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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