variations. Other motifs In stark contrast to this simple chromatic motif is the second subject of the fugue, which leaps dramatically in huge intervals – tenths and twelfths: The third motif is a lilting melody that serves as the theme of the andante section of the fugue: A fourth element – not so much a motif as an effect – is the trill. Beethoven also uses trills extensively, simultaneously creating a sense of disintegration of the motifs, leading to a climax. Form Overtura The fugue opens with a 24-bar overture, which starts with a dramatic fortissimo unison G, and statement of the main fugal subject in the key of G major: This statement of the subject disintegrates into a trill, and silence. Beethoven then repeats the subject, but in a completely different rhythm, in diminution (meaning at double the tempo), twice, climbing up the scale; and then, again silence, and again the subject, this time unadorned, in a dramatic drop to pianissimo in the key of F major. This leads to a statement of the third fugal subject, with the first subject in the bass: Thus, Beethoven, in this brief introduction, presents not only the material that will make up the entire piece but also the spirit: violent shifts of mood, melodies disintegrating into chaos, dramatic silences, instability, and struggle. First fugue Following the overture is a strictly formal double fugue in the key of B major that follows all the rules of a Baroque fugue: an exposition and three variations, showcasing different contrapuntal devices. But this is anything but a tame Baroque fugue: it is violent and dissonant, pitting awkward leaps of the second subject in iambic rhythm against the main subject in syncopation, at a constant dynamic that never falls below forte. The resulting angular rhythmic confusion and displaced dissonances last almost five minutes. First, Beethoven restates the main subject, broken up by rests between each note: Then begins a double fugue, two subjects, played one against the other. The second subject in the first violin, and the first subject, syncopated, in the viola. Then the second violin and cello take up the same thing. The first variation, following the rules of fugue, opens in the subdominant key of E. Beethoven adds to the chaos with a triplet figure in the first violin, played against the quaternary rhythm of the second subject in the second violin and the