[Footnote 169: It is unfortunate that the diminished seventh
chord does not sound so fierce to our modern ears as it un-
doubtedly did in Beethoven’s time, but that is simply because
we have become accustomed to more strident effects.]
This theme, in distinction from the first, typifies the appeal for
mercy made by the women in the drama. No contrast could be
stronger than that between these two themes—the first, impul-
sive, staccato, of sweeping range, and in the minor; the second,
suave, legato, restrained and in the major. They show indeed
how powerfully Beethoven’s imagination was impressed by the
subject. After an eloquent expansion of the second theme there
follow several stormy measures (the deprecations of the women
are at first of no avail) that lead through a crescendo to a closing
theme, at measure 83, in which the mood of defiant assertion is
strongly marked. The exposition closes in this mood, in mea-
sure 100, and the following Development accentuates it through
several successions of restless, crescendo passages until aff de-
scent sweeps us back to the Recapitulation, in measure 151. It
is now evident that the furious intentions of the warrior have
raged themselves out, for not only is the theme which repre-
sents him much shortened but it loses somewhat of its former
fiery intensity. From here on, the trend of the music is largely
modified by the dramatic demands of the subject. That the ap-
peals of the women are beginning to prevail is evident from the
emphasis laid on the second theme, which gives its message no
less thanthreetimes, instead of the single appearance which we
should expect in the usual Recapitulation. The third appeal, in
measures 247-253, is rendered most pathetic by being expressed
in the minor mode. In the Coda there are fitful flare-ups of the
relentless purpose, but that the stubborn will has been softened
is evident from the slowing down of the rhythm, in measures
285-294. Finally, in the wonderful closing passage, we have a
picture of broken resolves and ruined hopes. The theme disinte-
grates and fades away—a lifeless vision. Although much of the
structure in this overture is identical with that which prevails in
absolute music—for, after all, the composer must be true to the
laws of his medium of expression—there is enoughpurely dra-
matictreatment to justify the foregoing analysis. Beethoven,
at any rate, called the overture Coriolanus, and we may be sure
he meant it torepresentCoriolanus and to be something more
than a skillful combination of sounds and rhythms.