If the epithet grand, instead of implying, as it usually does, many parts, or a Concerto requiring a great band or Orchestra, had been here intended to express sublimity and dignity, it might have been used with the utmost propriety; for I can recollect no movement that is more lofty and noble than this; or in which the treble and the base of the tutti, or full parts, are of such distinct and marked characters; both bold, and contrasted, not only with each other, but with the solo parts, which are graceful and chantant. Nor did I ever know such business done in so short a time; that movement contains but thirty-four bars, and yet nothing seems left unsaid; and though it begins with so much pride and haughtiness, it melts at last into softness; and, where it modulates into a minor key, seems to express fatigue, languor and fainting. Charles Burney [1785, writing of the opening movement of Op.6 No.1]
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 12:45:50 +0000
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