On to the development. I think this time, I’ll play first, then talk. (MUSIC) One of the reasons I decided to play the development in its entirely, which I usually don’t, is that it’s so short – just about 60 measures in total. Without getting ahead of myself, I will just say that this is a bit of a unifying thread between all of the movements in this sonata. But aside from that, this economical development very much belongs in this movement: at just about every point, we are being pulled towards the next section, the next idea, without ever stopping to smell the roses. It’s interesting that in this very tightly focused, no-monkeying around development, a lot of the material is actually new, rather than being rooted in the exposition. This theme (MUSIC), which then becomes the basis of this sequence (MUSIC), is nowhere to be found in the exposition. You could argue that it is loosely based on that bridge passage (MUSIC) – the curves of the melodic line are similar – but really, this is a brand new theme. It’s a good demonstration of just how much material –how many ideas – Beethoven manages to pack into a movement without ever stopping to catch his breath. So, we’re already more than halfway through this movement, and you may have noticed that I’ve scarcely said a word about harmony, which I think may be a first! But really, in this movement, rhythm, pulse and other questions of pacing are much more the main sources of tension and drama. There are quite a lot of diminished chords (MUSIC), which always bring sturm und drang, but they are generally approached in an orderly fashion – they may be intense, but they are not surprising. Harmony is always important, but character in music is drawn from other elements as well. But there is one moment in the development where suddenly the harmony is front and center. The end of the development – the move towards the recapitulation – features a long dominant pedal. (MUSIC) It’s just the way we expect the return of c minor and the opening to be approached. Directly before this, though, there is a suspension which creates what is by far the most jarring dissonance of the entire piece. (MUSIC) That chord (MUSIC) has four notes in it. It’s a bit difficult to hear, as it’s in several different registers, but the four notes of that chord are as follows: (MUSIC) It’s the harmonic version of teeth gnashing, and the fact that it comes in the midst of a movement that is otherwise not really concerned with harmony as a source of drama, that makes it more so.