Eric McKee
Pennsylvania State University
The first part of the paper attempts to interpret Beethoven's use of the term Maestoso in the first movement of Op. 127 by asking the questions: what did the term Maestoso mean in Beethoven's time, what does it mean in Beethoven's works, and what does it mean in Op. 127? From this discussion I show that Beethoven uses the term Maestoso to signal the musical topic of a French Overture. Beethoven's portrayal of the French overture is, however, undercut by various musical means to the point of failure. From out of the crippled Maestoso seamlessly emerges the Allegro section. In stark contrast, the Allegro suggests the topic of the pastoral, but one elevated in stature by the use of a contrapuntal texture and continuous motivic development and expansion. The juxtaposition of these topics creates an expressive plot: emergence and growth from stagnation and decline. Examination of the dynamic Opposition between these topics provides a conceptual framework from which to interpret the formal and expressive discourse of the entire movement.
The topic of the French overture typically signifies a high aristocratic style. The pastoral, on the other hand, signifies a lower style often associated with nature and/or people of the lower classes. The final part of the paper explores Beethoven's reversal of the structural status of these two topics and what that reversal might suggest in terms of extramusical interpretations of the movement (e.g., decline of the ancien régime and the rise and growth of a democratic and egalitarian middle class).