The previous two posts introduced the exposition and recapitulation sections of sonata form—the most popular form that Classical composers used to structure the first and final movements of their multi-movement works. The present post covers the remaining section of sonata form: the development. As we will find out, to develop means to “sequence” and to “fragment” material first heard in the exposition.
*Special note: I always recommend reading these posts directly on Substack, as Gmail (among others) truncates posts, or sometimes fails to embed audio properly.*
Of the many folk remedies prescribed for Beethoven’s gradual hearing loss, a hot bath was his favorite. Heiligenstadt—a quaint village just north of Vienna—offered a particularly sumptuous bath experience, and became one of Beethoven’s beloved retreats. When visiting the village, he stayed at the residence shown in the picture above—today, the residence serves as a Beethoven museum.1 Each day, the scruffy-looking composer trudged down the stairs of his village residence for a day of fine dining, enticing drinks, and restorative baths. When it grew dark, he returned home, skittered back up the stairs, and composed into the late hours.
It was during an 1807 retreat in Heiligenstadt that Beethoven wrote much of his Symphony No. 5, which featured in the previous installment of this series. In this post, we will continue focusing on Beethoven’s famous symphony, but with our ears on the development section. First, a quick review of sonata form to situate ourselves.
As you likely remember by now, sonata form comprises three sections:
The exposition and recapitulation present nearly identical material, with a few minor tweaks in the recapitulation:
Between these two sections lies the development, where composers “develop” material first heard in the exposition. Classical composers commonly develop material using sequence and fragmentation, shown in the listening diagram below:
These two techniques frequently occur together, but it will help to begin with sequence on its own.
Sequence: Up the Stairs, Down the Stairs
Like Beethoven moving up and down the stairs of his Heiligenstadt residence, a sequence refers to a musical idea moving up or down in pitch space. You can think of pitch space like musical stairs—higher pitches are steps up, lower pitches are steps down. Let’s hear a simple ascending sequence—a musical idea moving up the stairs:
In the image above, Beethoven is “walking” up the stairs. When a musical idea moves up or down in pitch space we call it transposition. A sequence refers to a musical idea directly transposed to repeat again, higher or lower in pitch space.
The ascending sequence presented in the example above was a very simple skeleton, like my rough sketch of Beethoven walking up the stairs. Great composers flesh out simple sequence skeletons in numerous imaginative ways, creating artistically satisfying results from simple starting points. Consider, for example, this somewhat more fleshed out form of the same ascending sequence skeleton:
Notice I added a descending melodic figure to my original musical idea. Although the musical idea now includes this descending melody, the transposed repetitions of the idea still occur ascending—the overall sequence still moves up the musical stairs. That’s a good tip to keep in mind: don’t worry about melody direction, but rather the overall transposed direction of the musical idea.
Now here’s the virtuosic Frederic Chopin fleshing out the same ascending sequence skeleton, but with a tad more artistry. This excerpt comes from his Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 11, iii.
Descending sequences work the same as ascending sequences, but the musical idea moves down the musical stairs, like this simple example:
And here’s a slightly more elaborate version with a high part added:
And finally, here’s a beautiful rendering of the same descending sequence by Mozart from his Mass in C Minor, “Quoniam”:
Don’t worry too much about hearing precisely whether a sequence ascends or descends; composers’ artistic embellishments can make hearing the direction a bit difficult. Instead, listen for transposed repetitions of musical material—this is sure to be a sequence! But where do composers get their musical material in the first place?
Chunky Sequences: The Technique of Fragmentation
In the development section of sonata form, composers fragment their musical material first heard in the exposition. To fragment means to break the material into smaller chunks. They can fragment theme 1, theme 2, or the transition material from the exposition. These fragments, or “chunks,” then serve as the musical ideas for sequences in the development.
Let’s consider Beethoven’s development from his Symphony No. 5, i, as an example of this process. Since he develops material from the exposition, you’re welcome to listen to the exposition first, provided below. You can also skip this and move straight to the discussion of the development if you prefer.
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5 - Exposition (listen if you like)
The beginning of Beethoven’s development is provided in the next example. Listen a couple times, trying to hear a sequence if you can. What part of the exposition does Beethoven develop here? After listening, I will break down this example in more detail:
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, i - Beginning of Development
Let’s break it down. Beethoven begins his development with two back-to-back “dun-dun-dun-duns”—the famous musical motto so characteristic of the symphony:
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, i - Development (Dun-Dun-Dun-Duns)
Following these, he restates theme 1, first heard at the very beginning of the exposition. To our delight, the theme ends unexpectedly: instead of closing with a cadence, Beethoven uses a chunk—the second half of the theme—as the musical idea for a sequence. To help you listen for this “chunk” that he then sequences, I’ve isolated it below:
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, i - Development (Theme 1 Chunk)
And here’s Beethoven sequencing this chunk downward. Don’t worry if you can’t hear the overall descending direction, as it’s quite embellished. Just enjoy hearing the transposed repetitions of the chunk:
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, i - Development (Sequence of Theme 1 Chunk)
Finally, listen again to the complete opening of Beethoven’s development and enjoy this sequence in context. Remember, first we hear the “dun-dun-dun-dun” idea, then a restatement of theme 1, then a sequence based on a theme 1 chunk:
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5, i - Beginning of Development
Let’s consider one more sequence from Beethoven’s development. He includes even more sequences than this, but no need for us to overdo it.
Following the sequence discussed above, Beethoven leads the music upward to a more climactic series of “dun-dun-dun-duns.” These give way to a new melodic chunk taken from the very end of the transition in the exposition, right before theme 2 enters. To help us out, here’s that chunk from the transition when we first hear it in the exposition. (Hint: listen to the horns).
Beethoven, Symphony No. 5 - Exposition (End of Transition Chunk)
And here’s Beethoven’s sequence in the development based on this chunk. He intersperses some low descending arpeggios between each sequential repetition of this chunk as he moves up the musical stairs:
For brevity’s sake, I’ll leave the remaining sequences for you to hear in the complete version of Beethoven’s development provided below.2 Try listening for repetitions that are transposed (i.e. move up or down) in succession. Consider where this material comes from in the exposition—is it a chunk of theme 1, theme 2, or transition? As always, don’t sweat it too much. Simply enjoy listening in a new way to Beethoven’s intense development:
Returning to Heiligenstadt
Sadly, Beethoven’s Helingenstadt baths did not prevent further hearing loss. Despite this, he continued composing until his death in 1827. As his hearing diminished, he would have relied on his compositional craft to help him work. This craft included the techniques of sequence and fragmentation. Whatever musical ideas Beethoven imagined in his mind he knew how to fragment and transpose these ideas to create sequences. Therefore, even without listening to his music, Beethoven knew how to develop the material for his listeners.
Speaking of listening, this post officially concludes this How to Listen (Classically) series. As a capstone, a bonus listening challenge will be posted in the coming weeks. To prepare for this challenge, listen to the first movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in F Minor, Op. 2, no. 1. Listen as many times as needed to discern the following:
Where the exposition, development, and recapitulation are
How the exposition is structured: theme 1, transition, theme 2, and closing section
What material Beethoven sequences in the development and whether these sequences move up or down
What (if anything) Beethoven alters in his recapitulation and whether there is a coda
Don’t feel you need to answer everything listed here or to achieve perfection in your answers. The challenge should be fun, not tedious. So stop at the first moment you feel like it’s work rather than an enjoyable challenge. In a few weeks I will post the answers to these questions so you can compare your hearing of the piece.
If you’ve enjoyed How to Listen (Classically), stay tuned for the next series: How to Listen (Baroque). Until next time, happy listening!
-E.J. Farnsworth
This location is based on anecdotal evidence, however, so take it with a grain of salt.
If you’re dying to know the number and location of the sequences, there’s four total sequences in the development. The two we covered, plus two more. Here are the time stamps for all four: (1) 0:09-0:20; (2) 0:22-0:28; (3) 0:35-0:44; (4) 0:47-0:56.