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

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Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31/2 “Tempest” composed 1802, published 1804 The <strong>sonatas</strong> of Op. 31 continue the exploration of new paths that Beethoven had begun with Op. 26—paths that include formal and harmonic experimentation. The D minor sonata, Op. 31/2 is his first work in which the main theme (seemingly) begins in a key other than the tonic. A mysterious A major arpeggio, ostensibly the introduction, immediately attracts and holds our attention through a lengthy pause. Suddenly, a rush of twonote figures momentarily identifies the correct key of the piece, but again stops on the dominant A, rather than on the tonic D minor. The mysterious arpeggio is again heard, but in the distant key of C major. After another pause, a second, longer rush of two-note figures leads to triumphant statement of the arpeggio in the home key, pounded out in the bass, alternating with a plaintive gesture in the treble. Here, even the most experienced listener would be justified in presuming that we have finally arrived at the main theme. However, from the outset of the piece, Beethoven has kept several steps ahead of us. After only eight measures he begins modulating to the secondary key. This is a transition: what we had thought was an introduction was actually the main theme. [Interestingly, whenever this theme is quoted again--in the repeat of the exposition and the recapitulation--the previous material elides effortlessly into it, so that Beethoven never again allows us to hear it as a beginning. Those pianists—students and professionals alike—who make a big ritardando in order to emphasize the return of the main theme have not a clue about Beethoven’s narrative sense.] The remainder of the movement is devoted to a working out of the three ideas already introduced. In the recapitulation, the initial slow arpeggio is followed by a recitative that, consciously or otherwise, anticipates the well-known baritone recitative that opens the choral portion of the finale to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. The sublime Adagio also begins with a slow arpeggio. All the important themes are peaceful, but running through the movement is a series of ominous, short drum rolls in the bass, that remind us, as Beethoven so often likes to do, that tranquility is at best transitory. The finale is another of those moto perpetuo movements that so obsessed Beethoven in his middle period. Beethoven may (or may not; see my notes to Sonata No. 18) have originally been inspired by hearing a horseman galloping by his window, according to his student Karl Czerny, but he ultimately moved well beyond that image, as evidenced by the Allegretto and <strong>piano</strong> markings at the outset. A single melodic pattern predominates throughout, with subsidiary sections featuring jarring cross-accentuation. Like the two preceding movements, the finale ends quietly, with the incessant rhythmic pattern playing itself out to the point of exhaustion. As for Beethoven’s famous response to a question posed by his amanuensis Anton Schindler regarding this work’s (and the Appassionata’s) meaning, it is possible that Beethoven indeed saw some particular connection between both pieces and Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Given Schindler’s less than brilliant mind, however, it is possible that the composer just threw out the first answer he could think of. <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. 18 in E flat Major, Op. 31/3 composed 1802, published 1804 This work was to be Beethoven’s final four-movement sonata aside from the Hammerklavier. Its layout is quite unusual. There is no slow movement: instead, the composer provides both a Scherzo and a Minuet. (Had Beethoven appeared on the late-night Dietrich Leitermann TV show, the gap-toothed comic might have quipped: “What’s the matter, Lou? After composing 17 <strong>sonatas</strong>, you still can’t make up your mind?”) Like the other two Op. 31 <strong>sonatas</strong>, this one begins unusually. Instead of positing a thesis or statement, Beethoven asks a question. Moreover, throughout the movement, like an insecure child, he asks the same question over and over again, even though the answer is provided on each occasion by a parent whose patience exceeds that of anyone else listening to (or performing) the piece. The Scherzo is equally unorthodox. Until now, Beethoven’s scherzi have essentially been fast, triple-metered minuets, with contrasting Trios. This one breaks with both traditions: it is a quick march in 2/4 time, and is cast in a sonata form, complete with a repeat of the opening section. Its most distinguishing characteristics are the perpetual-motion accompaniment in the left hand, and the sudden explosive chords that temporarily halt the movement’s continuous motion. The surprise ending is truly one of the composer’s masterstrokes. The Minuet—Beethoven’s final free-standing one for solo <strong>piano</strong>—is characterized by a complete absence of the vigour and rhythmic thrust of most classical minuets by Haydn and Mozart, as well as those by Beethoven himself. Instead, this beautiful piece is filled with nostalgia and sentiment, as though the composer is reluctantly taking his leave of the eighteenth century. 2 Beethoven’s student, Karl Czerny, claimed that the composer told him that he was inspired by the sound of a horseman riding wildly outside his window as he composed the finale to the D minor Sonata, Op. 31/2. There may have been a breakdown of communication between them, due either to Beethoven’s deafness or a lapse in Czerny’s memory. It requires a stretch of the imagination to hear the last movement of Op. 31/2 (marked Allegretto) in that manner. However, very few pieces better evoke the image of a furious gallop than the Finale of Op. 31/3. It begins breathlessly with the sound of hooves clattering on the cobblestones. Later on, hunting horn calls are added to the mix, and the movement continues to a joyous conclusion with only a tiny break just before the final phrase. 2 Later, in his Symphony No. 8, he would return to the minuet form to parody it, rather than, as in this sonata, to pay homage to a beloved genre that he realized had outlived its time. <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 and 14: Sonata No. 12 in A flat Major, Op.
Page 15 and 16: Sonata No. 14 “quasi una Fantasia
Page 17: Sonata No. 16 in G Major, Op. 31/1
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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