Musical description
Melody
Theme A establishes the 鈥榯颈肠办-迟辞肠办鈥 idea and the main melody. The 鈥榯颈肠办-迟辞肠办鈥 accompaniment idea is heard from the beginning and is played by Notes played detached. bassoons - fagotti - and A playing technique in which the strings of an instrument are plucked. strings.
The main melody is heard from bar 2 and is played by violin 1. It is eight bars in length and features two complimentary phrases, each lasting four bars.
The melody is mainly A melody that moves by step., and features dotted and double dotted rhythms. Haydn also adds Note played as quickly as possible before the聽note that follows. which add melodic embellishment. When Theme A returns at bar 24, the dynamic is or pp. A dynamic level that means to play the music at very soft volume. and the viola is also added.
Theme B, played by con Bowing the strings. strings, features sequential and scalic writing.
Between bars 17 and 20, the oboe plays an upper Held or repeating note on the same pitch, while the chords change above it..
An audio extract of upper pedal note played on the oboe
In section B, the main idea is based on a dotted rhythmic pattern heard in bar 3. The drama is heightened by the use of Or sf - suddenly, with force. (sf) from bar 36 and accents in bars 50-51.
A new melodic idea is introduced at bar 52 that features rhythmic syncopation, and is arpeggiated and sequential.
In Section A2, the 鈥榯颈肠办-迟辞肠办鈥 accompaniment is now played by the flute and bassoon in thirds. In the return of Theme B, the main melody is still played by violin 1 but accompanied by just the flute and bassoon.
When theme A returns, it is melodically inverted in the flute part, and the countermelody heard at bar 75 returns at bar 123 with the oboe playing an octave lower. There is a short Closing section at the end of a piece of music, song or movement. at bar 146 and a tonic pedal played on the viola.
Tempo, rhythm and metre
The tempo is marked At a walking pace. and the piece is in 2/4 time, which is a simple duple time signature. Haydn uses A dot after the note increases its value by half again. and double dotted rhythms as well as demisemiquavers. The main 鈥榯颈肠办-迟辞肠办鈥 theme is represented by alternating staccato quavers. There is an offbeat semiquaver accompaniment from bar 42 played by the oboe and bassoon and Rhythm patterns where stressed notes are placed off the beat. heard at bar 52. The semiquaver sextuplets from bar 114 give the music a swaying sound that imitates a pendulum.
Bar 114 and the semiquaver sextuplets performed by the strings
Structure
The second movement is written in A musical form in which the opening section returns after a central contrasting section. overall.
| Section | Bars | Key |
| A1 | 1 to 35 | Mainly in G major |
| B | 36 to 64 | Mainly in G minor and B鈾 major |
| A2 | 65 to 152 | Mainly in G major |
| Section | A1 |
|---|---|
| Bars | 1 to 35 |
| Key | Mainly in G major |
| Section | B |
|---|---|
| Bars | 36 to 64 |
| Key | Mainly in G minor and B鈾 major |
| Section | A2 |
|---|---|
| Bars | 65 to 152 |
| Key | Mainly in G major |