The second movement of Beethoven’s Sonata #8 in C Minor, Op 13, “Pathetique” : II Adagio cantabile is a wonderfully expressive piece which rises from the depths of despair to the birth of hope and new life and strength. The sonata as a whole moves from a ponderous beginning movement which uses lots of pauses and hesitations to layer themes one upon another making the whole a strongly morose piece, even when the tempo quickens to almost a frantic pace. The second movement picks up where the first ended on a very dark and sad note in a minor key followed by a frantic rising arpeggio that suddenly falls and stops right there.
The second movement picks up almost on the ending note of the first, needing no transition. It uses very evenly spaced notes, as opposed to the very dramatic pacing of the first movement, which blend together masterfully to produce three harmonious melody lines. The first is the undercurrent of the sets of four notes, with every other note creating the second melody line. Then the fourth note of every set is the actual melody.
The composer then moves up the keyboard to repeat the pattern in a higher octave thirty-six seconds into the piece. However, the pattern is varied by the secondary notes which are now a pattern of 1-2-3-1 instead of 2-1-2-1, creating a nice lighter variation on the first pattern. The last two phrases include a rising arpeggio on the lower notes which enriches the harmony and provides a second rhythm, ending in an almost light five note group that rolls upwards gently.
I believe that the composer was providing a lighter interlude between the morose first movement and the almost frantic third movement, to lull the listener into a contented peaceful state after the wrenching first movement and before the powerful ending movement. It is almost a breathing exercise as this movement begins, but it quickens its pace, though more gently than the other movements. Throughout, the second movement is more evenly paced than the other two, almost like a rocking song, faster than slow ponderous notes of the theme notes of the first movement, but slower than what will follow.
At about 1:15 the recuperative bridge builds up to the third variation of the first theme. Then it gently picks up pace as sets of triple notes underscore the second bridge which leads us into the fourth variation of the first theme, but it has moved into double bottom notes in pizzicato, punctuated by the rising arpeggios as before. It is followed with a lovely building melody using the same tripl note style, but the bottom two notes which sound the second and third note of the triples is underscored this time by a falling arpeggio, almost turning it upside down. The movement finally ends upon a melodic little grace note phrase, almost as if some little bird were beginning to sing us into morning.
The gentle ending of the very complex, yet thematic second movement lulls the audience into a sense of safety, preparing them for the surprise third movement which takes off at a speedy pace to build flowering bouquets of sound, punctuated by bursts of strong accent chords. It is interesting that this movement provides a blending of contrast and cohesion as it always returns to a variation upon the beginning theme. The contrast is most apparent in the bridges and the wonderful variations upon this beginning theme make this movement my favorite, in spite of the power of the other two.
Without the second movement, this sonata would fail utterly, since it is this movement which provides the breathing space between the other very powerful movements. It provides the contrast that makes us feel as if we have been on a journey with the composer through sequential dreams. It began almost with a shock, and the second movement is needed to reassure the audience that the world is not coming down around their ears.
Like a good story, this sonata has a beginning, middle and an ending. As with stories, the middle makes the transition from the opening to the climax and serves to build the rapport with the audience. We are lulled into a sense of well-being by the wonderfully complex blending of melody in the very nicely paced second movement, perfectly setting us up for the denouement of the last movement. So many things in life seem to be this way. We need the contrast and variation to enrich everything we do.