ertion is strongly marked. The exposition
closes in this mood, in measure 100, and the following Development
accentuates it through several successions of restless, crescendo
passages until a _ff_ descent 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
represents 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 appeals of
the women are beginning to prevail is evident from the emphasis laid
on the second theme, which gives its message no less than _three_
times, 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 disintegrates 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 enough _purely
dramatic_ treatment to justify the foregoing analysis. Beethoven, at
any rate, called the overture Coriolanus, and we may be sure he meant
it to _represent_ Coriolanus and to be something more than a skillful
combination of sounds and rhythms.

We now add a few last words on the quality of Beethoven's themes in
his moments of supreme inspiration. The unshaken hold which his music
has upon the affections of mankind is due chiefly to two striking
characteristics: first, the way in which he dramatized everything--themes,
instruments, even _single_ notes, _i.e._, treating them as actual
factors in life itself rather than as artistic abstractions; second,
the spirituality and sublimity in his immortal message. The first
quality is exemplified in a number of passages, notably in the first
movement of the Violin Concerto and in the Finale of the Eighth
Symphony. In the opening measures of the Concerto the use of the
single note D-sharp, and the entry _pp_ of the F natural in the
following passage