Beethoven's final symphony, and Mahler's own initial efforts would lead one to believe. Finally, I am writing these entries simply because the work is one I love dearly.

Under the assumption that the history and general contours of this famous work are already well-known to the majority of my readers, I will not be writing any of the prefatory remarks on orchestration or composition history that have preceded my Mahler symphony analyses. I am sorry to those who would have benefited from this information.

_*I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso*_*

Form*

_Exposition_

0:00~2:35 First theme group and transition (D minor)
2:35~5:25 Second theme group and closing (B-flat major)

_Development_

5:25~7:17 Introduction recap, variations on first theme and transition (D minor->G minor->C minor)
7:17~9:54 Contrapuntal development on first theme, second theme variations (C minor->D minor->F major->G minor->A minor->F major)

_Recapitulation_

9:54~11:29 First theme group and transition (D major->D minor)
11:29~14:07 Second theme group and closing (D major/minor)

_Coda_

14:07~16:50 Variants on first theme (D minor->D major->D minor)
16:50~18:01 Chromatic bass, closing tutti (D minor)

The development here is much shorter than in a Mahler work, although it lasts longer than was typical in a Classical era symphony. I have labelled only the most prominent and stable key areas, but there is a considerable amount of instability present, even in the lengthy coda.

*Themes*

A jutting, leaping motif, first presented in a stark orchestral tutti.









A gentler motif that appears in the transition, played initially by flutes and clarinets.









The second theme group pairs arpeggiated chords in the strings with a short turn traded between flutes and bassoons.









_*Analysis*_

The symphony opens in an air of hushed anticipation, with a tonally ambiguous bare fifth (A-E) heard in the strings and horns. This fifth is echoed by the strings, as a quiet but firm descending motif. As this motif descends a second, then a third time, more instruments enter: a clarinet, an oboe, a flute, then one more of each as the pace quickens and the strings become more insistent. The note D is added to the harmony, and a crescendo leads to an orchestral tutti on the jutting first theme, firmly in the key of D minor. A series of short chords and staccato scales follow, punctuated by insistent, martial outbursts from the trumpets and timpani, leading to a tempestuous but attenuated climax. The hushed atmosphere of the introduction returns, but the bare fifth is now D-A, confirming the key of the first theme. It builds as before, but the jutting theme now appears in the key of B-flat major. The strings and winds trade sharp, staccato phrases, seemingly heading back for D minor, but a series of punctuating chords in the winds and a new, gentle figure in the flutes and clarinets lead the music away.

New motifs appear: scalar figures in the strings are presented in counterpoint with a dialogue between high and low winds. Opposing scales in the strings and winds lead to a vigorous tutti on the martial rhythm heard earlier, answered by a gentle figure in the winds implying a cadence in B-flat, but another tutti turns towards B major, where the music comes to a brief but troubled rest, with the martial rhythm a constant undercurrent just below the surface. A falling scale and a series of jagged string figures are followed by a succession of wave-like figures as the music vacillates between G-flat and G natural. A burst of skittering thirty-second notes in the strings leads to a jagged, upward surge in the strings answered by a descending figure in oboes and flutes. This brief dialogue leads to a final resolute tutti in B-flat, its leaps widening progressively further.

The B-flat descends quietly to A, and the atmosphere of the introduction reappears once more, now punctuated quietly but ominously by trumpet and timpani. At first, it seems as if the music has repeated, but the appearance of a D major harmony indicates a new direction, and the key shifts to G minor. In response to a jutting tutti, the transition motif is played questioningly by the oboe. Now the main theme is taken up in stretto by strings and winds, and the music moves into C minor. The winds intone the transition theme once more, but the chords that follow now lead into a contrapuntal section backed by strident leaping violins and flutes as the music moves through G minor and B-flat major and the timpani and brass thicken the texture in a rising crescendo. As the tension slackens slightly, violins enter a dialogue with flutes and bassoons, and the key changes to A minor. This leads to the reappearance of the second theme group in F major, but its rising scales gradually become more insistent and a strident orchestral tutti on the dominant of D minor descends quickly.

The descending motif of the introduction returns, but backed this time by a fortissimo tutti D major chord stubbornly remaining in the first inversion. Against a fierce timpani pedal on D, the mode once again changes to the minor, and the first theme is presented by the upper strings against the immovable wall of winds holding the harmony, a new counterpoint added by the basses. Without ever fully resolving, the timpani fall silent and the transition theme of before returns _piano_, once again leading to the second theme group, the waves of which grow until they coalesce in a D minor tutti.

The coda begins _piano_ with the first violins playing the downward-leaping first subject against a rising pizzicato bass line. The transition motif now appears as a counterpoint to the main theme, and the violins trade their motifs with the winds against chords in the horns and oboes. A climax is reached as the opposing scales of the exposition return, followed by a strident repetition of the martial rhythm, tutti. Suddenly, the tutti dissolves into a hushed A in the strings, and a pair of horns sound a fanfare in D major to the rhythm of the transition motif, but the strings turn it into D minor against staccato scalar figures in the woodwinds. The strings' syncopations become increasingly strident, and the opposing scales return, leading to a series of chords leading to D minor. An uneasy chromatic bass line begins the final section of the coda, and funereal brass backed by timpani lead the way as the higher strings join the lower in their growling chromatic waves. A jutting, angular tremolo played by all of the strings against insistent brass and timpani leads to a final presentation of the theme, tutti, ending in a clipped D minor unison.

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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

What a coincidence that I should discover your entry today! I just listened to this symphony this morning. I will listen again this weekend to both the Karajan and the Norrington versions, and follow along with your analysis, as I need the help in getting it all. What a nice job you have done! I wish all works were analysed in this fashion in the album notes.


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