Piano Sonata No. 28 (Beethoven)

Last updated
Opening of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101 Sonate Op101intro.jpg
Opening of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101, was written in 1816 and was dedicated to the pianist Baroness Dorothea Ertmann, née Graumen. This sonata marks the beginning of what is generally regarded as Beethoven's final period, where the forms are more complex, ideas more wide-ranging, textures more polyphonic, and the treatment of the themes and motifs even more sophisticated than before. Op. 101 well exemplified this new style, and Beethoven exploits the newly expanded keyboard compass of the day.

Contents

Movements

This piano sonata consists of four movements:

  1. Etwas lebhaft, und mit der innigsten Empfindung (Somewhat lively, and with innermost sensibility). Allegretto, ma non troppo
  2. Lebhaft, marschmäßig (Lively, march-like). Vivace alla marcia
  3. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll (Slow and longingly). Adagio, ma non troppo, con affetto
  4. Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr, und mit Entschlossenheit (Swiftly, but not overly, and with determination). Allegro

A complete performance of the work takes about 19–22 minutes.

First movement

Sonata No. 28 1st Movement.png

This movement is in A major, 6
8 time, and in sonata form. The tempo marking for the opening movement, Etwas Lebhaft und mit der innigsten Empfindung, is roughly translated as "somewhat lively and with the warmest feeling." (This term is used on the first published score but not on the autograph, which has only "Allegretto ma non troppo. [1] )

Four-part harmony and contrapuntal texture is used throughout the movement. Though the sonata is marked as being in A major, Beethoven does not write any cadences on the tonic key; the exposition and development do not include a single root position A major chord. The first tonic chord in root position appears towards the end of the recapitulation. It appears once more at the end of the recapitulation, but even then is blunted by the omission of the fifth scale degree.

Second movement

Sonata No. 28 2st Movement.png

The second movement is in F major, 4
4 time. The middle section is in B♭ major. It takes the form of a march in ternary form, and is characterized by dotted rhythms, harmonic dislocation and alternation between static and accelerando.

Third movement

Sonata No. 28 3st Movement.png

The third movement begins with a slow introduction in A minor, 2
4 time. The opening melody of the first movement is recalled just as the introduction nears its conclusion in original tempo and meter.

Fourth movement

Sonata No. 28 4st Movement.png

The finale begins without pause, and returns to the key of the first movement, in A major. It is a grand contrapuntal movement in which Beethoven explored the newest keyboard set in his command, using the lowest E (E1) on the piano near the end. This movement is the longest and most technically challenging one in the sonata, including a dense and 100-bar-long fugato in four voices as its development section. [2]

History

As with the previous sonata, it is unclear why Beethoven wrote Op. 101. The earliest known sketches are on leaves that once formed the parts of the Scheide Sketchbook of 1815–16. It shows the first movement already well developed and notated as an extended draft in score, and there are also a few preliminary ideas for the final Allegro. [3]

Beethoven himself described this sonata, composed in the town of Baden, just south of Vienna, during the summer of 1816, as "a series of impressions and reveries." The more intimate nature of the late sonatas probably has some connection with his deafness, which by this stage was almost total, isolating him from society so completely that his only means of communicating with friends and visitors was via notebooks.

Beethoven offered the sonata for publication in a letter to Breitkopf and Härtel on July 19, 1816, when it was still far from complete. Eventually it was sold to the local Viennese publisher Sigmond Anton Steiner, after its completion. It was published in January 1817, and would appear in public the following month after delays.

Composition

Beethoven's manuscript sketch for movement IV. Beethoven opus 101 manuscript.jpg
Beethoven's manuscript sketch for movement IV.

The Piano Sonata No. 28, Op. 101 is the first of the series of Beethoven's "Late Period" sonatas (although sometimes Op. 90 is considered the first), when his music moved in a new direction toward a more personal, intimate, sometimes even introspective, realm of freedom and fantasy. In this period he had achieved a complete mastery of form, texture and tonality and was subverting the very conventions he had mastered to create works of remarkable profundity and beauty.[ citation needed ] It is also characteristic of these late works to incorporate contrapuntal techniques (e.g. canon and fugue) into the sonata form.

For the first time Beethoven used the German term Hammerklavier to refer to the piano (although it was the next of his sonatas, Op. 106, that became widely known as the Hammerklavier sonata).

This was the only one of his 32 sonatas that Beethoven ever saw played publicly; this was in 1816, and the performer was a bank official and musical dilettante. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

Piano Sonata No. 29 (Beethoven) Longest Beethoven piano sonata, composed in 1818

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29 in B♭ major, Op. 106 is a piano sonata that is widely viewed as one of the most important works of the composer's third period and among the greatest piano sonatas of all time. Completed in 1818, it is often considered to be Beethoven's most technically challenging piano composition and one of the most demanding solo works in the classical piano repertoire. The first documented public performance was in 1836 by Franz Liszt in the Salle Erard in Paris.

Piano Sonata No. 23 (Beethoven) Piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 is among the three famous piano sonatas of his middle period ; it was composed during 1804 and 1805, and perhaps 1806, and was dedicated to Count Franz von Brunswick. The first edition was published in February 1807 in Vienna.

Sonata rondo form is a musical form often used during the Classical music era. As the name implies, it is a blend of sonata and rondo forms.

Piano Sonata No. 21 (Beethoven) Piano Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven

Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, known as the Waldstein, is one of the three most notable sonatas of his middle period. Completed in summer 1804 and surpassing Beethoven's previous piano sonatas in its scope, the Waldstein is a key early work of Beethoven's "Heroic" decade (1803–1812) and set a standard for piano composition in the grand manner.

Cello Sonata No. 3 (Beethoven) Composition for cello and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven

The Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69, is the third of five cello sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven. He composed it in 1807–08, during his productive middle period. It was first performed in 1809 by cellist Nikolaus Kraft and pianist Dorothea von Ertmann, a student of Beethoven. Published by Breitkopf & Härtel the same year, it was dedicated to Freiherr Ignaz von Gleichenstein, Beethoven's friend and an amateur cellist. The sonata was successful with audiences from the beginning.

Piano Sonata No. 16 (Beethoven) Piano sonata by Beethoven, composed 1801-02

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31, No. 1, was composed between 1801 and 1802. Although it was numbered as the first piece in the trio of piano sonatas which were published as Opus 31 in 1803, Beethoven actually finished it after the Op. 31 No. 2, the Tempest Sonata.

Piano Sonata No. 9 (Beethoven)

The Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14, No. 1, is an early-period work by Ludwig van Beethoven, dedicated to Baroness Josefa von Braun, one of his patrons at that time. It was composed in 1798 and arranged for string quartet by the composer in 1801, the result containing more quartet-like passagework and in the more comfortable key of F major.

Piano Sonata No. 27 (Beethoven) Piano Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90 was written in the summer of 1814 – Beethoven's late Middle period – and dedicated to Prince Moritz von Lichnowsky, a friend and benefactor who was also the dedicatee of the Eroica Variations.

Piano Sonata No. 17 (Beethoven)

The Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2, was composed in 1801–02 by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is usually referred to as The Tempest, but the sonata was not given this title by Beethoven, or indeed referred to as such during his lifetime. The name comes from a reference to a personal conversation with Beethoven by his associate Anton Schindler in which Schindler reports that Beethoven suggested, in passing response to his question about interpreting it and Op. 57, the Appassionata sonata, that he should read Shakespeare's Tempest; some however have suggested that Beethoven may have been referring to the works of C. C. Sturm, the preacher and author best known for his Reflections on the Works of God in Nature, a copy of which he owned and, indeed, had heavily annotated. Although much of Schindler's information is distrusted by classical music scholars, this is a first-hand account unlike any other that any scholar reports. The British music scholar Donald Francis Tovey says in A Companion to Beethoven's Pianoforte Sonatas:

"With all the tragic power of its first movement the D minor Sonata is, like Prospero, almost as far beyond tragedy as it is beyond mere foul weather. It will do you no harm to think of Miranda at bars 31–38 of the slow movement... but people who want to identify Ariel and Caliban and the castaways, good and villainous, may as well confine their attention to the exploits of Scarlet Pimpernel when the Eroica or the C minor Symphony is being played."

The Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49, No. 1, and Piano Sonata No. 20 in G major, Op. 49, No. 2, are short sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven, published in 1805. Both works are approximately eight minutes in length, and are split into two movements. These sonatas are referred to as the Leichte Sonaten to be given to his friends and students.

Piano Sonata No. 6 (Beethoven)

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10, No. 2, was dedicated to the Countess Anne Margarete von Browne, and written from 1796 to 1798.

Piano Sonata No. 25 (Beethoven) Piano sonata written by Beethoven

The Piano Sonata No. 25 in G major, Op. 79, was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1809. It is alternatively titled "Cuckoo" or "Sonatina," and it is notable for its shortness. A typical performance lasts only about nine minutes. The work is in three movements: a fast-paced Presto alla tedesca, a slower Andante, and a lively Vivace.

Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2, No. 2, was published in 1796 and dedicated to Joseph Haydn. A typical performance lasts 22 minutes.

Piano Sonata No. 4 (Beethoven)

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 4, in E♭ major, Op. 7, sometimes nicknamed the Grand Sonata, is dedicated to his student Babette, the Countess Keglevics. This piano sonata was composed in November 1796 in Bratislava, during his visit of Keglevich Palace. Beethoven named it Great Sonata, because it was published alone, which was unusual for the time.

Piano Sonata No. 30 (Beethoven) Piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109, composed in 1820, is the third-to-last of his piano sonatas. In it, after the huge Hammerklavier Sonata, Op. 106, Beethoven returns to a smaller scale and a more intimate character. It is dedicated to Maximiliane Brentano, the daughter of Beethoven's long-standing friend Antonie Brentano, for whom Beethoven had already composed the short Piano Trio in B♭ major WoO 39 in 1812. Musically, the work is characterised by a free and original approach to the traditional sonata form. Its focus is the third movement, a set of variations that interpret its theme in a wide variety of individual ways.

Piano Sonata No. 24 (Beethoven) Piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven

The Piano Sonata No. 24 in F♯ major, Op. 78, nicknamed "à Thérèse" was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1809. It consists of two movements:

The Quintet in E♭ major for Piano and Winds, K. 452, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on March 30, 1784 and premiered two days later at the Imperial and Royal National Court Theater in Vienna. Shortly after the premiere, Mozart wrote to his father that "I myself consider it to be the best thing I have written in my life." It is scored for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon.

The six String Quartets, Op. 76, by Joseph Haydn were composed in 1797 or 1798 and dedicated to the Hungarian count Joseph Georg von Erdődy (1754–1824). They form the last complete set of string quartets that Haydn composed. At the time of the commission, Haydn was employed at the court of Prince Nicolaus Esterházy II and was composing the oratorio The Creation as well as Princess Maria Hermenegild Esterházy's annual mass.

"Kakadu Variations" is the nickname given to Ludwig van Beethoven's set of variations for piano trio on the theme "Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu" by Wenzel Müller. The Variations was published in 1824 as Opus 121a, the last of Beethoven's piano trios to be published. The work is notable for the contrast between its solemn introduction and the lightweight variations that follow.

References

  1. ↑ See IMSLP.
  2. ↑ Beethoven, Ludwig van (2018). Hauschild, Peter (ed.). Klaviersonaten = Piano sonatas = Sonates pour piano (in German, English, and French). Vol. 3. Peter Hauschild, Jochen Reutter, Pavel Gililov, Alexander Jenner, Hans Kann, Naoyuki Taneda (Erste Auflage ed.). Wien. pp. Preface, page VI. ISBN   978-3-85055-785-6.
  3. ↑ Bonn, Beethoven-Haus; Autograph, Ludwig van Beethoven, Skizzenblatt zur Klaviersonate op 101, 1 und 4 Satz. "Ludwig van Beethoven, Skizzenblatt zur Klaviersonate op. 101, 1. und 4. Satz, Autograph". Beethoven-Haus Bonn (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  4. ↑ Joseph Braunstein, Liner notes to the Michael Ponti recording of Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 7
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.