If there is an outlier to this idea of op. 22 being a slightly scaled back version of op. 7, it’s the second movement. I might still argue that it’s a fraction less distinctive, but it is glorious, and in any case, it has a character and a style that is entirely its own. In the slow movements of both op. 7 and op. 2 no. 3, the opening themes are most notable for their use of silence. Op. 2 no. 3: (MUSIC) and op. 7. (MUSIC) What is so extraordinary about those themes is that Beethoven manages to sustain them OVER so many silences, with each of the rests acting as a question mark. The slow movement of op. 22 is in a way almost the exact opposite: the miracle of its opening theme is its unbroken melodic line. I’m not sure that I’d call it operatic, but it most definitely vocal in a way that those earlier stop-start themes are not. Its entire first section, amazingly, is one uninterrupted phrase which takes a good minute to play. (MUSIC) This is yet another retort to the "Beethoven wasn’t a great melodist" fallacy: it is impeccably balanced, and the line spins and spins, without a single stilted moment. This movement is essentially a sonata form, which is unusual for a slow movement; slow movements can have many different forms, but generally speaking, they don't have developments, which by definition means they are NOT sonata forms. What I played just now was the first half of the exposition – the first theme area. I’ll now play the second half, really for no other reason than that you ought to hear how beautiful it is. (MUSIC) Beyond the fantastic beauty, there are a couple of items of note here: first of all, as we approach the second theme, there is a series of appoggiaturas that lean towards minor, giving the movement a hint of darkness much in the same way that the closing theme of the first movement did. (MUSIC) And now, when we come to the second theme itself, the writing is again very vocal. Both main themes in this movement have this steady accompaniment of repeated eighth notes, which feel very much like song accompaniments, in that they are there to support, and not to distract. (MUSIC) Again, very vocal and very beautiful. I would be disinclined to use the word "lovely" to describe much of Beethoven’s music – it doesn’t feel like it has enough weight and gravitas to fit a personality as intense and questing as his. But this slow movement is intentionally lovely. It doesn’t lack depth, but its beauty doesn’t always feel the need to serve some greater purpose; the beauty is the point.