beethoven's 32 piano sonatas robert silverman - Music on Main

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Sonata No. 13 “quasi una Fantasia” in E flat Major, Op. 27/1 composed 1800-01, published 1802 This work, like the Moonlight, its better known bedfellow, represents one of the earliest attempts by Beethoven to create a succinct, unified sonata in which, for the first time in his <strong>piano</strong> music, individual movements are linked together without a break. A reprise of the slow movement following the finale likewise contributes to the work’s unity, as does the fact that Beethoven derives virtually all the important themes in this sonata from two ideas: a falling third, and a rising arpeggio. The most notable innovation in this piece is the dramatic shift in the work’s centre of gravity. Until this point, the classical sonata’s weightiest moments generally occurred in the two opening movements. However, this sonata breaks that tradition by intensifying as it progresses, with the Finale serving as its climax. In order to underscore the importance of this structural change, and make it obvious, Beethoven may have deliberately composed as innocuous an opening theme to the sonata as he could. The subsequent variation even borders on silliness: this is one of the few places in Beethoven where the music is not, as Schnabel was fond of saying, “greater than it possibly can be played.” The two intervening episodes and the coda are by far the most interesting sections of this rondo movement. The work then deepens dramatically and suddenly. The second movement is the first example we have of Beethoven’s dark, almost sinister scherzi. A songful slow movement is interrupted by the perpetual motion, driven Finale. Brilliant as it is, however, the Finale lacks the stamina to make it all the way to the finish line. It stops suddenly, and while pausing for breath, the Adagio returns for one final reprise. A short Coda resumes the activity, and brings this unjustifiably neglected sonata to a brilliant conclusion. <strong>Music</strong> on Main presents Silverman plays Beethoven. September 27, 2010 – April 5, 2011 at the Cellar Restaurant & Jazz Club. www.musiconmain.ca Programme notes by Robert Silverman. © Robert Silverman
Sonata No. 14 “quasi una Fantasia” in C sharp minor, Op. 27/2 “Moonlight” composed 1801, published 1802 This work, the most famous sonata in existence—and one of the most atypical—owes its nickname not to Beethoven or any ingenious publisher. Rather, the credit goes to the German poet and critic Ludwig Rellstab, who wrote that the first movement reminded him of “a boat visiting, by moonlight, the primitive landscapes of Lake Lucerne.” One is tempted to wonder whether the sonata would have achieved its popularity without that evocative nickname, and also to lament that the first movement is by now so hackneyed that its magnificence is often overlooked. Moreover, the entire piece, surely one of Beethoven’s finest creations, is all-too-seldom performed in recital. (Interestingly, when the sonata was first published, it was the finale that gave the work its almost instant popularity.) This work and its less-known companion, the Sonata in E flat, Op. 27/1, represent Beethoven’s earliest attempts to create works whose continuity spreads over all the movements, with the weightiest moments occurring toward the conclusion, rather than the opening. The dividing lines between movements are clearer here than in Op. 27/1. Still, the Moonlight’s effect is also cumulative, leading us from the utmost solemnity of the first movement, through the gracious, ultra-brief respite provided by an untitled minuet (termed by Liszt as “a flower between two abysses) to the passionate, unremittingly tragic Finale. Interestingly, there is little contrast within any of the movements: each seems to be cut from only one piece of cloth. Theoretically, the opening movement can be parsed into a structure containing all the elements of Sonata allegro form. However such an “analysis” barely describes this wondrous composition, which sounds more formless than possibly any other movement he wrote. Two characteristics of the final movement, which is in a far more recognizable sonata-allegro form, bear noting. The first three notes in the right hand are identical to the accompanying triplet figure in the opening movement. Also, as in several other of his <strong>sonatas</strong>, the movement seems to run out of steam shortly before the conclusion of the work, and pauses briefly before heading for the final bar. <strong>Music</strong> on Main presents Silverman plays Beethoven. September 27, 2010 – April 5, 2011 at the Cellar Restaurant & Jazz Club. www.musiconmain.ca Programme notes by Robert Silverman. © Robert Silverman
Page 1 and 2: Programme notes BEETHOVEN’S <stro
Page 3 and 4: Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2/2 co
Page 5 and 6: Sonata No. 4 in E flat, Op. 7 compo
Page 7 and 8: Sonata No. 6 in F Major, Op. 10/2 c
Page 9 and 10: Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13 “
Page 11 and 12: Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 14/2
Page 13: Sonata No. 12 in A flat Major, Op.
Page 17 and 18: Sonata No. 16 in G Major, Op. 31/1
Page 19 and 20: Sonata No. 18 in E flat Major, Op.
Page 21 and 22: Sonata No. 21 in C, Op. 53 “Walds
Page 23 and 24: Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57
Page 25 and 26: Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79 co
Page 27 and 28: Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90 co
Page 29 and 30: Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major, Op.
Page 31 and 32: Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109 c
Page 33: Sonata No. 32 in C

beethoven's 32 piano sonatas robert silverman - Music on Main

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