SID: 510649775

Tutor: Louis Nicoll

Scholarly Reflection in Beethoven Sonata Op.28 ‘Pastoral’

“Pastoral” Sonata Op.28 is one of the sonatas from Beethoven’s set of works that is selected
to discuss in this assessment. This sonata was composed in 1801 and dedicated to Joseph von
Sonnefels.1 The fact that the word “Pastoral” did not come up by Beethoven, it was the first
editorial who decided to put it in when the piece was been firstly published.2 The word
“Pastoral” comes from the Baroque music, which considers a number of Pastorales from
composers such as Vivaldi, Bach and Corelli.3 Op.28 was written at the time when Beethoven
was suffering and struggling with deafness, as it was getting worse.4 Thus, he wrote this calm
and peaceful sonata that brought a serene image effect into the music.

Following one of the aspects from historical performance practice of this sonata will be the
use of dynamic contrast, which will be investigated with two comparison texts in the concept.

Before moving further into historical performance practice of this sonata, a general form
itself is to be explored first in order to have a better understanding in later discussions. Apart
from examining the whole sonata, only the second movement of this sonata will be explored
through Frohlich’s analysis. The second movement is in Ternary Form (A, B, A’) and a
added coda at the end, which is a common form that appeared mostly in the second
movement piano classical sonata.5 Normally it features in the relative key or the parallel
minor from the first movement. In this case, the key of this movement is in the parallel minor
of D minor. It contains A theme and B theme. The first theme of the first section opens in the
tonic key of d minor, accompanied with a gentle pedal point in the dominant key and half-
staccato played in left hand. Soon it made a sudden shift from the tonic to the relative key of
F major in bar 5 and the dominant C major in bar 18. Thus, it gives a colour change to the
dance-like B section (from bar 23).6

1
Kathryn Hammond, “The Sonata Form and its Use in Beethoven's First Seventeen Piano Sonatas.” (Master.
Diss., Utah State University, 2001), 55.
2
Ibid, 55.
3
Ibid, 55.
4
Ibid, 55.
5
Martha Frohlich, “Ideas of Closure, Derivation and Rhythm in the Sketches for the Andante of Beethoven’s
‘Pastorale’ Sonata Op. 28.” The Journal of Musicology 16, no. 3 (1998), 347.
6
Ibid, 348
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Tutor: Louis Nicoll
Musical Example 1:

In the second section, the whole musical idea changes as the rhythm, texture and register
shaped out as a dialogue in this musical communication.7 In addition, Theme B’s dynamic
contrasts between piano and forte are the texture change in the section, where Beethoven has
implied the joke-like feeling in the music with the feature sudden crescendos appeared
constantly throughout this movement.8 Theme A and Theme B have returned in an
abbreviated form, which means that Theme A has been simplified and placed with a choral-
like setting, while Theme B kept with dotted rhythm but added with dissonance texture and
with sudden change of mood from major to minor.9 On the other hand, the interpretation of
the performance practice issue is also an important aspect in the creation of this sonata.

Beethoven has proliferated those expressive dynamic on the score, which has been motivated
through the instrument that was supposed to develop. This resulted in Beethoven bringing
this musical level of communication and the control of contrast between the variations of
softness and loudness that significantly established the dramatic potential narrative with the
instrumental music as an art form in the late 18th century.10 For example, in the development
section of the first movement, there are two intertwined musical patterns with the contrasts of
crescendos and diminuendos to emphasis the perfectly grasped dynamic control. This
technique ability also taken considerations slurs often appeared in the theme of the first
movement. It is not a tool for interpreting this musical phrase but to carry out the shape of the

7
Ibid, 348
8
Ibid, 348.
9
Ibid, 348.
10
Paul Assis, Experimental Performance Practices: Navigating Beethoven Through Artistic Research.” Music
and Practice 8, No. 1 (2020), 6.
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Tutor: Louis Nicoll
phrase and to move on to the next phrase fluently and smoothly without any feeling of a gap
between them. Articulation of staccato is also a consideration in Beethoven’s music, as he
used these purposefully to indicate the musical context that he was trying to communicate
inside the music.11 For example, before moving towards the Development section, staccatos
applied from bars 155 to 162.
Musical Example 2:

Those indications conveyed a different atmospheric mood the composer trying to create here
and give comparisons with the previously warm and rich touch. 12As a result, this creates an
entirely different interpretation for each performer.

Both journal articles have reflected different musical context and explanation for the first and
second movements. As they include the overall analysis of the Sonata Form and the
performance practice in the grasp of dynamics in the music. The older text from Martha
Frohlich still kept the tradition interpretations of the structure itself, other than borrowing
different musical experiments of understanding the piece from various scholars. In juxtapose
of Frohlich’s text, Paul Assis’s analysis of modern concept interpretations of different
performers have enhanced younger generations for more ideas of musicality and
interpretations from these performances nowadays.

11
Ibid, 10.
12
Ibid, 11.
SID: 510649775
Tutor: Louis Nicoll

Bibliography:

Assis, Paul. “Experimental Performance Practices: Navigating Beethoven Through Artistic

Research.” Music and Practice 8, No. 1 (2020): 1-17.

Frohlich, Martha. “Ideas of Closure, Derivation and Rhythm in the Sketches for the Andante
of Beethoven’s ‘Pastorale’ Sonata Op. 28.” The Journal of Musicology 16, no. 3
(1998): 344–57. https://doi.org/10.2307/763995.

Hammond, Kathryn. “The Sonata Form and its Use in Beethoven's First Seventeen Piano
Sonatas.” Master. Diss., Utah State University, 2001.