We come at last to the final piano sonata by Beethoven, don't worry he'll keep us companied for a while still, as he goes progressively into a more transcendental part of his live, but the piano sonatas end here.
The sonata's structure is strange, being composed only of 2 movements. Those two movements are, however, more than enough to make this one of the most interesting piano sonatas by Beethoven, come on he even invents boogie-woogie jazz!
The second movement is again the most weighty and more interesting, and it has a couple of variations which sound modern to the point of pre-figuring jazz music. This is not only truly unexpected but also immediately recognisable when you are listening to it. In this sonata Beethoven is again exploring counterpoint to great success.
Final Grade
10/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The final movement, in C major, is a set of variations on a 16-bar theme, with a brief modulating interlude and final coda. The third variation is remarkably jazzy and often referred to as the "boogie-woogie variation", and the last two are famous for introducing small notes which constantly divide the bar in 36 resp. 27 parts, which is very uncommon. Beethoven eventually introduces a trill which gives the impression of a further step (ie. dividing each bar into 81 parts), though this is extremely technically difficult without slowing down to half-tempo.
Another beautiful little gem of a piano sonata by Beethoven. And one that is as emotive and beautiful as humorous, the two great long movements at the beginning and end sandwich a funny little scherzo in the middle which breaks the tension in a funny and endearing way.
The last movement, as in so many of Beethoven's works, is the real highlight here, again a contrapunctual work of the type he has been exploring since Hammerklavier, this one sounds more forward looking than his previous efforts, which were very much looking back at classical and even baroque forms of counterpoint, while still being modern.
The three great late sonatas, 30, 31 and 32 contrast beautifully with the long epic of Hammerklavier in a very deliberate way. And they should all really be seen together as part of one artistic effort. More than this they are amazing, experimental and virtuosistic works of great beauty.
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
In the summer of 1819 Moritz Schlesinger, from the Schlesinger firm of music publishers based in Berlin, met Beethoven and asked to purchase some compositions. After some negotiation by letter, and despite the publisher's qualms about Beethoven's retaining the rights for publication in England and Scotland, Schlesinger agreed to purchase 25 songs for 60 ducats and three piano sonatas at 90 ducats (Beethoven had originally asked 120 ducats for the sonatas). In May 1820 Beethoven agreed, the songs (op. 108) already being available, and he undertook to deliver the sonatas within three months. These three sonatas are the ones now known as opp. 109–111.
Beethoven was prevented from completing all three of the promised sonatas on schedule by factors including an attack of jaundice; Op. 109 was completed and delivered in 1820, but correspondence shows that Op. 110 was still not ready by the middle of December 1821, and the completed autograph score bears the date December 25 1821. Presumably the sonata was delivered shortly thereafter, since Beethoven was paid the 30 ducats for this sonata in January 1822.
Very Young Glen Gould playing the end of the third movement:
Title: Der Freischutz Performers: Endrik Wottrich, Berliner Philharmoniker Director: Nikolaus Harnoncourt Year: 1995 Length: 2 hours 30 minutes
Review
We finally arrive at the first properly romantic opera, even if Beethoven's Fidelio already had plenty of elements of it Weber's Der Freischutz is distinguished by nationalist elements, use of folk tales and the supernatual which mark it out most definitely as a romantic work.
It is striking how influential this work is, throughout you can hear Wagner's future operas in the more bombastic scenes with particular incidence for the amazing overture and the fantastic scene of demon summoning at the Wolf's Glen.
The music is strikingly original even if not particularly catchy, in fact few operas could be further away from Rossini's comedies that we have had here recently. This opera is very definitely Teutonic, this marked difference in national styles will only intensify itself more as composers take further inspiration from their own national musical traditions. Thematically the opera is also a great change, use of folklore and the supernatural, set in an unknown age and heavily concerned with emotion more than plot. A true mark in musical history.
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Its unearthly portrayal of the supernatural is especially poignant in the famous Wolf's Glen scene. Despite its daring innovations (and some scathing attacks by critics) it quickly became an international success, with some fifty performances in the first 18 months after its June 18, 1821 premiere at the Konzerthaus Berlin. Among the many artists influenced by Der Freischütz was a young Richard Wagner, who would come to be seen by many as Weber's successor.
Title: The Late Piano Sonatas Performer: Alfred Brendel Year: 1975 Length: 21 minutes
Review
After the immense Hammerklavier Beethoven could hardly have gone on to bigger and more epic piano sonatas, so he opted to do the exact opposite and create sonatas which are about half the size of the Hammerklavier.
This is not to say that they are in any way, shape or form any worse than his bigger sonatas, in fact they show a clear progression of Beethoven as a composer. It is here that his technique of saving the weight of a piece until the end becomes most apparent. After two short movements he gives us a movement which is as large as the other two put together and doubled!
Much as in the 9th symphony everything seems like a preface to the finale so do the two first movements here, and the finale is a whopper! Clearly following what he did in Hammerklavier Beethoven leads the listener through a sequence of different counterpucntual themes which leave the listener nothing if not satisfied with the piece. Final Grade
9/10 Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op.109 is the first of his late piano sonatas (Opus 109-111) composed between 1820–1822. This sonata (composed in 1820), like the other two, shows characteristics of Beethoven's last creative phase, including rich harmonic structures, a fascination with intricate counterpoint, and strict adherence to classical and baroque forms.
Mazurkas are traditional Polish dances and Chopin composed more of them than anything else in his life. It is therefore appropriate that those would be the first pieces of music by this revolutionary piano composer to show up on the list. In fact it will take a while for anything else by Chopin to appear here as he started composing Mazurkas when he was 9!
The music in this collection is surprisingly revolutionary, perhaps because it takes in a scope of 27 years, but even the earlier pieces are chromatic in a way not apparent before in piano music. This might have something to do with the folk influence but Chopin's sheer genius is obviously also a factor here.
Because these 57 Mazurkas are all in the same rhythm of 3/3 it can at times feel a bit samey, they is a result of the dance's format, still you can find enough pearls here and enough brilliant music for it to be well worth your time. This sounds different from anything here until now, at times the simplicity of the music is almost reminiscent of Satie, often the dances are of a great tenderness which is a very Chopin thing. Great music.
Final Grade
9/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The mazurka is a stylized Polish folk dance in triple meter with a lively tempo that has a heavy accent on the third or second beat. Its folk origins are the slow kujawiak and the fast oberek. It is always found to have either a triplet, trill, dotted eighth note pair, or an ordinary eighth note pair before two quarter notes. The dance became popular at ballroom dances in the rest of Europe during the nineteenth century. The Polish national anthem has a mazurka rhythm but is too slow to be considered a mazurka.
Mazurka in Polish is mazurek, derived from the word mazur, which up to nineteenth century referred to an inhabitant of the Mazovia region of Poland, and which also was the root of the term Masuria). Mazurka is the genitive and accusative case of mazurek.
Several classical composers have written mazurkas, with the best known being the 57 composed by Frédéric Chopin for solo piano. Henryk Wieniawski wrote two for violin with piano (the popular "Obertas", op. 19), and in the 1920s, Karol Szymanowski wrote a set of twenty for piano and finished his composing career with a final pair in 1934.
Title: Trout Quintet, Death and the Maiden Performer: Clifford Curzon, Members of the Vienna Octet Year: 1958 Length: 35 minutes
Review
This is probably my favourite chamber music piece with more than two instruments and again we get happy Schubert. The whole work is of an extreme lightness and delicacy while at the same time being very expressive and beautiful.
A great thing about this piece is that Schubert is not taking himself too seriously, it is clearly a very well humoured piece and the composition is also amazing. The piano has a great part throughout the piece and the other four instruments complement it perfectly.
It is the great fourth movement that gives the piece its name, we have already had the song that gives the piece its name before here on the list in Schubert's version, the fourth movement consists of an amazing array of variations on that theme. But really even if interesting it would be hard to consider the fourth movement a highlight as the whole thing is just so stupendous.
Final Grade
10/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Rather than the usual piano quintet lineup of piano and string quartet, Schubert's piece is written for piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass. The composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel had rearranged his own Septet for the same instrumentation,and the Trout was actually written for a group of musicians coming together to play Hummel's work.
Documentary on the Trout performance by Metha, Perlman, Zuckerman, Barenboim and du Pre, part 1:
Title: Piano Sonatas, Hammerklavier, Pathertique, op. 49 no.1 Performer: François-Frédéric Guy Year: 2005 Length: 46 minutes
Review
Well that's a long sonata, but fortunately it is more than worth it. It is not one of Beethoven's most immediately identifiable pieces of music, but this is not to say that it is not one of his best, because that is exactly what it is. It is also, however not easy music, to play or to listen to.
This is a sonata that is not given to short snippets of easily identifiable tunes but to the whole development of it. The last two movements are the great highlights here, the 20 minute adagio being one of Beethoven's most beautiful and sad pieces and the finale being a work of truly impressive counterpoint.
I can honestly say that this is my favourite Beethoven Sonata, but it is also one which demands constant attention and dedication by the part of the listener. This is Beethoven at his most cutting edge, and what a great thing it is.
Final Grade
10/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
The work, particularly the last movement, had more or less to wait until the twentieth century before its significance was realised (possibly due to the difficulty of gaining a technically competent performance). Even as progressive a musician as Wagner, who appreciated the work and fully admired the late string quartets, held reservations for what he perceived as a lack of succinctness in its composition.
