The third movement in Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op. The 13th is a great example of the sonata-rondo. It is a good example of a sonata-rondo hybrid, as it combines elements from both forms. The piece completes all four rotations, as per the Hepokoski-Darcy model. It also includes a coda.
Hepokoski & Darcy call it the Prf. The theme-refrain appears four times in the entire piece. The Prf theme begins with an alternating period in millimeters. 1-8. The preceding phrase for this period is mm. The m.4 beat is the half-cadence at the end of 1-4. Mm. The following phrase is 5-8, which concludes with an authentic cadence. Prf continues into mm. The phrase is restated in mm. 9-12. In m.12, the restatement ends in an elided authentic perfect cadence and continues with a codetta until m.17.
The first rotate then proceeds to the episode. It contains a modulating tempo space, a secondary motif, and an ending space that transforms into a transition. The transition starts with tonalization of global subdominant F minor. 18-21. These measures feature the progression V4/2 — i6 — V6/5 — I in F-minor. M. 22 accompanied by a V4/2 major chord. Mm. 22-24 include a short dominant locking in E-flat Major.
On the downbeat of the m, there is a brief moment where the lights are turned off. In mm., there is an abrupt darkness. The melody abruptly switches to E-flat major in m. 30-34. In m.35 however, the melody switches back to E.flat.major and continues on in a confidently jaunty manner, reaching an authentic E.flat.major cadence by m.43. This cadence closes the first scene in the most essential way. It also marks the beginning of m.
The first space for closing starts with a parallel mm period. 44-51. The phrase preceding it spans mm. The antecedent phrase spans mm. The subsequent phrase is mm. 48-51. This phrase concludes with an authentic perfect cadence elided at the downbeat in m. The elided rhythm begins to clarify the retransition area in mm. 52. 51-57 is slightly deformed to the typical sonata-rondo style, however. However, 51-57 has a slight deformation to the sonata-rondo-style. Beethoven uses material from mm. The retransition uses mm. 37-39. The retransition finishes in m.61. With an active dominant on the home note.
In the second rotation, you will repeat all of Prf in millimeters. 62-78. The second or developing episode begins at m. 79. It is a parallel modulating period. The preceding phrase is mm. The key of 79-82, which is global submediant A-flat, ends with the half-cadence at the third beat on m. The subsequent phrase is mm. The phrase spans mm. Mm. The themes of mm. The 79 to 86 period is very close to a restatement of previous periods. Mm. 99-106 use a third species lock, which leads to a dominant mm. 107-120. This dominant retransition lock ends with the piece’s 3rd rotation.
The third, or recapitulation rotation, starts with a repetition of the Prf, this time in m. The Prf starts the same way as before, but with a parallel mm period. It ends with an authentic cadence that is perfectly authentic in m. 1-8. The phrase that follows begins with mm. 128, however, dissolves. In mm, the voices are inverted. 128-134: The left hand plays the material which was played by the other hand. The phrase concludes in m.134 by a half-cadence. From there, the second theme is played without a transition.
The first rotation secondary theme in mm is 135-139. The third secondary rotation theme, which corresponds to mm. 25-29. The crux of the theme is found at m.143. The crucial structural closure is at m.153, with a perfect authentic C-minor cadence.
The space for closing begins in mm. In mm, a similar structure of periodicity is seen in 44-51. 154-161. Mm. 154-157 are the first three notes of an antecedent phrase, in C-minor. Mm. The 158-161 do not form an authentic cadence, and instead proceed straight to the retransition.
In m.171, the last rotation begins with a restatement complete of the Prf. At first it might appear that the m. 178 dissolution is incomplete. However, a closer look reveals that mm. It is not a new statement, but a restatement with embellishments of what was previously stated in the correspondence. 9-12. The measures 182-186 are a codetta for the main theme refrain. The codetta in this measure is different from the one in mm. 13-17 have a two-fold purpose in the exhibition. The codetta in the Prf finale is “elided”, and it acts also as the first 4 measures of a final coda.
The coda is based on mm. 182-210. The first sentential structure spans mm. The first sentence structure is mm long. The cadence is perfect in 186. Next, the sentential structure is mm. The next sentential structure spans mm. In m.198, a prominent D flat major chord is heard, also known as the Neapolitan C minor chord. This is the pivot chord that will be used to modulate into A-flat minor, global subdominant. Mm. Beethoven’s A-flat major continues from 198-206. In mm. 202-206. In m.207, the melody shifts abruptly back into its original key with a German enhanced sixth chord in C-minor. The piece closes with an i6/4 V7-i progression. The home key is solidified one final time at 208-210.
