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for “wildly piling up ideas and grouping them
in a somewhat bizarre manner, so that not sel-
dom an obscure arti ce or artful obscurity is
produced that becomes a detriment rather than
a bene t to the total e ect.”
Notwithstanding, these sonatas represented an
important stage in Beethoven’s evolution from
brash piano wunderkind to an innovative cre-
ative artist.
e second sonata in F major—a
work possessing carefully balanced phrasing,
harmonic directness, and light expression—be-
longs to the world of Haydn and Mozart. Bee-
thoven shows his humorous side in the
Allegro
’s
short, clipped phrases. At its moderately fast
tempo, the minor-key
Allegretto
feigns a serious
air. However, the “trio” provides an extended
period of true lyrical beauty.
e
Presto
nale
begins with a three-voice fugue, an “academic”
e ect seemingly misplaced in its almost comical
surroundings.
Piano Sonata No. in G major, op. , no.
Beethoven’s relationship with the Braun family
around the turn of the th century was com-
plex and not always amiable. Baron Peter von
Braun managed several Viennese theaters and
was an enthusiastic supporter of music. e bar-
on gained notoriety in Beethoven’s biography
as the uncooperative administrator who denied
the composer use of one of his theaters for a
bene t concert in
.
ree years later, how-
ever, Braun opened the doors of the eater an
der Wien for the rst production of Beethoven’s
only opera,
Leonore
(later renamed
Fidelio
). Its
unsuccessful debut prompted a heated exchange
between composer and manager. Beethoven ac-
cused Braun of cheating him on box o ce re-
ceipts and withdrew the opera. His rapport with
the baron’s wife, Josephine, appears to have been
less volatile. Beethoven dedicated three com-
positions to her: the two Piano Sonatas, op.
(
), and the Horn Sonata, op. ( ).
Sonata No. in Gmajor, the latter half of op. ,
opens with a super cially lightweight sonata-al-
legro movement. Its melodic simplicity is mere
deception, for Beethoven dwells at length upon
the initial six-note gure in the development
section, maneuvering it through numerous,
o en minor, keys.
e
Andante
builds a set of
variations on an original theme, asymmetrically
constructed with only the second half repeated.
is movement concludes humorously with
a grandiose
fortissimo
chord. Beethoven con-
tinues his mischievousness in the concluding
Scherzo
(the term originally implied a “joke”),
an unusual title for a nale, though one captur-
ing its prankishness.
Piano Sonata No. in E- at major, op. , no.
Beethoven was forced to confront the perma-
nence of his deafness during the summer of
while vacationing outside Vienna in the
small village of Heiligenstadt. His feelings of de-
spair spilled over onto the pages of the so-called
Heiligenstadt Testament, an unmailed letter to
his two brothers: “I was on the point of putting
an end to my life— e only thing that held me
back was my art. For indeed it seemed to me
impossible to leave this world before I had pro-
duced all the works that I felt the urge to com-
pose.”
is crisis kindled a highly productive
period during which Beethoven composed the
Symphony No. , several solo vocal pieces, the
three violin sonatas of op.
, two sets of vari-
ations for piano (opp.
and ), and the three
op. piano sonatas.
Originally, op. was not issued as a single set.
Two di erent rms published the rst two so-
natas in
: Nägeli of Zurich released the so-
natas as part of a piano anthology, and Simrock
in Bonn printed them as a two-sonata set.
e
third sonata joined the set in
. Simrock’s
edition was lled with at least
errors, and
Beethoven insisted that an “
Edition très correcte
”
be prepared.
Structural design and expressive content distin-
guish the third sonata of op. from its two ear-
lier companions. Unlike them, this E- at-major
work has four movements, none of which is in
a slow tempo. Beethoven’s
Allegro
introduces
a harmonically rich rst theme and a lyrical,
galant second theme, both somewhat under-
stated at rst.
e second movement, a posi-
tion that typically featured a slow and a ective
piece, o ers instead the boisterous character of a
scherzo. Both the
Minuetto
and
Presto con fuoco
possess dance-like qualities.
Piano Sonata No. in B- at major, op.
(“Hammerklavier”)
In the a ermath of the
Congress of Vienna,
and swept up in Austrian nationalistic fervor,
Beethoven discharged a somewhat militaristic
decree to the publisher Sigmund Anton Stein-
er: “All our works, on which the title is German,
instead of ‘pianoforte’ the term ‘Hammerklavier’
shall be used. …
is is to be clearly under-
stood once and for all—issued etc., etc., by the
G[eneralissim]o on January ,
.”
e term
“Hammerklavier” was intended to apply not to a
single work, but to all piano works with German
title pages. Beethoven’s next three sonatas—
opp.
,
, and
—all bore the subtext “
für
das Hammerklavier
.” Interestingly, the sonata
known today as the “Hammerklavier” (op.
)
was rst published in September
by Artar-
ia in Vienna with separate title pages in French
(“
Grande Sonate pour le Piano-Forte
”) and Ger-
man (“
Grosse Sonate für das Hammer-Klavier
”).
At the same time, Beethoven found himself en-
tangled in the worst personal and legal struggle
of his life. A magistrate ruled against the com-
poser on September , restoring custody of his
nephew Karl to Johanna Beethoven, the boy’s
mother. “ e sonata was written in distressful
circumstances, for it is hard to compose almost
entirely for the sake of earning one’s daily bread;
and that is all I have been able to achieve,” wrote
the distraught composer. To meet his growing
legal expenses, Beethoven urged Ferdinand
Ries, who had decamped Vienna for London, to
publish the sonata in England immediately a er
Artaria.
ese same nancial di culties pro-
voked a rare artistic compromise, as Beethoven
allowed Ries to rearrange and omit movements.
e rst two movements were composed for the
name day of Beethoven’s friend and patron, the
Archduke Rudolph, in April
. By fall, the so-
nata achieved nal form and was dedicated to
the archduke. Beethoven arrived at an extreme
stylistic position in this sonata, his longest so-
lo-piano statement. Its thematic content is
carefully integrated, and the tonal organization
observes an equally magni cent design. Only
severe desperation could cause Beethoven to
tamper with this conception. Polyphonic writ-
ing occurs not only in the fugal nale but also in
the development section of the rst movement.
ick, heroic chords announce the
Allegro
’s
main theme. Parallel treble lines infuse a tran-
quil spirit in the second theme. Development
begins boldly with a crucial rhythmic motive
of the rst theme, which blossoms into a full
fugue. A eet melody in triple time begins the
Scherzo
; the
Presto
introduces a more mercurial
trio
. Beethoven employed a large-scale sonata
in the beautiful
Adagio sostenuto
. A rhapsodic
Largo
leads directly into the
Allegro risoluto
.
is three-voice fugue “
con alcune licenze
” (with
some liberties) is an uncompromising piece of
contrapuntal complexity. Beethoven made a
con dent assertion to Artaria that was not mere
rhetorical bravura, but a statement of fact: “Now
there you have a sonata that will keep the pianist
busy when it is played years hence.”
–Program notes ©
Todd E. Sullivan
The village of Heiligenstadt
RAVINIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2018
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