December 16, 2013.Ludwig van Beethoven was born on this day in 1770 in Bonn, or at least we presume he was: the only existing record is that of his baptism, which happened on December 17th.We wrote about Beethoven many times (here, for example), so we’ll just continue the traversal of his piano sonatas, this time sonatas nos. 2 and 3, Op. 2.Both are dedicated to Franz Joseph Haydn.Beethoven met Haydn in the summer of 1792 in Bonn. In November of the same year he moved to Vienna to study with the great composer.A piano child prodigy, at the age of 21 he was already well know as an incomparable piano improviser.Even though he was composing from the age of 13 and by the time of his arrival in Vienna had written a number of pieces, Beethoven understood that as composer he had many technical shortcomings and needed to study.In addition to taking composition lessons with Haydn, he studied counterpoint with Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, the organist at the St-Stephen’s cathedral, as well as the violin with a friend, the violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh.He also worked with the composer Antonio Salieri.In Vienna Beethoven established himself as a piano virtuoso, performing in private salons.He often played preludes and fugues from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier.He continued to compose, both on the large and small scale but without presenting or publishing most of his music.When he was just 13, while still in Bonn, he composed a piece that is known as his "Concerto no. 0."He wrote down the piano part but didn’t complete the orchestral score, so when the concerto was performed, the rest of the orchestral part had to be arranged on the fly.This concerto is practically never performed these days.Also around that time he wrote several piano sonatas, strongly influenced by the style of the Mannheim school, with sudden bursts of forte and unexpected pianos (we wrote about Carl Stamitz, probably the most interesting representative of this school, here).Then, between 1787 and 1789 he wrote the large sections of yet another piano concerto, which he completed in Vienna in 1795.We know it as his Concerto no. 2.There is confusion surrounding his first two "official" piano concertos: their numbers come not from the sequence in which they were composed but in which they were published.The concerto known as number 1 was actually composed in 1796-97; both concertos were published years later, Concerto no. 1 first, as opus 15 and then Concerto no. 2 as opus 19.In 1795, in a “coming of age” concert, Beethoven’s first public appearance in Vienna, he played his own composition, piano concerto no. 2.Soon after he published his first officially numbered composition, a set of piano trios, Op. 1.Three piano sonatas followed, his opus 2.
The second of these sonatas, no 2 in A Major, consists of four movements: Allegro vivace; Largo appassionato; Scherzo: Allegretto; and Rondo: Grazioso. Karl Hass, whose Adventures in Good Music was the most listened to classical music program ever produced, used the touching Largo appassionato as the musical theme (Mr. Haas’s 100th birthday was just 10 days ago, on December 6th: he was born on that day in 1913 in Speyer, Germany).You can hear Sonata op.2 no. 2 in the performance by Emil Gilels.The 3rd sonata, which followed shortly after, in C Major, is usually the longest of the three (it runs for about 25 minutes, although Gilels manages to stretch sonata no. 2 to the same length) and technically the most difficult.It also has four movements: Allegro con brio, Adagio, Scherzo: Allegro, and Allegro assai.You can hear it in the performance by Richard Goode.Both sonatas are immediately recognizable as Beethoven’s, even if they lack the depth he developed later in his career.With their surprising and unpredictable outbursts, as for example in the slow movement of the 3rd sonata, they owe more to the Mannheim school than to the dedicatee, Haydn, or Beethoven’s idol, Mozart.
Beethoven 2013
December 16, 2013. Ludwig van Beethoven was born on this day in 1770 in Bonn, or at least we presume he was: the only existing record is that of his baptism, which happened on December 17th. We wrote about Beethoven many times (here, for
example), so we’ll just continue the traversal of his piano sonatas, this time sonatas nos. 2 and 3, Op. 2. Both are dedicated to Franz Joseph Haydn. Beethoven met Haydn in the summer of 1792 in Bonn. In November of the same year he moved to Vienna to study with the great composer. A piano child prodigy, at the age of 21 he was already well know as an incomparable piano improviser. Even though he was composing from the age of 13 and by the time of his arrival in Vienna had written a number of pieces, Beethoven understood that as composer he had many technical shortcomings and needed to study. In addition to taking composition lessons with Haydn, he studied counterpoint with Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, the organist at the St-Stephen’s cathedral, as well as the violin with a friend, the violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh. He also worked with the composer Antonio Salieri. In Vienna Beethoven established himself as a piano virtuoso, performing in private salons. He often played preludes and fugues from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. He continued to compose, both on the large and small scale but without presenting or publishing most of his music. When he was just 13, while still in Bonn, he composed a piece that is known as his "Concerto no. 0." He wrote down the piano part but didn’t complete the orchestral score, so when the concerto was performed, the rest of the orchestral part had to be arranged on the fly. This concerto is practically never performed these days. Also around that time he wrote several piano sonatas, strongly influenced by the style of the Mannheim school, with sudden bursts of forte and unexpected pianos (we wrote about Carl Stamitz, probably the most interesting representative of this school, here). Then, between 1787 and 1789 he wrote the large sections of yet another piano concerto, which he completed in Vienna in 1795. We know it as his Concerto no. 2. There is confusion surrounding his first two "official" piano concertos: their numbers come not from the sequence in which they were composed but in which they were published. The concerto known as number 1 was actually composed in 1796-97; both concertos were published years later, Concerto no. 1 first, as opus 15 and then Concerto no. 2 as opus 19. In 1795, in a “coming of age” concert, Beethoven’s first public appearance in Vienna, he played his own composition, piano concerto no. 2. Soon after he published his first officially numbered composition, a set of piano trios, Op. 1. Three piano sonatas followed, his opus 2.
The second of these sonatas, no 2 in A Major, consists of four movements: Allegro vivace; Largo appassionato; Scherzo: Allegretto; and Rondo: Grazioso. Karl Hass, whose Adventures in Good Music was the most listened to classical music program ever produced, used the touching Largo appassionato as the musical theme (Mr. Haas’s 100th birthday was just 10 days ago, on December 6th: he was born on that day in 1913 in Speyer, Germany). You can hear Sonata op.2 no. 2 in the performance by Emil Gilels. The 3rd sonata, which followed shortly after, in C Major, is usually the longest of the three (it runs for about 25 minutes, although Gilels manages to stretch sonata no. 2 to the same length) and technically the most difficult. It also has four movements: Allegro con brio, Adagio, Scherzo: Allegro, and Allegro assai. You can hear it in the performance by Richard Goode. Both sonatas are immediately recognizable as Beethoven’s, even if they lack the depth he developed later in his career. With their surprising and unpredictable outbursts, as for example in the slow movement of the 3rd sonata, they owe more to the Mannheim school than to the dedicatee, Haydn, or Beethoven’s idol, Mozart.