Piano Sonata No. 23 (Beethoven)
From Free net encyclopedia
Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, opus 57, known as the Appassionata, is considered one of the three great piano sonatas of his middle period (the others being the Waldstein sonata, opus 53 and the Les adieux sonata, opus 81). It was written in Döbling, a village near Vienna in 1804, and is dedicated to Count Franz von Brunswick.
An average performance of all three movements of the Appassionata sonata lasts about 23 minutes.
Form
The Appassionata has three movements:
- Allegro Assai
- Andante con moto - attacca
- Allegro, ma non troppo - Presto
The first movement is a sonata-allegro with no repeats in 12/8 time and roughly 10 minutes long. Despite its length, the piece moves quickly through startling changes in tone and sudden changes in dynamics. The main theme has an odd rhythm, somewhat like a dotted rhythm, except with a 5:6 ratio instead of 3:4, that is difficult to play. The choice of F-minor becomes very clear when one realizes that this movement makes frequent use of the deep, dark tone of the lowest F on the piano, which was the lowest note available to Beethoven at the time. The movement is quiet and sometimes slow in the beginning, interrupted by series of rapidly played chords.
The second movement is a theme and variations on a slow, quiet, hymn-like tune in D-flat major, comprised of two eight-bar sections that both repeat. The variations are as follows:
- similar to the original theme, with the left hand playing on the off-beats.
- an embellishment of the theme in sixteenth notes.
- a rapid embellishment in thirty-second notes. Instead of repeating, the left hand and right hand each take sections of the theme in turn.
- a reprise of the original theme, with small changes. Instead of ending on a quiet note, the closing fortissimo diminshed 7th chord strikes like a thunderbolt and leads without pause into the third movement.
The third movement is a sonata-allegro in which, very unusually, only the second part is directed to be repeated. The movement is a perpetuum mobile, with rapid-sixteenth notes that are interrupted only in the development and in the coda. The movement is mysteriously complex and fast-paced in nature. It has been called many things by music critics — passionate, despairing, and breath-taking.
While the early Sonata No. 8, Pathétique, was named by Beethoven himself, the Appassionata was so labeled by the publisher. Beethoven was outraged with the nickname, feeling that all his works were written to be played passionately and not just this one. Beethoven ends the third movement of his Symphony No. 5 with unresolved tension. Without pause between movements, the fourth movement follows with triumphant fanfare. Likewise here, there is also a brief moment of unresolved tension ending this middle movement (a more brief delay than in the Fifth). But unlike the triumph of the Fifth, this final movement announces itself in agony and founders in a coda of despair.
External links
- Analysis of Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata on the All About Ludwig van Beethoven Page
- Further analysis at BBC Radio 3
- Public domain score and midi file of the 2nd movement on Mutopia
Template:BeethovenPianoSonatasde:Klaviersonate Nr. 23 f-Moll op. 57 fr:Sonate pour piano n° 23 (Beethoven) ja:ピアノソナタ第23番 (ベートーヴェン)