The 32 piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven collectively type probably the most important our bodies of labor within the instrument’s historical past. They span most of their composer’s life, with every of his compositional phases; and they’re intently linked to the event of the piano, reflecting the rising vary and energy of the devices at his disposal. Better of all, Beethoven doesn’t repeat himself; in each sonata, he fuses construction with content material and character in a singular approach. Scroll down to find our information to Beethoven’s full piano sonatas.
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As a pianist, Beethoven started to make his identify in Vienna, the place his exceptional improvisations rapidly constructed his fame. He first arrived from his native Bonn aged 16, hoping to review with Mozart, who was completely satisfied to just accept him as a pupil. It was to not be. On the information that his mom was mortally sick, Beethoven hurried residence to be along with her. By the point he returned to Vienna, Mozart was lifeless. As an alternative, his patron Rely Waldstein inspired him to “receive the spirit of Mozart through the hands of Haydn.”
His relationship together with his new professor, Joseph Haydn himself, had its frictions; however when Beethoven later insisted that he discovered nothing from Haydn, that was palpably unfaithful. The early piano sonatas, particularly, are chock-full of Haydnesque qualities: fast modifications of temper and tempo, grand gestures and pauses (straight from the ‘Sturm und Drang’ motion in 18th-century music), the prepared wit, the number of constructions (sonatas in two, three or 4 actions) and the constructing of spans of music from the germs of sturdy, easy motifs. Beethoven’s spirit nonetheless was completely totally different: revolutionary from the beginning, open to the expression of darker, private, typically ferocious feelings on the daybreak of romanticism.
Though Beethoven’s piano sonatas span almost 30 years, from about 1793 to 1822, they’re in no way evenly unfold. Not less than half rely as “early” Beethoven, with just a few – although substantial ones – from his center “heroic” interval and a collection of “late” sonatas that ended about 5 years earlier than his loss of life.
Beethoven’s early piano sonatas
Beethoven’s early piano sonatas start modestly but energetically with ‘Op.2 No. 1 In F minor’, devoted to Haydn – although with none elaborate thanks. The size of Beethoven’s ambitions rapidly expanded. As an illustration, ‘Op. 7’ is an expansive, energetic work in E flat main, positively irrepressible, whereas ‘Op. 10 No. 3 In D major’ possesses a sluggish motion marked ‘largo e mesto’, carrying a robust and profound sorrow that’s nonetheless astonishing at present.
These items are technically demanding, requiring readability, brilliance, lyricism, and power in equal measures. Pianists of extra modest means can discover solace within the ‘Op. 14’ and ‘Op. 49’ Sonatas, and later the G main, ‘Op. 79’: staple items within the weight-reduction plan of youthful trainees, with none compromise in musical high quality.
Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ sonata
Beethoven’s experiments with construction led him to entitle every of his two ‘Op. 27′ sonatas’ ‘Quasi Una Fantasia’. The second is now commonly known as the ‘Moonlight’ – not his title, however one posthumously appended. The newest scholarly version by Murray Perahia for Henle quotes documentation that reveals the work’s inspiration to be the fabled Aolian Harp, an instrument performed by the wind however thought to hold the songs of those that died younger and unfulfilled. It opens with that well-known sluggish motion, then a minuet, and a tumultuous finale. Beethoven requests that the primary motion be performed with out damping the strings in any respect – maybe testing the boundaries of the newest mannequin of piano. A method or one other, it was not precisely a love present to its dedicatee, Countess “Giulietta” (actually Julie) Guicciardi.
Beethoven’s center piano sonatas
The ‘Op. 31’ sonatas of 1801-2 don’t have any dedication, which is uncommon in Beethoven; however they’re thought to have been written for “Giulietta”’s cousin, who was a pupil of his: Countess Josephine von Brunsvik, by then Josephine Deym after her marriage – a primary candidate for the title of Immortal Beloved (the composer wrote her some impassioned love letters after she was widowed). The primary sonata in G main is a humorous piece through which Beethoven pokes enjoyable at some pianists’ tendency to not coordinate their two palms. The second, in D minor, experiments with fascinating recitativo and pedal results, and has been stated to be related to Shakespeare’s The Tempest (if solely by Beethoven’s notoriously unreliable early biographer, his one-time amanuensis Anton Schindler). The third, in E flat, is probably much more exceptional: intimate, beneficiant, teasing, and stuffed with exuberance.
Beethoven’s ‘Waldstein’ sonata
By the point Beethoven set about arguably essentially the most heroic of the sonatas, the ‘Waldstein’ Op. 53 (devoted to his first patron), it was solely 1804 – however his inventive imaginative and prescient had expanded incrementally for the reason that Op. 31s. In two actions, the second launched by an prolonged sluggish introduction, the work evokes optimistic orchestral textures, and the second motion, primarily based on the theme of a Rhenish music, appears stuffed with pealing bells. The pianist Wilhelm Kempff as soon as stated that the beginning of the second motion appeared to be “standing radiant as a temple in the first light of dawn.” This work and its closest siblings are roughly contemporaneous with the three ‘Razumovsky’ String Quartets Op. 59 and the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies.
Beethoven’s ‘Appassionata’ sonata
The ‘F Minor Sonata Op. 57’, recognized slightly misleadingly because the ‘Appassionata,’ is nearly the ‘Waldstein’’s polar reverse: in no way much less energetic, however stuffed with livid power, by turns simmering and explosive – and most unusually for Beethoven, missing any sense of optimism at its shut. Kempff offered a robust description of its influence when the serene sluggish motion implodes and leads into an nearly apocalyptic finale: “Amid the thunder of sudden sforzati the edifice of the world collapses. Lucifer, once the bearer of light, plunges down from heaven into eternal darkness.” Intriguingly, it’s devoted to Josephine Deym’s brother, Franz von Brunsvik, who was a greater cellist than pianist. The pianists of the household have been his sisters, Therese and Josephine herself.
Therese is the dedicatee of the ‘F Sharp Major Sonata Op. 78’ – a piece of surprising character in two actions, spirited and virtuosic with a exceptional inside radiance. Beethoven as soon as grumbled that he didn’t perceive the recognition of the ‘Sonata Op. 27 No. 2’ (the ‘Moonlight’); he thought-about this sonata a finer piece.
As for the oddly numbered ‘Op. 81A’, generally known as ‘Les Adieux,’ that is the one overtly programmatic sonata, every of its three actions bearing a subheading. The primary is a farewell; the second a lonely “absence”; the finale a joyous return and reunion. The piece dates from 1809-10, and its official historical past means that the touring particular person was Beethoven’s patron, Archduke Rudolph, who needed to go away Vienna with the imperial household earlier than Napoleon invaded.
Beethoven’s late piano sonatas
After that, there was a niche of round 4 years, to 1814, earlier than the primary of Beethoven’s “late” piano sonatas, ‘Op. 90 ‘– in two concise movements, beautifully contrasted. The first is a conflict-ridden conversation, the second is a peaceful and harmonious rondo. And next, two more years before ‘Op. 101’ emerged.
It’s value reflecting on why Beethoven’s output of sonatas had now turn out to be so sporadic. The sooner sonatas have been usually written both for him to carry out himself, or for his pupils – and as time glided by and his deafness grew extra profound, he may now not give performances or do as a lot educating. His later works within the style have been written for essential patrons akin to Archduke Rudolph, shut pals such because the Brentano household, or commissions from publishers. But different preoccupations intervened, too: these ranged from compositions in different varieties, notably symphonies, string quartets, and the revision of his earlier opera Leonore into Fidelio; the difficulties of life after the newest battle towards Napoleon, which sparked a collapse within the Austrian foreign money; and, in 1812, a mysterious love affair. After that, between 1815 and 1821, the composer’s efforts to undertake his nephew, Karl, led to a lawsuit, household tribulations, and excessive stress, which exacerbated Beethoven’s already severe bouts of sick well being.
Beethoven’s ‘Hammerklavier’ sonata
In 1817, Beethoven, deep in despondency, wrote little or no. He did start sketches for the ‘Symphony No. 9’, which might be commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society in London; and in spring 1818, the piano agency Broadwood, additionally of London, despatched him a brand new instrument, his largest and strongest piano but. It helped to spark him out of the doldrums and into finishing essentially the most bold of all of the sonatas, a big work generally known as the ‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata. In 4 expansive actions, it has at its coronary heart an prolonged adagio that appears to include all of the sorrows of the world. The finale is a mighty fugue of monumental complexity, powered by Beethoven’s indomitable power – not solely undimmed however stronger than ever.
The final three sonatas have been conceived as a set
The final three sonatas, Opp. 109, 110, and 111 have been conceived as a set from the start, written concurrently between 1820 and 1822. They complement each other, sharing many components. The stream of ‘Op. 109’s’ opening motion is commonly interrupted by passages that sound questing and improvisatory; subsequent comes an nearly demoniac scherzo, and within the finale, a sarabande is the theme for a set of variations – all the time a favourite type for Beethoven – which appears to nod in the direction of the inspiration of Bach’s ‘Goldberg Variations’. ‘Op.110’ is extra private nonetheless: after a young opening motion and a quick, sardonic scherzo, a despairing adagio finds us within the depths of mourning. However then Beethoven finds solace (as he did within the ‘Hammerklavier’) in a fugue, its gentle theme set out in a sample of rising steps. The adagio interrupts, now with its melodic line shattered into items – however the fugue returns too, upside-down, earlier than the music breaks free right into a triumphant apotheosis.
Lastly, the ‘C minor Sonata Op. 111’ reaches one other degree of transcendence. It presents two actions of utmost contrasts. The primary opens with a ferocious ‘French Overture’-like introduction, ushering in a stormy, violent allegro that ultimately burns itself out to a quiet end. There ensues now one other set of variations on a theme that resembles an irregular sort of sarabande, within the purest of pure C majors. The primary variations construct up momentum to a top of elemental power – after which Beethoven appears to depart into the exploration of ethereal realms that might nearly think of certainly one of his favourite quotations, Kant’s consideration of Humankind’s place within the universe, the mixture of macrocosm and microcosm: “The starry sky above, the moral law within.”
Beethoven lived one other 5 years and didn’t abandon the piano – the ‘Diabelli Variations’ and the ‘Bagatelles Op. 126’ post-date the final piano sonatas. On this style, although, maybe with that final easy C main chord, he determined he had stated sufficient.
Really useful Recording
Wilhelm Kempff’s Full Beethoven Piano Sonatas options his legendary 1960 stereo recordings, which have been remastered and reissued (8CD + Blu-ray Audio Disc). Gramophone famous, “Wilhelm Kempff is one of the greatest musical persuaders of our time …he consistently gives you the illusion that he and you are discovering the music afresh together.”
Hearken to Wilhelm Kempff’s Full Beethoven Piano Sonatas right here.
