DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (April 24, 2020)

There is nothing in the fourth movement that is routine. It does not follow any known form such as Sonata allegro, Rondo, Scherzo, etc. Every time we think we might anticipate what Beethoven will do, he surprises us. Every step is about making new discoveries.

Part 3 of this series presented the Introduction to the fourth movement, which ended with a triumphant cadence, preparing the way to finally hear the Ode to Joy theme.

However, that theme is then introduced in an unexpected way, as a single melody, played tentatively and quietly in the the bass instruments—the same cellos and double-basses which had been given us the recitative-like sections! An audience hearing it for the first time would have to wonder about it. They would hear Schiller's words against it, and find that they matched. But, the theme is presented in such a hesitating way, as a lone bass melody, that they might doubt its appropriateness. What is Beethoven doing here? Come back to our idea of the symphony as a sort of Apollo Project.

When sending a man to the moon, do you simply work everything out on paper, and hope that Apollo 11 will succeed? Or, do you launch trial rockets, which sometimes fail, to test out the connections of your theory and your hypotheses, to physical reality? Beethoven presents the Ode to Joy theme as an hypothesis that has to be tested.

For the sake of continuity, the 5 minute video we have provided, begins at the tail end of Part 3’s introduction video, and then walks us through a sort of Theme and Variations: After the theme is presented, alone, as an hypothesis, a set of three variations tests it out, proves it, and celebrates it as victorious.

As we revel in this triumphant idea, the music is suddenly disrupted (it won't be the last such drastic disruption in the movement), and we return to the opening dissonance. Why? Did we miss something?

If you, our readers, have an idea as to why Beethoven does this, please post it!

5-min video on the Theme and Variations:

We again include the sheet-music video of the 4th movement. We recommend following the first six and a half minutes, which combine parts 3 and 4, to help understand them as a unified process.

4th movement with sheet music: