The remainder of the exposition features that same blend of propulsion with the occasional bit of impish humor, and comes to end still in the relative major of the second theme, as expected. (MUSIC) This is followed by the development, and again, I think we can all afford the time for me to play it in full. (MUSIC) This may not quite be slow movement level terse, but it’s still pretty terse: 11 bars! Unlike the slow movement, I think this can be categorized only as a development, and in that case, it may well be the shortest development that Beethoven ever wrote. Again: no monkeying around. The modulation from the relative major (MUSIC) back to the tonic (MUSIC) is not a complicated one, and Beethoven doesn’t deploy any of his usual tricks to extend the process and thus enhance the drama: quite to the contrary, the drama is derived from the extreme compression of the material, the lack of breathing room. But by now, short developments in this sonata are old news. What is really interesting about this development is how it ends. (MUSIC) Three repeated notes followed by another note with a fermata? (MUSIC) Sound familiar? (MUSIC) It's way too close to be a coincidence. Not that I think that Beethoven had this sonata in mind when he wrote the 5th Symphony. (The symphony was written much later than the sonata.) I think that Beethoven was simply very drawn to that rhythm and that motive. And that on account of its rhythmic strength and determination, its stubbornness, he associated it with the key of c minor. It is true that a similar idea permeates the first movement of the Appassionata, a work not in c minor, (MUSIC) but the fortissimo dynamic, and the fermata at the end of the gesture make the appearances of the motive in Op. 10 no. 1 and the symphony particularly similar. And, amazingly, this is not the last time Beethoven used this motive in a c minor movement: the c minor scherzo of the so-called "Harp" string quartet is dominated by a motive with an identical rhythmic footprint. It’s unusual for a composer to re-purpose the same gesture so many times, and Beethoven’s attraction to this very defiant gesture, particularly in the context of his beloved c minor, is very revealing.