Beethoven's Uses of Silence

Beethoven's uses of silence
Author(s): BARRY COOPER

Source: The Musical Times, Vol. 152, No. 1914 (SPRING 2011), pp. 25-43
Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.
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BARRY COOPER
within music has been the focus of much attention in recent
years, including a whole book on the subject,' but its use by Beethoven
Silence
has never been examined in depth, despite the extraordinary range
and variety of ways in which he exploited it. Here is not the place for a
or aesthetic discussion of what constitutes silence, nor of the
philosophical
ways in which different sorts of silence might be classified; and certain types,
such as those that routinely occur between staccato notes, can be disregarded
for present Instead the aim is to investigate the range of contexts

purposes.
in which Beethoven exploited silence in unusual or original ways an aspect
of his style that is generally overlooked.
In order to appreciate Beethoven's inventiveness in this area, let us recall
how silence had been used in earlier music. It was one of two types,
generally
'structural' or 'dramatic'. A 'structural' silence is one that occurs between
sections of a work or between individual phrases. Such silences, which
occur on weak beats or half-beats, are and generally

usually commonplace
merit no attention. By contrast a 'dramatic' silence can occur in the
special
middle of a phrase, as well as at the end of one, and it consists of delaying
the continuation for a kind of
expected expressive purposes metrically
that intensifies the power of what follows. It
disruptive pregnant pause
will either unexpectedly prolong a structural silence or else intrude in mid
by occurring on a strong beat, and its effect is increased if

phrase, generally
notes have occurred on the previous weak beat or part-beat.
Silences were also used occasionally by early composers in other contexts,

for pictorial or narrative in vocal music to depict the idea
usually purposes
of silence. This could be as brief as a short rest to represent a in the
gasp
middle of a word, or a longer silence, as in Mozart's Cost fan tutte (act 2
scene 5), where the disguised Guglielmo is completely at a loss for what to
say to Dorabella once he realises she is willing to go for a walk with him.
Humorous silences can also appear in instrumental works, such as at the end
of Haydn's 'Joke' Quartet op.33 no.2, where Haydn (whose uses of silence
also deserve extended investigation) writes a three-bar rest before the final
phrase, to lure the audience into thinking that the work has finished.
Beethoven used all these of silence dramatic and
types structural,
pictorial. One of his most notable examples of pictorial silence, for example,
i. Nicky Losseff & Jenny occurs in the dungeon scene in his opera Fidelio, at the words 'Gott! welch'
Doctor, edd.: Silence, music,
Dunkel hier! O grauenvolle Stille!' ('God! What darkness here! O horrible
silent music (Aldershot,
2007). silence!'). At this point the silence operates on several levels. As well as simply
THE MUSICAL TIMES Spring 2011

Beethovenuses of silence
representing itself, it is the aural equivalent of the 'darkness' mentioned; and
it is a truly 'horrible silence', where Florestan feels surrounded by nothing

completely alone, isolated, cut off. And this silence of isolation resembles
what Beethoven himself was at that time, from his encroaching
experiencing
deafness. As Alan Tyson has pointed out, if one substitutes 'deafness' for
'darkness' here, the text begins to resemble phrases from the Heiligenstadt
Testament, where Beethoven laments 'I heard nothing'.2 However, deafness
as non-perception of sound is not the same thing as true silence, the absence
of sound, which can be used very positively to communicate meaning or
emotion.' Moreover, Beethoven's use of silence at this point in Fidelio is not

for there are three other operas from this period based
particularly original,

on the same subject by Pierre Gaveaux, Ferdinando Paer and Simon Mayr
and in all three of them the orchestra is
provided with a pictorial silence
at this point.4 More are Beethoven's many uses of silence
interesting, surely,
for more unusual those that are not merely
2. Alan Tyson: 'Beethoven's purposes structural, dramatic,
heroic phase', in The Musical or pictorial have one or more of these functions
silences, though they may
Times vol. no no.1512 (1969),
too. Often they are so complex or individual that they resist straightforward
pp.13941, here P-M1
classification.
3. See 'Introduction' in
Losseff & Doctor, edd.:
Silence, p.i. was actually very interested in the concept of silence. In
4. See Helga Liihning: his Tagebuch of 181218 (a notebook that he used for all kinds of
'Florestans Kerker in
Beethoven
ideas) he copied down in 1813 a verse quotation from Herder, based
Rampenlicht: zur Tradition
des Sotterraneo', in Helga on the ancient Persian poet Sa'di:
Liihning and Sieghard

Lerne schweigen o Freund. Dem Silber gleichet die Rede
Brandenburg, edd.:
Beethoven ^wischen Revolution aber zu rechter Zeit schweigen ist lauteres Gold.
und Restauration (Bonn,
1989), pp.137204, where all (Learn to keep silent, O friend. Speech is like silver
three versions of this passage but to keep silent at the right time is pure gold.)5
are quoted on pp. 18189.
He remained fascinated this text and in 1816

5. Maynard Solomon: by eventually January
'Beethoven's Tagebuch of composed a three-voice puzzle canon for it ('Das Schweigen' W0O168
18121818', in Alan Tyson,
no.i; see ex.i), having sketched possible settings in at least four places,
ed.: Beethoven Studies 3
(Cambridge, 1982), pp. 193 a uniquely total for a canon of his.6 In the version as
high monophonic
285; here p.215 (entry no.5). whole-bar rest in bar
written, the 9 between the crucial word 'schweigen'
6. See Hans Schmidt: and its repetition in bar 10 is striking for being extremely long in proportion
'Verzeichnis der Skizzen
to the composition as a whole and to the rush of syllables in bar 8. Although
Beethovens', in Beethoven
Jahrbuch 6 (196568), pp.7 this might appear to be merely a standard pictorial silence, there is actually
128, items 70, 187, 364, 389. involved. When the canon is resolved into three
much greater subtlety
7. A resolution into the voices7 there is no silence but a reduction in texture from
complete just
three voices is printed in
Alexander Wheelock Thayer three voices to two; such canons, however, were designed mainly not for
(rev. Hermann Deiters & audiences to listen to but for three companions
to sing with and to each
Hugo Riemann): Ludwig van
other. Thus each singer in turn experiences a bar of silence, with the
Beethovens Leben (Leipzig,
1907-1923), vol.3,p.533. purpose being to listen to the others. A wise man, supposedly the Greek

Ex.i: Beethoven: 'Das Schweigen' W0O168/1
Assai sostenuto
r r
Ler ne, ler - ne schwei-gen, o Freund! DemSil-ber glei

- chetdie Re - de,
mm
a - ber zu rech-terZeit schwei-gen, schwei-genist lau-te-resGold, lau-te-res Gold.
Epictetus, once observed: 'Nature has given us two ears, but

philosopher
one mouth.'8 The is that one should listen far more than
only message
one Silence, in the sense of not speaking, is therefore valuable for
speaks.
what one can learn from it by listening intently Although Beethoven is not
known to have read the sayings of Epictetus, he clearly concurred with these
sentiments, for in 1817 he noted in his Tagebuch a Latin proverb conveying

a similar idea: Audi multa, loquerepauca ('Hear much, speak little').9 Thus
his whole-bar rest in the canon invites each in turn to listen rather
singer
than just 'speaking' continuously. Another Tagebuch entry (no>94C, 1816)
is also relevant: '5 jahriges Stillschweigen sind den kiinftigen Braminen im
Kloster aufgelegt' ('Five years of silence are required of future Brahmans
in the monastery'). This suggests that being silent is something that has
to be learnt and practised, and it significant that, although in Beethoven's
earliest sketch for 'Das he placed a long rest after the first two
Schweigen'
words ('Lerne schweigen'),10 he later decided to leave the long rest until the
8. The origin of the saying, second 'schweigen', which implies a learning process after a failure to be
which can be found in
silent at the first 'schweigen'.
various forms, is generally
attributed to Epictetus, Since Beethoven held deep of the value of silence, it is
appreciation
though it is not found in hardly that he the effect of or
surprising exploits prolonged unexpected
the main body of his work
transmitted from antiquity; rests in other unusual ways. Often the purpose is to intensify emotion, and
see Hastings Crossley, tr. & here the of silence is that, unlike actual it can be
advantage many sounds,
ed.: The golden sayings of
used with a great variety of different emotions. A relatively straightforward
Epictetus (London, 1903),
appendix A no.VI. example occurs at the start of the slow movement of the Piano Sonata in Eb,
(ex.2). Here the mood to be one of calm and stillness;

9. Solomon: 'Beethoven's op.7 appears great
Tagebuch', p.265 (entry after a very energetic first movement, there are of grand, slow chords.
pairs
no.115).
If each pair had been separated by just a rest in 2/4 metre, the result
quaver
10. Krakow, Biblioteka
would have been effective but ordinary. Instead Beethoven the
prolongs
Jagiellonska, Mendelssohn
1 ( Schmidt, 'Verzeichnis', rests, making them as long as the actual motifs. Such intensive use of silence
item 70), p.22, quoted in is highly unusual, and its powerful evocation of a sense of ineffable stillness
Gustav Nottebohm: Zweite
Beethoveniana
and contemplation provides a good illustration of how inadequate the
(Leipzig,
1887), p.317. 'absence of sound' can be as a of silence.
phrase description

Largo con gran espressione
4* X '
jji j'= 4^ a
i0 r ^
t): X -MjS .. ;
i 4 =^=1 .. ^ i ~; ->=44 *1 ik'
-4 Hf %
G? tj k# #W% d J
Ex.2: Beethoven: Piano Sonata op.7, II, opening
Grave
Ex.3: Beethoven: Pathetique Sonata op. 13,1, bars 295-97
The first movement of Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata has an even more
striking use of silence. The slow introduction begins with a series of heavy
chords, each followed by a short dotted figure. In the coda, however,
the chords are replaced by extended rests (bars 29597: see ex.3), giving
prolonged periods of silence that greatly intensify the poignancy of the

pathos indicated in the title of the sonata. It is as if the protagonist is too
shocked to speak: there is no longer a groan of as in the opening
despair,
chords, but stunned silence. And are of

just they incredibly long periods
silence, for the second and third of these rests normally last about four
seconds each so that some are to cut them short.

long pianists tempted
It is worth here Monteverdi's Orfeo: when Orpheus is informed
recalling
of Euridice's death he becomes 'like a speechless rock' ('muto sasso') so
that it cannot lament. Monteverdi seven beats

overcome by sadness provides
of silence, accompanied only by a single held chord, before Orpheus can
bring himself to sing anything." The protagonist in Beethoven's Pathetique

Sonata seems to become overcome sadness in ex.3, and the
similarly by
of the silences louder of his emotional state than
pathos resulting speaks
number of words or notes could.
any
Sometimes sadness can signify a more gradual mental disintegration.
Here Beethoven introduces rests that break a melodic line to
usually up
intensify a sense of emotionally and perhaps almost physically falling apart;

ii. Claudio Monteverdi: a staggering towards death. A striking early example occurs in bars 4043
L'Orfeo, favola in musica, of the slow movement of his Sonata 10 a movement
ed. Denis Stevens (London, op. no.3 (see ex.4),
marked 'mesto' sad or mournful. It is noteworthy that in the
I968), pp.5657 specifically

Ex.4: Beethoven: Piano Sonata op.io no.3, II, bars 40-43
sketches the texture shows only demisemiquaver rests, suggesting gasps,

as at the beginning of bar 41 in ex.4.12 Beethoven decided later
obviously
that the emotion needed to be heightened by introducing much longer rests,
as in the final version (bars 41-42). The mourner has become
completely
exhausted and needs silence before the mourning can resume. There is a
similar disintegration of the melody, for somewhat the same at the

purpose,
end of the slow movement ('Marcia funebre') of the Eroica (bars
Symphony
23844). Other examples occur in a passage marked 'ermattet, klagend'
('exhausted, lamenting', bars 116134) in the finale of the Piano Sonata in Ai>
op. no, and in a section marked 'beklemmt' bars 4246)
('heart-oppressed',
in the Cavatina in his String Quartet in Bb op. 130. In each case the melody
staggers, with intermittent silences or gasps that are not merely articulation
silences similar to staccato notes but real, expressive ones, always falling
on the beat as in ex.4 and at several levels, the
operating representing gasps
of the 'singer', the physical exhaustion, and the underlying emotional
disintegration.
Beethoven could equally use silence to intensify humour rather than
sadness, as in his variations on Laddie' for flute and

'Bonny op. 107 no.2,
piano. Here the Scottish theme ends on the leading-note on the last quaver of
a bar. Such an ending is not problematical within Scottish traditional music,

but in a Classical-style setting it sounds ridiculous, and Beethoven pokes
12. The relevant sketches
are in the 'Kafka' Sketch fun at it by accenting the final chord of the theme and adding a complete
Miscellany, London, British bar of silence before variation 1 (ex.5). Haydn had, of course, used rests in a
Library, Add. 29801, f. 157r;
see Joseph Kerman, ed.: humorous in his 'Joke' Quartet, as mentioned earlier; but there the joke
way
Ludwig van Beethoven: lies in the sudden reappearance of the music after the silence, which therefore
autograph miscellany from
anticipates the joke. In 'Bonny Laddie', however, Beethoven uses the silence
circa iy86 to 1J99 (London,
1970), vol.2, p.21. to intensify a farcical ending that was already in the and is
present melody

Var.i
T T T T
frf" r
r-i i lj nr"T
fY y r y r
"Wt?A
sr r rj
Ex.5: Beethoven: 'Bonny Laddie' Variations op.107, no.2, bars 1319
reinforced by the unstable dominant seventh in the Instead of

harmony.
the expected and essential resolution there is a deafening silence.
seemingly
Without it the effect would be much less comical.
As well as using silence to intensify emotion, Beethoven also used it to
indicate complete absence of emotion. This occurs in his music for the ballet
Die Geschopfe des Prometheus, which two statues that Prometheus

portrays
has just brought to life as his children. Most of the detailed scenario for
the ballet is lost, but in the first number Beethoven wrote it out in his
sketchbook, matching it up with the music he was sketching. The sketch

takes the form of an extended draft of over a hundred bars for this scene,
with the following text more or less aligned with the notes:
1) The two statues go slowly over the stage out of the

background.
2) Prometheus comes to himself, heads towards the field, and

gradually
goes into raptures as he sees his plan has turned out so well; he rejoices
inexpressibly over it, stands up and signals to the children to stand still.
3) They turn slowly and unfeelingly towards him.

[4] Prometheus continues his address to them, which expresses his
divine fatherly love for them, and instructs them (gives them a sign) to
approach him.
[5] They look at him unfeelingly and turn towards a tree, whose great
size they contemplate.
[6] Prometheus begins to lose his courage again, becomes anxious and
sad. He goes up to them, takes them by the hand, and leads them himself
to the front of the stage. He explains to them that are his work, that
they
they belong to him, that they must be grateful to him; kisses and caresses
13. See Karl Lothar Mikulicz,
ed.: Ein Notierungsbuch von them.
Beethoven aus dem Besit^e der
[7] However, still unfeeling, they just shake their heads from time to
Preussischen Staatsbibliothek
time and show themselves completely indifferent, groping around here
iu Berlin (Leipzig, 1927),
PP-73-75 and there the whole time.'3

In each of the third, fifth and seventh sections the statues are described
as 'unempfindlich' unfeeling or insensitive, lacking any emotion; and in

each passage the sketch shows a melody by rests, as
repeatedly interrupted
happens also in the opening bars where the statues For the final
emerge.
version of this number Beethoven changed the music from his
completely
draft, but the same sectional structure is still present and so it is

possible
to match up the above scenario with the score, as has been observed by
Constantin Floros.'4 Floros argues that it is the lack of melody that suggests
absence of emotion, but in fact the one element that survives in the music
from sketch to final version is the silences, which in the

frequent appear
same sections. Ex.6 shows the first three sections, in Beethoven's own piano
arrangement, with the original German text from his sketch added beneath,
and the relationship is plain to see: he was clearly indicating emotional
stiffness and insensitivity in the statuesque children by placing silences
between almost every chord. The passages for Prometheus himself, by
contrast, have no such silences.
some of his works Beethoven uses silence in a slightly different way:

as a turning-point in the emotional trajectory. It can be seen as a moment
IN of stunned silence in
response to a surprise, after which things are never
the same. When children are up to some mischief and suddenly realise they
are being observed and will be in trouble, there is a moment of shocked
silence before the storm breaks. Alternatively there could be a moment of
surprise as in slapstick humour, where everyone needs a moment of silence
to take things in before the laughter begins. Beethoven learnt to exploit this
device of silence as turning-point early in his career, notably in his Variations
on Dittersdorf's 'Es war einmal' WoO66 (1792). In Dittersdorf's theme
the central cadence in the dominant is split in two with a whole-bar rest
(ex.7a), but there is no of character or after

plus pause change figuration
the cadence. In the variations, however, Beethoven the silence in
exploits
quite new ways, making what comes after it strikingly different from the
material before. In variation 5, for example, there is a sudden from a
change
resolute 2/4 to a gentle, lilting 6/8 metre after the silence, while in variation
9 (ex.7b) surging energy in semiquavers gives way after the silence to a

dramatic change of register and dynamic in a somewhat static Andantino
section (before the return a few bars later). The whole work
semiquavers
is therefore thoroughly whimsical, as the listener is repeatedly left guessing
what will happen after each silence. Finally Beethoven catches everyone
14. Constantin Floros:

out by placing an extra whole-bar rest in the wrong place in variation 12,
Beethovens Eroica und
splitting the final cadence as well as the central cadence, and following the
Prometheus-Musik
(Wilhelmshaven, 1978), unexpected rest not with a chord but with a short 6/8 interlude headed
pp. 59-60. 'Capriccio' (ex.7c). Thus the silence is not merely dramatically unexpected

Poco adagio
m
i3
f P Tt r
ig
> in
*
m
(i) Die zwei S. gehen langsam iiber die Biihne aus dem Hintergrund
Allegro con brio
__ ==_
*****if ftr
t t t T
n7**s r % r>;
''in
li 1 mil f i'r JTTJrrf-'
=^=r= -3 AAA ^
pp cresc.
s/
&
-
f '
M= =4 1 --
(2) P. komt allmahlich zu sich den Kopf gegen das Feld und gerath in Entziicken, wie er
m .
1^ Or ;BTffrTl__H > r' V
yftrZ*
sf
J 9CTJOT j>- > fffffrfM

m mT~mT~m
rfrf Mill
f-7-J
seinen Plan so gut gelungen sieht[;] er freut sich hieriiber unaussprechlich stehet auf und winkt den Kindern stille zu
stehen -
Poco adagio
;
f f
$ i I
(3) diese wenden sich langsam unempfindlich gegen ihn,
Ex.6: Beethoven: Die Geschopfe des Prometheus, no.i (piano transcription), opening
but is also structurally disruptive, the final chord to be

causing replaced
by a 16-bar codetta in a different metre, whereas earlier of metre

changes
such as in variation 9 had been into the phrase structure of the
incorporated
variation.

Ex.ya: Beethoven: 'Es war einmal' Variations WoO66, bars 2025
0 T
rr
T T T T T T T T T T
r ri

$11 "1 P
./ "ft" ^
* -7 A .7 /T\
f=F= ?
1 * p _>
r ^=4 ? "f1
Ex.yb: Beethoven: 'Es war einmal' Variations W0O66, bars 35560
Ex.7c: Beethoven: 'Es war einmal' Variations WoO66, bars 48386
Capriccio. Andante
r\
mm m
^ pr r

r\
P
rf rf rf
-m V
Beethoven's use of a rest to change emotion is not humorous,

always
however: there are many very serious examples. One occurs in the finale of
the Piano Sonata in A 101 (ex.8). The music has been

op. progressing quietly
but cheerfully in A major when suddenly an A minor chord is inserted (bar
121). This gives rise to a fierce outburst in octaves, followed by a stunned
silence. An almighty struggle then commences in the form of a fugato that
gradually builds up to a massive climax over a hundred bars, culminating in

the famous 'contra E' at bar 223, where Beethoven uses a lower note on the
piano than ever before. Thus there appears here a series of rapid changes
in emotion: gentle A major; sudden A minor; then sudden ^instead of pp;
then the silence that gives rise to a complete of and mood.
change register
Without the extended silence the effect would again be very different. The
protagonist seems to need time to pause and take in what has just happened,
and to formulate a suitable what has been lost in the of
response: change
mode in bar 121 cannot be regained without effort,
prolonged, superhuman
and the length of the silence foreshadows this.
THE MUSICAL TIMES 2011

Spring

poco ritardando a tempo

r\ r\
pp
Ex.8: Beethoven: Piano Sonata op.ioi, III, bars 12027
2.
tl5g gj
^ 1 f,S 1 1 1 | | T-~ 1 I 1

n A ^ J!" ^ n A
/ / / / A A A A A A A A A
/ decresc. P
J
T ^
/ / / / / /
A A AAA AAA AAA
Ex.9: Beethoven: Eroica Symphony, I (short score), bars 27683
There is a similar almighty struggle in the development section in the first

movement of the Eroica here, however, the silence occurs not at
Symphony;
the beginning of the struggle but at its very climax in bar 280, and crucially
on the first beat of the bar, after a chord on the last beat of the previous
bar Grosvenor and Leonard that this
(ex.9). Cooper Meyer suggest point
is the 'loudest silence in musical literature', since a accent is
really strong
expected, while William Kinderman has noted, 'In this first movement [...]
the crux of the entire dramatic structure is anchored in a
pivotal temporal
moment that is, paradoxically, soundlessThis silence forms the emotional
centre or turning-point in the whole movement, and is followed by a series

of rapid changes, as in op.ioi, including a new theme in E minor. Thus it
achieves several things simultaneously, including metrical disruption at the
15- Grosvenor W. Cooper
& Leonard B. Meyer: climactic point, delay in the resolution of a harsh discord, intensification of
The rhythmic structure of a sense of bewilderment and shock, and a signalling of irrevocable change.
music (Chicago, i960),
Another series of sudden changes combined with a silence occurs in the
p. 139; William Kinderman:
Beethoven (Oxford, 1995), Overture Here an can be adduced, for
Egmont (ex.10). explicit meaning
P-91 Beethoven down his sketches: 'The death could be
jotted amongst expressed
16. 'Der Tod konnte historical for which Beethoven wrote the overture
by a rest."6 In Goethe's play
ausgedruckt werden durch
and incidental music, Count of the Netherlands is
eine Pause'. The original Egmont wrongfully
imprisoned by the Spanish oppressors and condemned to death. The paused

sketch is preserved in Bonn,
Beethovenhaus, BH 116, and
silence in the Overture (bar 278) must the death, but it also evokes
dates from the time when represent
Egmont was being composed. the shocked reaction of the Netherlands people. Here is a classic case of an

Ex.io: Beethoven: Egmont Overture, bars 27586
emotional turning-point, for the silence changes everything: there follows

a brief lamentation (four slow chords), from which grows the victory of
liberation in an F major coda that recurs as a 'Victory in the
Symphony'
incidental music to the The silence has therefore turned the emotion
play.
from anguish to tragedy that gives rise to triumph, and the programmatic
content is unmistakable to anyone familiar with Goethe's play.
most striking silences are not aimed primarily

of Beethoven's
at altering the emotion but are, broadly speaking, 'dramatic'
Many silences of the type described above, and they can be as dramatic
as those of any Where Beethoven differs from others, however,
composer.
is the frequency with which he places a prominent dramatic silence very
in a movement, so that the silence becomes a recognisable of the
early part
theme. Some of these rests occur on a weak beat (for in
opening example,
the first movement of the Piano Sonata in A op.2 no.2) and consequently
make less but early rests on a strong beat or prolonged
impact; prominent
across more than one beat form a distinctive of his style, albeit one
part
that is rarely mentioned. One example has been discussed already (see ex.2
above). A selection of others is listed in in the fourth column, the beat

fig.i;
number is counted from the of bar 1, the first downbeat of the
beginning
movement; in a few cases one could argue for a beat twice as fast or slow,
giving different figures.

All of these rests an role in giving
prominent early play important
the main themes added vitality, metrical instability and forward thrust.
over half of these movements are in minor a much
Significantly, keys
which
higher proportion than in Beethoven's music as a whole suggests
that he tended to associate sudden rests with the expressive intensity typical
of works. Some of these rests, however, have additional effects
minor-key
worth examining.
In the finale of op. 10 no. 3 the opening motif is particularly unstable,
both rhythmically and harmonically (chord I leading to chord IV), and the
rests are unusually long and early (see ex. 11). The whole effect,
ensuing

Spring

Opus /movement Work Time Beat no.
2/3.1 Piano Sonata in C 4/4 7-8

5/1.I Cello Sonata in F 3/4 45 (quavers)
O ro1
> Piano Sonata in D 4/4 24, 68
22.I Piano Sonata in Bt> 4/4 3,7
30/2.1 Violin Sonata in C minor 4/4 68,1416
57/1.1 Piano Sonata in F minor 12/8 14-15
58.II Piano Concerto in G 2/4 23 (quavers)
59/2.I String Quartet in E minor 6/8 3-4,9-1, 15-16

62 Coriolan Overture 4/4 1016
74 String Quartet in E\> 2/2 68 (crotchets)

95.I String Quartet in F minor 4/4 6-8
125.II Symphony no.9 in D minor 3/4 bars 2, 4, 78
131.V String Quartet in C# minor 2/2 3-4
131.VII String Quartet in C# minor 2/2 2-3, 6-7
132.IV String Quartet in A minor 4/4 7-8
Fig.i: Selection of Beethoven movements with prominent early rests
besides being appropriately capricious, gives an impression of uncertainty

and indecision. Beethoven generates a kind of improvisatory quality by
leaving these very short phrases hanging in mid-air while the performer
seems to over what might follow. It is therefore noteworthy that
puzzle
remarks that this is how Beethoven did actually 'Often a
Czerny improvise:
few insignificant tones were all that were needed to improvise a whole piece,
for example the Finale of Op.io N0.3, in D Once an
major."7 improvisation
was under way such rests would not normally be needed, since Beethoven
was surely never at a loss for what might follow during one of his formal
But silent might occur when he was uncertain where

improvisations. pauses
to begin. George Smart records that on one occasion in 1825 when he had to
be 'coaxed' to improvise, Beethoven played a few notes while asking, 'Upon

what shall I Smart then asked him to on the notes
subject play?' improvise
that Beethoven had just played, and Beethoven then did so.'8 The hesitation
that occurred here is clearly reminiscent of the contrived hesitation in 10
op.
no. 3.
The rests in the Coriolan Overture written for a by

early op.62, play
17 Carl Czerny: On the
Heinrich Collin, have a very different effect, and can be interpreted in
proper performance of all
Beethoven's worksfor the several ways that relate to Collin's drama. The banishment of Coriolanus
piano, ed. Paul Badura-Skoda from Rome on a resulted in inevitable of

trumped-up charge feelings
(Vienna, 1970), p. 15.
anger and rage, and yet he left the city outwardly calm. The combination
18. See Elliot Forbes, ed.:
of loud unisons, staccato chords and extended of silence seems to
Thayer's Life of Beethoven periods
(Princeton, 1964), p.963. all the different elements of Coriolanus's reactions to his trial,
encapsulate

Ex.11: Beethoven: Piano Sonata op.io no.3, IV, opening
Ex.12: Beethoven: Violin Sonata op.30 no.2,1, bars 72-76
even though the trial does not form part of Collin's play. Thus the opening
of the overture could also be interpreted as a kind of prologue portraying
events from before the start of the play.
In the C minor Violin Sonata no.2, the extended silences in bars 2

op.30
and 4 do more than just form part of the main motif: they foreshadow an
use of silence at the end of the A rest situated at

extraordinary exposition.
the end of an exposition is normally a standard structural silence that forms
a sectional boundary after a cadence. In this sonata, however, Beethoven's
is quite unprecedented, for the exposition is actually cut off in mid

procedure
cadence by a dramatic silence (see ex.12), building on the procedure used
in the Dittersdorf variations (ex.7 above). The expected root-position E\>

chord that would resolve the dominant seventh and conclude the
exposition
is never heard at the register and dynamic, and arrives a bar late
expected
after a 6-4 chord. More surprisingly, the expected repeat of the exposition
also never arrives, for the development section begins immediately the
first time this had happened in a sonata-form first movement in any of
Beethoven's sonatas. Such an astonishing deserves a second
interruption
however, and so the same effect at the boundary between

hearing, appears
recapitulation and coda, only this time in C major. Thus those prolonged

Molto vi\
_v
jsr fPff
sk
<?
13: Beethoven: Ninth Symphony, II (short score), opening
rests in the theme actually relate to the whole structure of the

opening
movement and its lack of an exposition repeat.
A similar but even more occurs in the second
sophisticated procedure
movement of the Ninth Symphony. As has often been observed, the
symphony begins on the boundary of silence (it is the only Beethoven

symphony to begin pp), and the long held chords seem to suggest that they
have been there but have only just become audible. Thus Beethoven
always
indicates at the outset that silence will form an important element in the work.
Then the second movement begins with a brief introduction that seems to
contain just the main motif for the movement, repeated several times (ex. 13);
but it actually contains two motifs, for the silence that interrupts the opening
figure is important as a motif in its own right. This is because the rhythm
of bar 1 is incomplete and demands a note at the beginning of bar 2. The
substitution of such a note by a whole-bar rest therefore gives the effect of a
suppressed sound, as if one were about to speak but then refrains at the last
moment. The 'suppressed sound' is then repeated in bar 4, and 'developed'
(by being doubled) in bars 7 and 8, before being replaced by an actual sound
in bar 10. There is then absolutely no break in the rhythmic impetus until
bar 148, where the rest that appears there is striking for interrupting this
continual flow of notes. This silence is further developed immediately, by
being trebled in bars 14850 and 15658, just after the start of the development
section. Beethoven continues to treat silence as a motif, for he reintroduces
it twice at the end of the recapitulation (bars 38587 and 39799), but the
second of these is bypassed at the second ending (after the repeat), where
the music through a stringendo into the maggiore or Trio
proceeds straight
section. There are no significant silences in this, but the original ones are
heard at the return of the minore section. One final remains
again surprise
for the 'silence' motif, however: it appears suddenly four bars from the end,
to cut off a reprise of the maggiore section by interrupting the lovely Trio
theme. The occurs after a weak of where
interruption straight pair quavers,
a note would be most strongly and had indeed been heard in a
expected
similar context four bars earlier; so that once more the silence functions
as suppressed sound, not merely absence of sound, as well as bringing

Ex.14: Beethoven: Ninth Symphony, IV (short score), bars 33138
Allegi ro assai vivace
PP
Ex.15: Beethoven: Ninth Symphony, IV (short score, wind omitted), bars 591-96
elements from both the minore and maggiore sections. This final
together
silence therefore neatly helps bring the movement to a close. Thus silence,
in the form of suppressed sound, functions as a motif right through the
movement, being repeated, developed, recapitulated, and finally used for

initiating a closing gesture, just like an ordinary motif. Its motivic function
can be much more readily if one imagines each whole-bar rest
perceived
being replaced by, say, a single percussion note. This recurring percussion
note would then form a motif in the movement and would be
conspicuous
heard as such. But because Beethoven has used a bar of complete silence
instead, its motivic significance is all too easily overlooked.
Silences in the finale of the The

appear prominently again symphony.
first occurs in bars 78, immediately after the so-called Schreckensfanfare
('horror fanfare'), and there are several more in the introduction, as well
as at the reprise of the Schreckensfanfare immediately before the entry

of the baritone at bar 216. Although it is questionable whether, in the
recalling earlier movements, 'the is upon silence and the

passages emphasis
impossibility of filling it', as claimed by Amanda Glauert, she interestingly

relates Beethoven's use of silences in this movement to Herder's view about
19. Amanda Glauert: the importance of silence within poetry and folksong, where a poet works
'Nicht diese Tone: lessons
with and across silence, allowing time for reflection.'9
in singing and song
from Beethoven's Ninth Glauert also singles out the silences at bar 331, after the massive chords on
Symphony', in Eighteenth 'steht vor Gott' (ex.14), ar>d bar 594, just before the solemn passage at 'Seid
Century Music 4/1 (2007),
pp. 55-69; see especially pp.64
umschlungen' (ex.15), as marking respectively a shift from hymn or song to
and 59. march or dance, and a 'point of crisis' where the Freude theme temporarily

Spring

Beethoven s uses of silence
These two silences achieve far more than this, however. The
disappears.20
music situated between them remains in 6/8 throughout and is therefore the
longest passage without a change of time in the whole movement. At the most
basic level, therefore, these are structural silences, separating large-scale

sections in different metres and framing the
neatly longest uninterrupted
flow of music. The two silences have additional functions, however. The
first one comes after a massive chord the Almighty ('the cherub
representing
stands before God'), at the beginning of a 'Turkish' section. Moreover,
this 'Turkish' music is itself interspersed with silences on every strong
beat bars 332 to 342, as Beethoven creates an effect of music
throughout
approaching from a distance. The effect is much more sophisticated than

the usual device of a gradual crescendo, for Beethoven recognises here that
as music approaches from a distance one hears the low notes first, and the
melody only later, for acoustical reasons. Thus he initially uses just very
low notes on weak beats (bassoons, contra-bassoon and bass drum), then
chords, then eventually a melody, to create an effect of music

high-pitched
gradually approaching from being out of earshot, with only the lower notes
audible at first. The effect therefore recalls the opening of the symphony as
a whole, where the music also grows out of silence. The change at bar 331
also brings us down to Earth from out of Heaven and God's from
presence:
majesty to pettiness. The silences seem to imply that, from the vantage point
of Heaven, any earthly march will seem small and puny, with ridiculous little
human beings far beneath ('Turkish' style was often used with overtones of
ridicule in this period, as in Mozart's Die Entfiihrung), whose petty concerns

signify next to nothing compared with the Almighty.
The silence at bar 594 achieves virtually the opposite effect: it takes
us back to Heaven, symbolised by the bass trombone, an instrument
that traditionally signified the supernatural. Significantly, this is the first

appearance of a trombone in the whole movement. At this point, then, the
music could be interpreted as suggesting that these petty humans, who had
become increasingly wild and frenzied in their dancing and celebration of joy,
and who are still essentially pagan, for they refer to the gods (Gotterfunken)
and Elysium, suddenly become aware, like the mischievous children
mentioned earlier, that God is watching them, and this is something that
can be signified only by a silence followed by trombone, hinting at Divine
judgment. Thus the silence at this point does everything: it is a structural

silence at a change of metre, matching the one at bar 331; it is a dramatic,
silence occurring in mid-phrase on an unstable subdominant

interruptive
and the listener in while allowing time for reflection; it
holding suspense
takes us back from Earth to Heaven, and from pagan gods to the 'lieber
Vater' ('dear Father'); it puts an end to the dancing and prepares for song or
20. ibid, pp.6668.
hymn; and it changes the expression from one of high spirits to one of deep

Ex.16: Beethoven: Prometheus Variations op.35, bars 813
r\
A1', n ..1 L
\=
AAA
<pp) P
J.J
r
r-r~
44
Ex.17: Beethoven: Diabelli Variations op.120, var.13, opening
Vivace
Mri UN
/ /
* m
reverence and awe. The emotion is still joy, but a different kind
completely
of joy inner contentment instead of exuberance.
uses silences for still other purposes at times. A notable

case is in the Prometheus Variations for piano op. 35, which are based
Beethoven
on a theme later used in the finale of the Eroica Symphony.
In both
the piano variations and the symphony the initial procedure is essentially
the same: the bass line is played on its own, then with a variety of
repeated
accompaniments before being heard supporting the main theme. Presenting
just the bass line on its own is bizarre enough, but extraordinarily, two of
the 16 bars are complete silence (ex.16). These silences will of course be
filled later with a melody, and they need to be. Thus they function as
plainly
a kind of tabula rasa, or an empty building site that is to have a magnificent
construction erected on it. They provide both an empty and an
space
invitation for it to be filled up. Although several of Beethoven's other
silences elsewhere occur in contexts that are later with the silences
repeated
filled in (for example, the passage as ex.2), none of them demand so
quoted
emphatically to be filled in as the ones in ex.16.

A somewhat opposite effect can be observed in variation 13 of the
Diabelli Variations (see ex.17). Here an incredible 48 per cent of the entire
variation is silence. Beethoven is critiquing Diabelli's theme, observing
that it contains very little material from notes and a rising
apart repeated
sequence. It is therefore possible to make huge omissions and yet still have a
variation that possesses as much substance as the original theme. This is not
a building site as in the Prometheus Variations, but more a demolition site,

Adagio ma non troppo e semplice
Violin I j j j j j j j j
j j i j j j
Violin II
E
Viola
j j j j j j j:
Violoncello
j j j j
Ex.18: Beethoven: String Quartet op.131, IV, bars 187-88
where has been away to leave just the bare

everything superfluous stripped
bones and empty space.
One of silence is the question of whether it possesses an
interesting aspect
underlying rhythm. A silence on its own has no sense of pulse, and borrows
its perceived pulse from the beats immediately preceding it. But if a rest is
placed on every strong beat at the start of a section in a new metre where no
has been set up, the listener's sense of rhythm becomes disorientated.
pulse
This effect can be used for something of the timelessness of
evoking
eternity. A notable example appears in the variation movement (no.4) of
Beethoven's C# minor The theme itself actually begins with

quartet op.131.
a rest; but the sense of timelessness comes to the fore at bar 187 in
quaver
variation 6. This is written, unusually, in 9/4 metre, which gives a sense
of expansiveness to the time, stretching towards eternity. What is most
effective, however, is that each of the first five bars begins with a one-beat
silence (ex.18). And since all the other chords in the bar are equally long
and there is an incredible sense of motionlessness the stillness
very static,
of the the crotchet chords. The listener will
everlasting despite repeated
be unable to determine for some time where the main beat falls, and the
eventual realization that it falls on the rests brings with it an awareness that
any imagined pulse on the previously heard chords was misplaced.

Beethoven's late in fact, are a goldmine of extraordinary
quartets,
silences, most of which have more than one function, such as those near
the beginning of the Grosse Fuge (op. 133), where the rests separate phrases
while suggesting hesitation and uncertainty, with a hint of gasps similar to
those noted earlier in the sonata It is only through observing some
op.no.
of his more but unusual uses of silence in his earlier music
straightforward
that the full subtlety and many-layered significance of those in his late
quartets becomes evident.

There are many other striking silences in Beethoven's music, but what
has emerged is that he used silence in a great of ways. These can be

variety
fully appreciated only through a large number of examples, which illustrate
something of the range, frequency and originality of his uses of unexpected
silences. He uses silence to reinforce many different emotions (or even
absence of emotion), and it can function either at the core of the emotion
generated by the music or equally as a crucial between

turning-point
contrasting emotions. He also uses it in many other Two of them,

ways.
dramatic interruption and depiction of narrative, are common elsewhere,
but others are more individual and deserve wider recognition. This applies
to his use of silence as reticence from undesired babble, as hesitation,
as a motif in its own right, as a tabula rasa awaiting a construction, as a
critique on Diabelli's inconsequential theme, or as a means of generating an
almost supernatural stillness, as well as cases where it has several functions
simultaneously. Such a range of uses reflects his interest in the

profound
whole concept of silence. In Beethoven's music, silences can be even more
important than the notes themselves.

Spring


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