Trasmutazione di un archetipo e sue conseguenze nel I movimento della Sonata op. 110 di Beethoven

The paper focuses on the beginning of Beethoven’s Sonata op. 110. The main hypothesis is that the first measures derive from the transformation of a pre-existent melodic structure, typically classical and very frequent in Beethoven’s first period. I demonstrate that the beginning of op. 110 has a particular shape: the synthesis of presentation and introduction functions, here found, is a classical topos, but I suggest that these functions are touched by transformations since the very beginning. As a matter of fact, the first part of the Sonata is understandable only considering it as derived, by elision and transformation, from an “absent” group of four measures. The analysis of the development confirms this hypothesis and allows to reconsider in this light the entire first movement. The whole analysis suggests that Beethoven’s evolution is coherent in itself and in the terms of classical style; on the contrary, it discourages a thesis of continuity between late Beethoven’s style and Romanticism. I conclude by showing how two greatest Beethoven interpreters of twentieth century — Schnabel and Backhaus — underline features relied to the particular shape of the first movement, producing two different performances, though both in accordance with formal implications.

Keywords: Beethoven, Archetype, Beginning, Transformation, Performance