Beethoven Sonatas No 21 OP 53 “Waldstein” / No 32 in C ...
Transcript of Beethoven Sonatas No 21 OP 53 “Waldstein” / No 32 in C ...
BEETHOVEN SONATAS
N° 21 OP. 53 "WALDSTEIN"
H° 32 in G MINOR OP. 111
ALP„ Beethoven (uw-nr) -SONATA No. 21 IN C MAJOR, Op. 53, “WALDSTEIN” ALP 1160 1160
SONATA No. 32 IN C MINOR, Op. Ili
The three composers who are united in thè name
of Beethoven—youthful classic, stormy revolution-
ary, and sublime philosopher—can be examined in thè
piano sonatas as advantageously as anywhere in his
output. Eventhe ninth symphony contains no thought
so rarified and forward looking as does thè coda
of Op. Ili ; even thè F minor quartet cannot match
thè transports of oratory, thè passionate war cries of
thè Champion of humanity who created thè so-called
66 middle period ” piano sonatas, and especially thè
pair immortalized as thè Waldstein and thè Appas¬
sionata. These sonatas were composed in 1804, thè
year that also saw thè completion of thè Eroica
Symphony (and Beethoven’s categorical repudiation
of thè Hero, who had inspired it).
The particular, and unique, contribution of thè
Waldstein Sonata to our knowledge of Beethoven is
its virtuoso piano writing. The Waldstein exploits
every octave of thè keyboard’s range, glorying in thè
(then) metallic glitter of thè highest register, and
in thè sonority of thè bass, uniting thè two in leonine
bravura — and also in thè theme of thè rondo finale,
as will presently be indicated.
The first idea to be heard is a measure of thè
sonata’s originality. It sounds like thè introductory
accompaniment to a melody ; but there is no melody
more important than thè one implied in this muttered
bass-baritone figuration, which pauses for breath, is
answered tersely from above thè treble stave, and
starts again when thè high-pitched answering voice
joins it. When these duettists pause for breath this
time, they sound thè component notes of thè
C minor arpeggio, in a form that is discussed
in thè development section. The other main subject
of thè movement’s discussion is a hymn-tune-like
melody to which is appended a short melodie
phrase, repeated several times at different pitches,
at thè dose of thè exposition, just before thè first
idea returns for a repetition. The discussion that
follows that repetition is brief but charged with
weight. The restatement, which conventionally
rounds thè movement off, cannot do so at once when
such vital material is concerned, and Beethoven
interpolates new dramatic elaboration into it,
culminating almost in thè manner of a cadenza,
before thè hymn-tune, and then thè first idea,
briefly return to dose thè movement.
A slow movement would be proper after this lively
Allegro and there is one, but not thè one Beethoven
originally planned. He found it insufficiently noble,
and published it separately as what is now called thè
Andante favori in F. In its place he composed an
Adagio that does not stand on its own but is labelled
Introduzione, as though it were thè slow introduction
to a classical symphony. It is serious and contempla¬
tive, with that promise of mysteries about to be
SIDE I
Sonata No. 21 in C, Op. 53, “ Waldstein”
Band I—First Movement—Allegro con brio
Band 2—Second Movement—Introduzione (Adagio molto) — Rondo (Allegretto moderato — Prestissimo)
SIDE 2
Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 11 i
Band I—First Movement — Maestoso — Allegro con brio appassionato
Band 2—Second Movement — Arietta (con variazioni) — Adagio molto semplice e cantabile—Vars. I to 4 and Coda
unveiled which is thè mark of thè greatest introduc-
tions (e.g., that to thè fourth symphony, composed
two years later).
The Rondo begins innocently enough by touching
low C and proceeding to a simple tune over an
arpeggiated accompaniment, thè left hand Crossing
over thè accompanying right to make this leap. But
thè low C is shown, by what follows, to be thè first
note of this theme, much as Mozart’s sopranos and
concerto soloists leap widely in thè course of their
melody making. During thè voyage of this Rondo
theme, opportunity is taken to elaborate its implica-
tions, particularly those of thè first bass note and thè
leap after it. Eventually loud chords at both extremes
of thè keyboard subside, and thè distance travelled
by thè first two notes of thè theme is reviewed.
Suddenly a Prestissimo coda intervenes with blinding
brilliance, taxing thè player’s virtuosity, summing
up thè theme and piercing it with stili more flashes
of perceptive poetry.
The Waldstein Sonata was dedicated, as its name
implies, to Count Ferdinand von Waldstein,
Beethoven’s first patron. The last piano sonata of
all, Op. Ili in C minor, was dedicated to another
patron, thè Archduke Rudolph, dedicatee also of
thè Emperor Concerto and thè Archduke Trio, as well
as Beethoven’s erstwhile pupil and dose friend.
Beethoven wrote thè C minor sonata for him in
1822, while he was working at thè ninth symphony
and thè Missa Solemnis—astounding realization that
three such works occupied one man at thè same time.
Since thè sonatas of thè Op. 50’s Beethoven had been
expanding thè form, content and texture of thè
piano sonata, to such an extent that by Op. Ili thè
old three—or four—movement design had dis-
appeared; so had thè conventional forms of those
movements, most notably thè arrangement of ideas
specifically known as sonata form. Two elements,
particularly, Beethoven had been developing in
these years : fugue, with its contrapuntai dose
relations, as exemplified in thè Hammerklavier
Sonata, thè A fiat sonata, Op. 110, and, of course,
thè D major Mass, was one ; thè other was variation.
These two techniques are thè ones chiefly elaborated
in Op. Ili; thè first movement is fundamentally
contrapuntai with a fugato in its middle section ;
thè second movement is an Arietta with four varia-
tions and a long coda. This is not a virtuoso’s sonata,
like thè Waldstein, but it is a thousand times more
difficult to play ; technically it is only less demand-
ing than thè Hammerklavier, and its problems of
touch and tone and metrical gradation are far more
severe. The lion of thè keyboard may succeed in thè
Hammerklavier because thè sublime slow movement
is only an intermezzo; but thè Arietta of Op. Ili is
thè summit, thè goal and thè finale of thè work, and
inhabits a spiritual planet far removed from thè
sinewy pouncing of thè first movement. A musician
once remarked that pianists are of two kinds : those
who can play thè first movement, and those who can
play thè Arietta of Op. 111. But musicians who are
pianists will always try to bring both within their
range because (to quote Donald Tovey) 66it is so
dramatic in its first movement and so unmistakably
sublime as a whole that it is less discouraging to thè
student than any other of Beethoven’s later works.
Its technical difficulties are positive encourage-
ments ; we know that practice can overcome them.”
And, for thè listener, a truly satisfying interpretation
of Op. Ili is one of thè great musical experiences of a lifetime.
The Maestoso introduction to thè first movement
is like thè prelude to a fugue ; thè Allegro part of
thè movement is much occupied with two-part
counterpoint, though each of thè parts is apt to be
doubled in quest of a fuller sonority. The feeling of
sonata form is retained in thè repeat of thè first part,
but thè counterpoint to thè main theme is thè only
idea which can be numbered second in thè tally of
themes ; thè more placid tune sounds like a second
subject, and is heard when thè music has moved
into a new key (A fiat, thè submediant, instead of
thè dominant, G), but it is a repose rather than a
significant statement. After thè doublé bar, a fugai
development leads to a partial return of earlier
material, but no feeling of recapitulation is induced;
surprisingly, too, thè fires die down at thè end,
making way for thè Arietta.
The variation movement poses another paradox
for thè four variations are little more than a sublime
means of reaching thè coda, which meditates with
almost timeless tranquillity on thè Arietta theme,
and lifts thè entire work from thè labours and mind
of man. The closing pages of this sonata are music
of thè spheres, if any music ever was.
Note by William Mann
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