December 11, 2017.Beethoven.Whatever deity was distributing musical birthdays throughout the year did a very poor job.There are meager weeks, and then there are periods like this one, in the middle of December: we’ve already missed the anniversaries of Jean Sibelius, Cesar Franck and Olivier Messiaen, all born during the last several days (and these are the foremost composers, there are more), while this week three more big ones are coming: that of Hector Berlioz, who was born on December 11th of 1803,Elliott Carter, the American modernist, born on the same day in 1908, and the talented Hungarian composer ZóltanKodaly, whose birthday is December 16th of 1882.We’ll skip all of them until a later date.All of it because December 16th is the birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven and that we cannot miss.Some years ago, we started a survey of Beethoven’s life through his music, pretty much arbitrarily picking his piano sonatas and symphonies, even though we may have as well followed the development of his genius though his quartets or piano trios – and we still might.For the time being, though, we’ll return to his piano sonatas.The last one we disucssed was the Sonata no. 7, op. 10, no. 3, written in 1798, when Beethoven was 27 years old.The next sonata, the famous no. 8, op. 13, known as Pathétique, was written the same year (the title Pathétique was given by the publisher, not the composer himself, but Beethoven liked it and that’s what the sonata was called ever since).Up to then, Beethoven was better known as a pianist rather than a composer (Václav Tomášek, a Czech composer and music teacher, who also heard Mozart, the supreme virtuoso of his time, play, considered Beethoven the greatest performer of all time).
Beethoven’s predecessors, Haydn and Mozart, each wrote many wonderful piano sonatas, but Beethoven’s no. 8 was clearly different.Even though written in a traditional classical sonata form and clearly inspired by Mozart’s great piano sonata K. 457, Beethoven’s use of the themes and dynamics, the juxtaposition of different sections, his sense of the dramatic were all absolutely original, and recognizably Beethovenian.The sonata was dedicated to Beethoven’s friend and benefactor Prince Karl von Lichnowsky, who some years earlier played the same role for Mozart.It became immediately popular, establishing Beethoven as a leading composer.Here it is, in a 1959 recording made by the great Soviet pianist Sviatoslav Richter.
The next sonata, no. 9 op. 14, no. 1, was written in the same 1798.The description often attached to this sonata is “modest.”And indeed, it doesn’t have the dramatic developments of its predecessor, it’s themes are not as expansive.Still, it’s recognizably Beethoven, couldn’t be mistaken for anything else.In 1801 Beethoven arranged the sonata for a quartet.It doesn’t have a number, 34, from the Hess catalogue.We’ll hear the original piano version here: the pianist Richard Goode is performing Beethoven’s Sonata no. 9 in E Major.
The second composition in op. 14, also written in 1798, is Sonata no. 10.Like the previous sonata, it’s dedicated to Baroness Josefa von Braun, at the time one of Beethoven’s patrons (her husband, Baron Peter von Braun, an industrialist, managed the Viennese court theaters).This sonata, like the no. 9, is not very ambitious, it could rather be called lyrical and exquisite – descriptions not often applied to Beethoven’s sonatas.Also, one can hear Haydn, still an influence.Here it is performed by the American pianist Stephen Kovacevich.
Beethoven, 2017
December 11, 2017. Beethoven. Whatever deity was distributing musical birthdays throughout the year did a very poor job. There are meager weeks, and then there are periods like this one, in the middle of December: we’ve already missed the anniversaries of Jean Sibelius, Cesar Franck and Olivier Messiaen, all born during the last several days (and these are the foremost composers, there are
more), while this week three more big ones are coming: that of Hector Berlioz, who was born on December 11th of 1803, Elliott Carter, the American modernist, born on the same day in 1908, and the talented Hungarian composer ZóltanKodaly, whose birthday is December 16th of 1882. We’ll skip all of them until a later date. All of it because December 16th is the birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven and that we cannot miss. Some years ago, we started a survey of Beethoven’s life through his music, pretty much arbitrarily picking his piano sonatas and symphonies, even though we may have as well followed the development of his genius though his quartets or piano trios – and we still might. For the time being, though, we’ll return to his piano sonatas. The last one we disucssed was the Sonata no. 7, op. 10, no. 3, written in 1798, when Beethoven was 27 years old. The next sonata, the famous no. 8, op. 13, known as Pathétique, was written the same year (the title Pathétique was given by the publisher, not the composer himself, but Beethoven liked it and that’s what the sonata was called ever since). Up to then, Beethoven was better known as a pianist rather than a composer (Václav Tomášek, a Czech composer and music teacher, who also heard Mozart, the supreme virtuoso of his time, play, considered Beethoven the greatest performer of all time).
Beethoven’s predecessors, Haydn and Mozart, each wrote many wonderful piano sonatas, but Beethoven’s no. 8 was clearly different. Even though written in a traditional classical sonata form and clearly inspired by Mozart’s great piano sonata K. 457, Beethoven’s use of the themes and dynamics, the juxtaposition of different sections, his sense of the dramatic were all absolutely original, and recognizably Beethovenian. The sonata was dedicated to Beethoven’s friend and benefactor Prince Karl von Lichnowsky, who some years earlier played the same role for Mozart. It became immediately popular, establishing Beethoven as a leading composer. Here it is, in a 1959 recording made by the great Soviet pianist Sviatoslav Richter.
The next sonata, no. 9 op. 14, no. 1, was written in the same 1798. The description often attached to this sonata is “modest.” And indeed, it doesn’t have the dramatic developments of its predecessor, it’s themes are not as expansive. Still, it’s recognizably Beethoven, couldn’t be mistaken for anything else. In 1801 Beethoven arranged the sonata for a quartet. It doesn’t have a number, 34, from the Hess catalogue. We’ll hear the original piano version here: the pianist Richard Goode is performing Beethoven’s Sonata no. 9 in E Major.
The second composition in op. 14, also written in 1798, is Sonata no. 10. Like the previous sonata, it’s dedicated to Baroness Josefa von Braun, at the time one of Beethoven’s patrons (her husband, Baron Peter von Braun, an industrialist, managed the Viennese court theaters). This sonata, like the no. 9, is not very ambitious, it could rather be called lyrical and exquisite – descriptions not often applied to Beethoven’s sonatas. Also, one can hear Haydn, still an influence. Here it is performed by the American pianist Stephen Kovacevich.