Sonata in C Major, Op. 102, No. 1 for Piano and Cello Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven composed his
last two cello sonatas in the late summer of 1815, but the impetus for their
composition was an event that had occurred seven months earlier. On December
31st, 1814, the palace of Count Andreas Razumovsky had burned to the ground. The Count was the Russian ambassador to
Vienna, but he is known to music lovers as the dedicatee of the Op. 59
"Razumovsky" string quartets. In 1808, he had charged Ignaz
Schuppanzigh, the great violinist and long-time friend of Beethoven, to
assemble "the finest string quartet in Europe." This
Schuppanzigh had done, bringing with him the violist Franz Weiss, the cellist
Joseph Linke and a gentleman known only to us as Sina playing second violin.
With
the destruction of the Count's palace, however, came the demise of the quartet
as well, for the Count had lost a great deal of his personal fortune in the
fire. Linke found employment with the household of the Countess Erdödy,
one of Beethoven's major patrons and a gifted pianist. During the summer
of 1815, the Countess and her husband were at their holiday residence on the
Jedlersee. We know that Beethoven joined them for a time. After the
summer idyll, the Erdödys and Linke left for Croatia. Beethoven thus lost
not just a patron, but two friends that summer. Op. 102, then, was
written as a farewell, a musical "thank you"; Beethoven was honoring
his friend in the highest possible way. Bion Tsang
Classical Music | Cello Music
Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonata in C Major, Op. 102, No. 1 for Piano and Cello Play
Recorded on 11/01/2005, uploaded on 01/15/2009
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
Sonata in C Major, Op. 102, No. 1 for Piano and Cello Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven composed his last two cello sonatas in the late summer of 1815, but the impetus for their composition was an event that had occurred seven months earlier. On December 31st, 1814, the palace of Count Andreas Razumovsky had burned to the ground. The Count was the Russian ambassador to Vienna, but he is known to music lovers as the dedicatee of the Op. 59 "Razumovsky" string quartets. In 1808, he had charged Ignaz Schuppanzigh, the great violinist and long-time friend of Beethoven, to assemble "the finest string quartet in Europe." This Schuppanzigh had done, bringing with him the violist Franz Weiss, the cellist Joseph Linke and a gentleman known only to us as Sina playing second violin.
With the destruction of the Count's palace, however, came the demise of the quartet as well, for the Count had lost a great deal of his personal fortune in the fire. Linke found employment with the household of the Countess Erdödy, one of Beethoven's major patrons and a gifted pianist. During the summer of 1815, the Countess and her husband were at their holiday residence on the Jedlersee. We know that Beethoven joined them for a time. After the summer idyll, the Erdödys and Linke left for Croatia. Beethoven thus lost not just a patron, but two friends that summer. Op. 102, then, was written as a farewell, a musical "thank you"; Beethoven was honoring his friend in the highest possible way. Bion Tsang
More music by Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonata No. 13 Op. 27, No. 1 in E-flat Major, "Quasi una Fantasia"
Allegretto from Symphony No. 7
32 Variations in c minor, WoO 80
Sonata for cello and piano in g minor, Op 5, No. 2
Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor "Für Elise"
Seven Variations on “Bei Mannern, welche Liebe fuhlen” from Die Zauberflote by Mozart
7 Variations
Cello Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69
Sonata Op. 53 III
Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
Performances by same musician(s)
Sonata in D Major, Op. 102, No. 2 for Piano and Cello
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