Ludwig van Beethoven: Complete Pianoforte Sonatas Vol.1

The four sonatas presented on this CD—Op. 26, the two sonatas of Op. 27, and Op. 28—were composed in 1800–1801, at the transition towards Beethoven’s so-called second compositional period. Around this time, Beethoven is reported to have told Wenzel Krumpholz that he intended to take a new path. That change of direction can be heard in these sonatas, whose materials and concepts differ markedly from those of his earlier works. His experiments with the established forms of Viennese classicism became more daring, while their expressive range deepened. Rather than simply following the models of Haydn and Mozart, he explored new ways of constructing a keyboard sonata. The designation Sonata quasi una fantasia—“sonata almost a fantasy”—for the two works of Op. 27 makes that distance from traditional structures explicit. It is no coincidence that Beethoven’s example profoundly influenced the sonatas of the Romantic period. Op. 26 opens this sequence of far-reaching experimental works.

The Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat major, Op. 26, was composed in 1800–1801, around the time of the First Symphony, and published by Cappi in Vienna in 1802. Beethoven dedicated it to his patron Prince Karl von Lichnowsky. Its celebrated third movement bears the composer’s own title, Marcia funebre sulla morte d’un eroe—“Funeral March on the Death of a Hero”. Scholars have proposed various identities for this hero, but no specific person has been securely identified; the title may simply be a literary device. One possible stimulus for the sonata was the visit to Vienna in 1800 of Johann Baptist Cramer, the German-born, London-based piano virtuoso. His performances of his own music and that of his teacher Muzio Clementi caused a considerable stir. Beethoven’s response to such virtuosity contributed to a series of works moving beyond the more conventionally Classical sonatas of the 1790s towards his mature style.

This is a substantial four-movement composition, a “grand sonata”, yet its structure is unconventional. It opens with a relatively slow theme and variations, and none of its four movements is in sonata form. The essential innovation shared by Op. 26 and the two sonata-fantasias of Op. 27 is the attempt to move beyond the traditional confines of the Classical sonata and reshape the genre.

The opening Andante con variazioni replaces the customary sonata-form first movement with a more flexible design, although Mozart had already opened his Sonata K. 331 with variations. Beethoven’s theme, in 3/8, is followed by five variations, all in A-flat major except the third, in A-flat minor. The theme has a faintly ceremonial character. The first variation uses arpeggios to fill the spaces between its notes. The second is more surprising: the melody moves to the left hand for a spirited treatment, while rapid syncopated chords in the right provide the accompaniment. The third is almost a minor-mode counterpart to the second, becoming more measured and moving the syncopation into the bass. A capricious fourth variation gives the theme a spluttering accompaniment; the fifth smooths out the melody while retaining busy triplets in the left hand. A brief coda closes the movement with a dignified restatement of the theme.

Instead of a slow second movement, Beethoven provides an energetic Scherzo, Allegro molto, in A-flat major. Its lively, passionate character immediately opposes the preceding Andante. The surging theme recalls the corresponding movement of the First Symphony (1800). Its overall Scherzo–Trio–Scherzo design contains contrasting internal sections, followed by the return of the Scherzo without repeats.

The third movement, Marcia funebre sulla morte d’un eroe, marked Maestoso andante, is in A-flat minor, with a contrasting A-flat major middle section. It clearly anticipates the expressive world of the Funeral March in the Third Symphony, the Eroica (1803–1804). A stark repeated rhythm accompanies the march with obsessive persistence, sustaining a mood of heroic desolation. In the central section, the piano seems to imitate timpani rolls and trumpet calls. In 1815, Beethoven arranged the movement for orchestra for the incidental music to Friedrich Duncker’s drama Leonore Prohaska. The orchestral arrangement was also associated with Beethoven’s own funeral in 1827.

The finale is a short Rondo in A-flat major: a brisk, bright Allegro, impetuous and humorous. Its fast, light semiquaver motion and left-hand figures create a sense of perpetual movement. The contrasting episodes introduce touches of drama without becoming unduly serious. The recurring theme appears four times, separated by three episodes.

The Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major, Op. 27 No. 1, forms a pair with the much better-known “Moonlight” Sonata, Op. 27 No. 2. Among Beethoven’s pressing concerns in 1801 were his increasing deafness and his affection for a “dear, enchanting girl”, who, he wrote, loved him and whom he loved. The girl is generally identified as his pupil Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, who later married and moved to Italy. Beethoven’s distress over his hearing culminated in the Heiligenstadt Testament of October 1802, a private document expressing despair and thoughts of death, but also his determination to continue through art. Relationships and personal disappointments belonged to this troubled period, although direct causal connections with individual compositions remain uncertain. Something of what his biographer Thayer called the “elasticity of his nature” can be heard in the two sonatas of Op. 27, written the previous year.

Both works depart from the established sequence of sonata movements and carry the subtitle Sonata quasi una fantasia. Although No. 1 outwardly comprises four movements, it unfolds as a continuous whole, with changes of tempo and mood and a fluid approach to key, thematic development and form. Its closely connected sections resemble a free fantasia. The opening is a songlike Andante with a playful slow-dance rhythm, rather than a fast sonata-form movement. A free, virtuosic Allegro abruptly interrupts it, before the Andante returns as though nothing had happened. In the brief, stormy Scherzo, Allegro molto e vivace, the hands exchange opposing three-note patterns. A syncopated Trio evokes a hunting rhythm: this eccentric movement would not be out of place among the Op. 33 Bagatelles. The lovely, largely chordal Adagio con espressione then leads into the Allegro vivace finale, an elaborate rondo with considerable contrapuntal passagework. At its climax, the music suddenly stops and the Adagio returns for a moment, before a Presto coda brings the sonata to a brilliant conclusion.

The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2, acquired its familiar “Moonlight” nickname through Ludwig Rellstab’s later description. That image may suit the first movement, but the rest contains some of Beethoven’s most turbulent music. The work has long been among the most widely known pieces in the Classical repertoire. Much has been said about Guicciardi, or Beethoven’s feelings for her, as an inspiration; however, the dedication was transferred to her only after another work originally intended for her had been assigned to a different patron.

The sonata begins with a slow, poetic Adagio sostenuto, sustained by a continuous succession of triplet quavers and restrained dynamic contrasts. The designation quasi una fantasia aptly describes its dreamlike flow, far removed from the confrontations characteristic of a conventional sonata-form opening. Its design can be understood in relation to song form, while its continuity resists rigid formal divisions. A short Allegretto in D-flat major follows, with a syncopated Trio: Liszt famously likened it to “a flower between two abysses”. The hectic, often ferocious Presto agitato finale concludes the sonata in a mood as distant from the opening Adagio as can be imagined.

Compared with the formal experiments of Op. 26 and Op. 27, the Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28, “Pastoral”, appears retrospective. It returns to the monumental four-movement model of earlier concert sonatas. Yet Beethoven worked on these compositions within the same period, so a simple narrative of progression—or regression—would be misleading. The Classical framework returns, but the innovations lie elsewhere. The intense contrasts that elsewhere suggest ethical struggle give way to lyrical, intimate inspiration. Its easygoing character and geniality earned it the “Pastoral” nickname from a later Hamburg publisher, particularly apt for the rustic charm of the finale.

Each movement establishes an insistent, characteristic rhythm at its outset. The opening Allegro, in sonata form, begins with three crotchets on the tonic D, defining the 3/4 metre and launching a long, sinuous first subject over a softly resonant pedal point. Instead of proceeding through sharply opposing ideas, its thematic elements gently merge. The flowing, carefree second subject grows from rocking chords in both hands and shares the same rhythmic impulse. Cheerful contentment predominates, although the development builds towards a dramatic climax. Here the two hands exchange melodic and accompanying roles with particular intensity.

The Andante is a contemplative slow movement in a ternary, songlike design. Beethoven constructs a serious, lyrical theme in D minor from chords over a persistent left-hand accompaniment. Detached bass notes support the melody’s chords, producing a distinctive pianistic sonority in which the instrument’s lower register activates a rich field of resonance. In the major-mode middle section, syncopated chords alternate with descending right-hand triplets. This material returns plaintively in the minor during the coda.

The Allegro vivace Scherzo, again in 3/4, begins with a sardonic succession of four isolated notes, descending by octaves, one per bar. The right hand then leaps above and below the left as the theme develops. The minor-mode Trio consists of rocking triplet figures that suggest the sounds of rustic instruments.

Like the opening movement, the Allegro ma non troppo finale establishes its rhythm before introducing the main theme. Its 6/8 metre and alternation of crotchet and quaver values produce a gently rambling, syncopated character. The pastoral atmosphere is especially clear here: the refrain rests on a drone, an accompaniment persisting on a low note. The movement remains within this idyllic setting until a swirling, incisive coda. Its theme also transforms the idea heard at the beginning of the sonata, revealing the work’s structural arch and expressive coherence.

Album Notes by Marco Beccari; English revised for this edition.