B.’s 7th Sonata, much like the 11th, is one of those that belongs firmly in the “total masterwork that no-one listens to” category, and is the last of the relatively experimental Op.10 sonatas. For a start: how about the motivic economy of this sonata? Just listen to how often the first 4 notes in the 1st mvt (a simple scalar descent offset by a single beat across a bar line) recur in drastically different guises, or the first 3 notes in the 4th mvt. There is also the sheer wealth of ideas contained in the movements: the first contains between 7 and 12 themes in the exposition alone (depending on how you count), with yet another theme emerging in the development section. The 2nd mvt is one of the most profound and heartbreaking things B. wrote, comparable to the huge glacier of the Hammerklavier’s 3rd and containing some beautiful textures. The 3rd mvt features a punchy trio and a minuet that’s alternately beautifully melodic and very contrapuntal, and the 4th mvt is a marvel of careful construction: it sounds like a movement in continuous development, so cleverly is the main theme (and its recurrent motif) treated, and yet it sounds almost improvisatory.

MVT I, Presto
EXPOSITION
00:00 – Theme 1, opening four-note descending motif (M1) The theme is repeated 4 times, the second time in the LH, the third in broken 6ths, and the fourth with syncopation.
00:20 – Transition Group. New melody in B minor, followed by sequential movement from (iii) to (V).
00:44 – Theme Group 2, Theme 1, opening with M1.
00:55 – Theme Group 2, Theme 2. Note M1 in bass. As the passages progresses M1 becomes more prominent and its inversion appears in the RH, leading to an exquisite modulating sequence where the accent is placed on the last beat of each bar. Bb is reached, and then at 1:10 a strong cadential close on A.
01:16 – Theme Group 2, Theme 3. Based on Theme 1
01:25 – Theme Group 2, Theme 4.
01:32 – Tonic-dominant dialogue on M1, strongly recalling TG2, T2
DEVELOPMENT
03:23 – M1, 4 bars. Theme 1 enters in D min.
03:31 – Modified Theme 1 (rhythm preserved) in Bb
03:36 – Development Theme. D min, Bb, G min, Eb
03:56 – Dominant preparation
RECAPITULATION
04:13 – Theme 1. At 4:24 diverted to E min
04:31 – Transition Group
04:53 – TG 2
CODA
05:42 – TG2, T4 extended for 4 steps
05:45 – Dialogue on M1. G/G min/Bb/Eb. The harmony thickens.
06:09 – Imitative treatment of M1 over tonic pedal
06:13 – Final crescendo over tonic pedal. Bass notes trace augmentation of M1

MVT II, Largo e mesto
06:25 – TG1, T1
07:30 – TG1, T2
08:27 – TG2, T1
09:26 – TG2, T2
DEVELOPMENT
09:53 – Episodic Melody
10:33 – Introduction of new demisemiquaver figuration (x), which alternates with preceding bar
10:46 – Dominant preparation
RECAPITULATION
11:28 – TG1
12:57 – TG2
CODA
14:00 – TG1, T1 in extreme bass. D min, Bb, Eb min, then climbing in chromatic steps
14:46 – (x) over dominant pedal
15:12 – TG1, T1. Closing with Neapolitan flavor, before final cadences with dissonant upper tonic pedal enter and the piece dies away in single notes.

MVT III, Menuetto: allegro
16:50 – Menuet. Second strain using imitative counterpoint at 17:16, and codetta at 17:38
18:18 – Trio.
18:41 – Menuet

MVT IV, Rondo: allegro
19:28 – Theme, containing M1 (F-G-B), which is developed at m.3.
19:48 – Transition
20:01 – Episode 1
20:16 – Theme
20:36 – Episode 2, in sudden Bb. Dialogue on M1 answered in free inversion above. At 20:39 modulating theme appears (Bb, G min, Eb, F min). Note inversion of M1 in RH in m.35, 37, 39. At 20:57 theme appears in F, then pauses before M1 is developed in tonic minor in a sphinxlike chromatic passage.
21:19 – Theme. The transition is diverted to
21:50 – Episode 3, beginning on the dominant of B min, with M1 in inner part. Enharmonic move into 6/4 of Bb. At 22:03 home dominant reached.
22:12 – Theme, with decoration.
22:30 – Coda. Imitative development of M1 in contrary dialogue in RH. At 22:49 M1 in bass, shadowed by RH, then 4 bars of chord preserving M1’s rhythm moving through (bII) to 23:02, with M1 tapering in bass with tonic pedal and semiquaver decoration in RH.

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