(MUSIC) So, with one long sequence based on the opening theme dispensed with, we embark on another long sequence, more intense still, based on the triplet passage from the second theme area. (MUSIC) The second theme itself, as I mentioned, is passed over entirely: in the sonata, it functions as a respite, and we don’t get any respite in the development. (MUSIC) Phew! In that passage, by my count, we traverse no fewer than seven different keys! The first several of them were major ones, but eventually we cycle through E-flat minor, B minor, C minor…! Again, for a piece that is in C Major – on its surface, the sunniest of keys – the predominance of the darkness is quite remarkable. At the juncture where I stopped, we land on a G (MUSIC). This, of course, is the dominant of C major (MUSIC) – even with the second theme of the sonata shifted to the mediant, the return is always going to be V-I: changing that would cause the whole edifice of the sonata form to simply collapse. But what’s really arresting is that this G acts as a V chord not of C major, but of C minor! (MUSIC) We’ve come to the point where we are clearly preparing the return, the recapitulation, and Beethoven is still obsessively sticking with the minor mode! Only after six bars on this G, does the minor start pivoting towards major, but when it does, it comes with a fit of momentum, which launches us back to the opening. (MUSIC) After this (MUSIC) and this (MUSIC), and this (MUSIC) the return leaves us as relieved as we are exhilarated. The relief is short-lived, though. The tenuousness of the major mode is simply built into the material. The recapitulation is, at first, absolute literal, which means C minor reasserts itself within measures. (MUSIC) I would argue that the context – all of that minor key questing in the development-- has made it seem even darker this time around.