The main theme returns again and again, each time changed: almost unaltered, then thickened, then as a fugato, then ornate. Around these returns stand a second theme, a development and a coda, the outline of a sonata form. The piece can also be heard as a free form, and both readings hold.
The theme sets out from F minor and moves on each time to A♭ major and then B♭ minor, closing firmly in both and rarely finding its way back. The first firm cadence at home comes only at the end of the development.
There is no arch and no single climax. The loudest marks, the widest spacing and the fullest textures are gathered in the last stretch of the piece, and the coda carries more weight than any earlier section.
Quiet repeated notes in F major, a gentle opening that never touches the darker notes of the minor key.
The main theme and its first two variations, an episode between them, and a song-like second theme in B♭ major, reached through a hushed chorale.
A sequence that climbs by step until it finally lands home, then a lyrical episode in A♭ major.
The introduction returns away from home, the theme becomes a fugato and then a final, ornate variation, and the second theme comes back a third higher, in D♭ major, before the climax.
A dense, driving close in F minor that gathers the fullest and widest-spaced music of the piece and at last confirms the home key.
Further guides are in preparation. Leave your email below to hear when the next one is published.
Analysis and study materials published as they appear.