Musical description - metre, melody and harmony
Metre and tempo
The introduction has a 4/4 time signature, although the exposition changes to a 2/2 time signature with a clear two beats in a bar.
The tempi indicated are:
- introduction - A very slow tempo.
- first subject - Fast with much energy.
Melody
Bar 1 has a dotted semiquaver A short musical idea or phrase. that is used throughout the introduction. Bar 10 includes a long, rapid, descending chromatic run.
The first subject melody is a rising Notes played detached. theme over two octaves.
Each rising note is played with staccato
The transition is based on the first subject theme and employs lots of Chromatic harmony uses notes from outside the key to colour the chords.Adding melodic layers to a tune that usually sound pleasing when played together.. The second subject is a lyrical, Music which is played smoothly. phrase and contrasting spiky, staccato phrase. The melody includes Note played as quickly as possible before the聽note that follows. and A type of ornament which suggests the performer plays the printed note, immediately the one immediately above and then the printed note again..
An extract of audio from bar 52
The development contains fragments of the introduction and exposition melodies. For example, bar 137 is based on the first subject and bars 140 and 141 are based on the second subject.
Harmony and tonality
The introduction opens in the dramatic key of C minor, the The first degree of a scale and the central key of music. In Roman numerals this is I. key. Chromatic notes are heard along with A chord that is a collection of minor thirds stacked on top of one another..
The first subject is in C minor, the opening The main note of a scale or key, from which the key gets its name. pedal alternating between bass octave C A trembling sound created by fast repetition of the same note.. A A type of cadence where the chords played are chord V then I. This progression sounds complete. is heard in bars 18 to 19 before the theme is repeated. Diminished seventh chords are heard again in bar 18 and there is an A type of cadence where the chords played are chord I then V. The sound of this cadence makes the phrase sound unfinished. at bar 27.
The transition modulates through Ab and Bb before the second subject begins in the key of E鈾 minor, instead of the relative major of the opening key, E鈾 major. The key becomes E鈾 major in bar 89. A The fifth tone or degree of any of the major or minor scales. pedal is used in bar 51 to add variation.
The theme is repeated in a number of different keys, especially in the development, as this section has a lot of chromatic notes and works through many A pattern of sharps or flats at the beginning of a piece of music indicating which are to be played..
For the recapitulation, the first subject is in C minor and the second subject begins in F minor, returning to C minor. There are more diminished chords on the first beat of bars 2, 26 and 42.