Develop Ideas Like Beethoven
Many composers are confused by the word “development.” They think it means “make your music intricate and complex.”
In reality, “development” simply means “more of the same, but different.”
You don’t have to create a million different versions of your thematic ideas. You don't need to devise outlandish reharmonizations. Sometimes, you don't need to change any of the pitches or rhythms.
Beethoven's Fifth Violin Sonata is a great example of developing musical ideas.
Let's use the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Violin Sonata (“Spring”) as the example. For most of his development needs, Beethoven uses only 3 simple tools:
Transposition/mode change
Fragmentation
Recontextualization
Here’s how this plays out with the second theme:
Beethoven initially presents it in C major in the exposition. This phrase consists of 3 key elements:
The syncopated repeated note motive (in the violin with grace notes)
A rising, then falling arpeggio (rising in the piano, then falling in the violin)
Repeated eighth-note chords
After a brief transition into the development, the second theme is presented in B-flat major(transposition). In addition, Beethoven shuffles the location of those elements (recontextualization):
The piano plays the syncopated motive
The violin starts the upward arpeggio and the piano finishes it
The repeated eighth note chords are now only in the left hand
He repeats this phrase again verbatim, but in B-flat minor (mode change).
Starting at 4'59, Beethoven takes a fragment of this theme — the downward arpeggio — and develops a four-bar version of it by transposing it around the circle of fifths and adding a new triplet accompaniment (recontextualization):
That leads us to today's prompt:
Write a four bar phrase for violin and piano.
Transpose it by the circle of fifths.
That's it. That's all it takes to develop your idea — because, as Beethoven shows, even a simple transposition scheme like that is development. Here are some tips as you get started on today's prompt:
If you want to get fancy, feel free to try changing the accompaniment on each repetition, but avoid transforming the rhythm/contour of your thematic idea. Transposition and recontextualization are doing all the work for you here. No need to get disguise your idea further.
If you need a little more guidance, I've created this Dorico template (get it here as PDF) that outlines Beethoven's harmony: Write your own melody over the top of the first four bars and then transpose it down a fourth to fit the harmony. After you do that, you can consider stealing Beethoven's "oom-chuck" accompaniment pattern from the left-hand of ~4:47 in the development.
Overall, this prompt should take about 30 minutes to complete.
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