Beethoven's Eroica

Page 15

Finally we arrive at the second subject. Sir George Grove commented,

"The 'second subject' proper arrives unusually late, but when at length it appears, in the key of B flat, it is a passage of singular beauty --more harmony than melody, and yet who shall say?....Strangely little use is made of this beautiful passage in the working-out. In fact, touching as it is, it only re-appears in its place in the due course of the reprise".

Perhaps Grove suspected this is not the second subject by pointing out its late arrival in the exposition and more importantly, it is never developed. This phrase satisfies none of the criteria for the second subject and Beethoven's treatment of it qualifies it as nothing more than a transitional passage. Returning to Ex. 9, we have a phrase that occurs where the second subject should, a phrase that receives considerable development and even spawns another motive (Ex.11). Examples 9 and 11 collectively represent the second subject and from this point on, when I refer to the second subject, I am referring to Ex.9

and will use italics. For those who prefer the traditional analysis, remember that Ex.14 (top of page) at bar 83 is the long accepted second subject.

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