Movement I - Measures 16 to 22

Beethoven makes quite a few changes in measures 16 to 22, the end of the modulating bridge:

In my transcription, I had to raise the tenor part an octave to keep it in the range of the viola. And I had to make some adjustments to the chords at the end. But this is reasonably close to the piano version.

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The most noticeable change Beethoven makes is to abandon the alternating dynamics. In the piano version, these alternating dynamics throw you off balance by emphasizing beat three of each measure. In the string version, he accomplishes the same thing by adding a sforzando in all four parts to beat three of each measure.

He also makes something explicit in the string version that is only implicit in the piano version, namely that the odd and even measures are identical except for revoicing. That is, the four beats beginning with beat three of measure 18 are identical to the preceding four beats except that the parts are switched around. The first violin takes the viola part an octave higher, the second violin takes the first violin part, and the viola takes the first violin part an octave lower. You can hear this in the piano version even though some notes are left out, most notably the sixteenth notes in measure 18.

Another change Beethoven makes is to increase the tension by bringing the repeated Gs in the bass up an octave in measure 19, then up another octave in measure 20. And, at the the end of measure 20, he effects the climax by articulating the sixteenth-note figure in all three upper parts. You couldn't really do this on the piano unless you had seven fingers on your right hand.

If you listen to both samples, you can hear that the transcription sounds smoother and less animated. This is partly due to the sforzandos in Beethoven's arrangement. But it is also due to the added rests. The inner voices in the piano part and the transcription are mostly half notes. In the arrangement, Beethoven ends the sixteenth-note figure in the alto part with a staccato and a rest. He also adds a rest to both inner parts at the beginning of measure 19. This isn't really practical on the piano, but it gives a much cleaner sound in strings.

Finally, we have the two punctuating chords at the end, which Beethoven now marks as fortissimo. Of necessity, he must raise the bass part an octave. Perhaps this is another reason Beethoven chose to bring the cello part up in the preceding measures, since it allows a dramatic two-octave descent to the low G. Beethoven also raises the soprano an octave in the first chord, allowing a forceful quadruple stop in the violin part. In the final chord, the middle voices are dropped, leaving octave Gs, a change sufficiently obvious that I employed it in my "literal" transcription as well.

All in all, the string version of this passage is much more effective than the piano version. One senses Beethoven had this version in mind from the start and made concessions when he wrote the piano sonata.

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