Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60 - II. Adagio

this is the other movement i would be expected to conduct if i made it to the third round this weekend.

this movement is classic sonata form. the dotted rhythmic cell introduced by the seconds is something that goes on through almost the whole thing. over that we have a songful primary theme in Eb major introduced by the firsts. this whole phrase is reiterated by the flute (and a wind chorale accompanying it).
there is a bridge which modulates us to the key of the second theme. this bridge features swelling string arpeggios, and the modulation begins after a G7 chord leads us to C minor; then F7 into Bb, the dominant key and key of the second theme. the secondary theme is a stretched out line played by the clarinet over diminished arpeggios rising in the strings. everyone joins in, and a wind chorale voices repeated chords over a river of gentle string notes. but the rhythmic cell which exists this whole time in the basses grows to overtake the entire orchestra, and we cadence back in Eb to begin the development.

the development sounds like the first theme, with some triplet ornamentation. but instead of the winds reiterating this time, we get a gigantic dramatic e-flat minor chord, which sinks and sinks, step by step, diatonically in e-flat minor. at last we end up with a wandering motif in the lonely firsts which is outlined by a D7 chord. where are we going anyway? it turns out after an exchange between violin sections that stretches out this D7 chord forever, we are going to Gb Major, which is rather far away. he teases us with a trace of the opening rhythm and snatches of the opening bar of the main theme, but then with a small alteration of a half step interval, the horns can outline an e-flat chord and pave the way for a flute to rise, bringing us back to the intended wind statement of the theme in e-flat.

this second statement of the main theme of course goes on to "redevelop" the harmony so that the clarinet can put its second theme in the right key this time. all is well right up through the coda, which allows a gentle e-flat major arpeggio to rise up through the winds and to the violins, which rapidly crescendoes into a grandiose end.

i found a szell recording of this on youtube but it was so fast i decided not to post it. here instead is some of one of my favorite conductors ever (who only ever agreed to record/publicly perform very very few works, so it's always great when one finds recordings by him).

you can even watch the little analysis which goes on on the bottom... :P