THE SKETCHES FOR THE FIRST MOVEMENT OF BEETHOVEN'S SEVENTH SYMPHONY. (VOLUMES I-III)

This dissertation can be viewed as a rather extensive annotation of the sketch transcriptions. It is the purpose of the text to justify those transcriptions and to consider the ideas embodied in the sketches.;The general layout of the dissertation is suggested by the material itself. The first chapter considers the physical reconstruction of the sketchbook and its internal and external chronology; each succeeding chapter considers one section of the movement in depth. Each of the latter chapters begins with an analytical discussion of the finished work, to refresh the reader's memory of the piece and to raise issues that will also be discussed in connection with its evolution.;As in any such study, the ultimate goal is to reconstruct, insofar as possible, Beethoven's compositional thought process, identifying the issues that he considered and his responses to them. In this dissertation, an attempt is made to portray both the overall pattern of Beethoven's work as he shifted from one passage to another and the evolution of each individual section of the composition. As attention shifts from questions of local melodic detail to larger structural concerns, the discussion similarly changes its focus to reflect the evolution of the piece.