So, the Tempest sonata might be the "new path"-iest of the "new paths" sonatas, but one area where it does NOT break new ground is its overall shape. Like the Pathetique and all the sonatas written before 1804, the novelty is restricted to the first movement. The second and third are every bit as wonderful, but they are not ground-breaking, and thus they are less likely to linger in the memory. Fittingly, given that the first movement has been such a drama, such an upheaval, the slow movement begins with a reference to it. (MUSIC) No one who hears this, hot on the heels of the first movement, can fail to notice that it echoes the arpeggio that began the entire piece. And yet, it's amazing how different the two are from one another, in feel and in function— in fact, the difference is precisely the point. Whereas the first movement’s arpeggio was pure tension and coiled energy, this is a relief, an exhalation. Part of this is a function of the "position" of the chord. The first movement’s opening arpeggio is a dominant chord of the home d minor. (MUSIC) But obviously, when it launches the piece, we can’t know that – we don’t have any context to tell us that the piece is going to be in d minor. And yet, we do realize that the arpeggio is not "home", that it is not a firm statement of the work’s tonality, and that is because it is in first inversion. Now, I don’t want to get bogged down on a theory lesson here, so very quickly: chords – triads, especially – in their most basic form, are in what’s called "root position". (MUSIC) It is so-called because the main note of the chord – its root – is at the bottom. So if a composer wants to make the music sound grounded, to make the tonality sound stable, he will invariably put it in root position. Hear the difference, root position: (MUSIC). And now, first inversion, how Beethoven actually opens the piece. (MUSIC) We don’t know WHERE we are, but we sure know it isn’t home. Therefore, the second movement’s first chord – a B flat major chord, with the b flat on the bottom, and reiterated, for further security, on the top – it feels like a riposte, or an antidote, to that nervous-making opening of the piece. (MUSIC) Again, you cannot miss the reference, or fail to feel the contrast. We are now in a major key, and we now have harmonic stability: for the first time in the piece, all is well.