Classical Music | Piano Music

Ludwig van Beethoven

Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2  Play

Ishay Shaer Piano

Recorded on 06/07/2011, uploaded on 06/07/2011

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

This sonata was composed in 1801/02, and is usually referred to as "The Tempest", a title not given by Beethoven himself, but rather by his associate Anton Schindler who claimed it was inspired by the "The Tempest" Shakespeare play. However, much of Schindler's information is distrusted by classical music scholars.

Each of the three movements can be generally considered a sonata form. The first movement alternates tempi of Largo and Adagio with Allegro in an unprecedented manner, and delays tonal resolution until an unusually late point. The first idea (in Largo) is merely a slow, arpeggiated chord on the dominant, and immediately thereafter the second idea appears in allegro. The whole movement is based on these two ideas. At the beginning of this movement's recapitulation, a new distant and seemingly detached recitative section appears between the two main ideas.

The second movement in B flat major is an adagio, characterized by a distinctive pastoral atmosphere. The third movement is a sonata-rondo hybrid. It is very moving, first flowing with emotion and then reaching a climax, before moving into an extended development section which mainly focuses on the opening figure of the movement.     Ishay Shaer

Listeners' Comments        (You have to be logged in to leave comments)

Wonderful and calming! I love working to this piece... Rock on and roll over Beethoven!

Submitted by kittykaz on Tue, 10/13/2015 - 05:49. Report abuse