Beethoven: Piano Sonata 12 - 15

 

This fourth volume in my Works Series series follows Beethoven's piano sonatas from pianist Stephen Kovacevich. This post will cover CD4 in Warner's 2017 set, which includes Piano Sonatas 12 - 15.

For those looking for my generalized thoughts, skip to the bottom. Otherwise, I will do a movement-by-movement breakdown of each sonata for those who wish to listen along. I provided a YouTube playlist at the very bottom of this blog post of Stephen Kovacevich's recorded performances in order to make it easier to follow along with my thoughts.

Piano Sonata 12, op. 26

Movement 1
Key: A-flat Major
Meter: 3/8
Tempo: Andante con variazioni
BPM: ♪ = 98 - 128

A few quirks exist with the first movement of Beethoven's Op. 26. Firstly, the tempo is rather moderate for an opening movement, one which is usually not so gentle. The tempo stays the same throughout, however Beethoven adjusts the rhythms to sound faster at points.

Second, the beginning movement is set in a theme and variations form. Usually this form is kept for the second movement, perhaps even the final movement; but to open with a theme and variations is quite unusual. Off the top of my head I can't think of another Classical Era composition which begins in this way.

As is often the case with a theme and variations, the melody and its underlying harmonies are very diatonic, offering little surprise for the listener. Only the second half of the theme moves further away harmonically, but easily steps back to the home idea.

Each variation has more character than the last I heard from Beethoven in this form, offering more and more pianistic thrills as the movement goes on. This includes a jaunt into the parallel A-flat minor key in the middle variation.

I must admit I have trouble knowing where this piano sonata is headed since the five variations give contrasting moods which one might find spread throughout the entire work, rather than having a single character to itself.

Movement 2
Key: A-flat Major & D-flat Major (Trio)
Meter: 3/4
Tempo: Scherzo: Allegro molto
BPM: 𝅗𝅥. = 98

Because the first movement was set at a staid Andante, the second movement becomes a Scherzo, a form usually given to the third-movement position. In this case, I am glad Beethoven bucked convention.

The opening Scherzo trips along nicely, although the first section is not repeated for some reason. The second section of the Scherzo is almost transitional in nature, in the way it builds suspense more than it develops upon the opening material. I love that the Trio is in D-flat Major, for it is a luscious key in the hands of this composer. 

Kovacevich almost allows the pedal to sustain from the Scherzo into the Trio, as if the music is a runaway train up until that moment, and then rights itself as the Trio continues. A strange choice from Kovacevich.



Movement 3
Key: A-flat minor
Meter: 4/4
Tempo: Andante maestoso
BPM:  = 62

As mentioned above, the slow movement is now given the third-movement position instead of the normal dance movement. Here Beethoven places a funeral march, one he rearranged to be played at his own funeral.

Those who are familiar with the music of Beethoven know he is somewhat famous for funeral marches, particularly within his symphonies. With Op. 26 being on the cusp of Beethoven's middle compositional period, it makes this funeral march an early attempt from the composer, utilizing heavily dotted rhythms to indicate a solemn procession.

Beethoven transitions to A-flat Major in the middle of the movement, found at the moment the listener hears the little tremolo roars in the piano, followed by high-pitched kerplunks.

I sense Kovacevich is a little impatient here, where I could imagine a little more poetry.

Movement 4
Key: A-flat Major
Meter: 2/4
Tempo: Allegro
BPM:  = 124

While one can usually hear the difficulties present in Beethoven's piano music, but this movement in particular sounds like a finger twister. The piano leaps off with perpetual semiquavers in befuddling note choices, as if the movement starts in media res. The thematic material actually sounds like it comes from the quavers later on, subtly at first in the left hand, but more noticeable when it appears even later in the right hand.

Some interrupting scales break off the perpetual arpeggiated semiquaver figures, although it offers little to no rest for the pianist in the entire runtime of the movement. The pianissimo conclusion seems almost in response to the endless motion of the music, perhaps even a nod to the Baroque.

Piano Sonata no. 12 is full of ups and downs, with more of a quirky assortment of movements than a musical journey, if you catch my meaning. I am not sure the disparate elements completely come together for me as a whole work, an aspect I anticipated from the opening theme and variations.

I should probably mention this symphony is nearly, if not completely homotonal. That is, every movement is centered upon A-flat, with the exception of the Trio section in the Scherzo. This was a common trait in the Classical Era, certainly among Haydn and Mozart as well, but not so much Beethoven, as he liked to explore distant keys and set movements against one another in separately keyed relationships.

Stephen Kovacevich seems to want to make more of this music than he can, with the last two movements allowing the pianist a little more meat for the entree. One could imagine a more searching quality in the funeral march, but I was generally pleased by the playing here overall.

Piano Sonata 13, op. 27 no. 1

Movement 1
Key: E-flat Major
Meter: Cut time & 6/8
Tempo: Andante & Allegro
BPM:  = 86  &  . = 98

Both of the Op. 27 piano sonatas are composed 'in the style of a fantasia', which simply means Beethoven is further deconstructing what he can do with the sonata genre. In this case, each movement moves one into the other attacca, and the movement forms are less concerned with conventional sonata-allegro rules.

The first movement begins as if it were a theme for variations, so diatonic and unadorned is its nature. Similar to Op. 26, this one also begins at an Andante, once again forcing the composer to adopt an unusually placed fast-tempo for the second movement.

In the middle of the first movement, Beethoven changes the tempo, key signature, and time signature altogether. This makes for a highly contrasting section set in C Major, a chromatic-mediant relationship to the main key, a move Beethoven foretells after the initial statements of the opening Andante. This Allegro section allows for a little heat in a rather gentrified movement.

I actually enjoy the simplistic musical dialogue between the right and left hands at the very beginning. Each time this idea returns in subsequent appearances, Beethoven makes the same music ever so slightly different.



Movement 2
Key: C minor
Meter: 3/4
Tempo: Allegro molto e vivace
BPM: . = 130

The second movement is also set up in a tripartite form, with waves of arpeggios dominating the outer sections. Two pairs of arpeggios, to be exact, two higher pitched and two lower pitched, oscillating between them.

The central portion is set at more of a galop, contrasting the legato arpeggios of the opening. While the movement as a whole is set in C minor, with the middle in A-flat Major, the movement ends in C Major, although not in an especially final sort of manner.



Movement 3
Key: A-flat Major
Meter: 3/4
Tempo: Adagio con espressione
BPM:  = 62

As the second movement ends in a low register, so does the slow third movement being, moving upward in its melodies. These two inner movements are remarkably short, flanking two longer outer movements, even if the music is to run endlessly from one to the other.

In this way, the slow movement seems more transitional than an outright piece unto itself. Even the previous Scherzo seems a little more fleshed out than what Beethoven affords in this third movement. Where the space between movements thus far has included a modicum of silence betwixt them, here the music leads straight into the next without pause.



Movement 4
Key: E-flat Major
Meter: 2/4
Tempo: Allegro vivace
BPM:  = 135

Akin to the final movement of Op. 26, this last movement seems to be set in a moto perpetuo, with endless semiquaver figures driving the music forward, often in a Baroque two-part texture.

Oddly, right before the very last musical statements, Beethoven pares back the tempo to Adagio. Here, he re-institutes the music from the third movement, creating a cyclical format into the music, reminding the listener of previous moments in the sonata. That is before he has the music sets off at a final Presto for the musical tag.

As we know in Beethoven's future symphonies, the composer will often bring back themes from previous movements, usually ones tied together somehow. This is an early instance of such musical flavors.

As to the Thirteenth Piano Sonata as a whole, it continues from Op. 26 as rather oddly formatted, and on its own, a tad light and slightly inconsequential. Were it not for Beethoven trying something new and audacious with the sonata genre, this one could be referred to as just another early sonata.

Piano Sonata 14, op. 27 no. 2

Movement 1
Key: C-sharp minor
Meter: Cut time
Tempo: Adagio sostenuto
BPM:  = 45

While I proffered the Pathétique Sonata as a pervasively cultural work across its three movements, here the Moonlight Sonata is mainly known for its first movement, even if I am familiar with what comes after it.

While the 'Moonlight' moniker was given to this particular first movement after Beethoven's death, I find this opening movement more mournful, albeit with steely resolve at times. Perhaps that is the view of Kovacevich in this recording.

This sonata is also labelled as 'in the style of a fantasia', and indeed, its structure is not of the norm. Again, the first two movements are linked attacca, making it similar to the previous Op. 27 No. 1. More peculiarly, the movements are arranged from slow to fast; thus, instead of a typical fast-slow-fast structure, Beethoven inserts a slow-medium-fast arrangement to the overall sonata. As a further comparison, the composer's doesn't mind using the sonata-allegro structure here, something he walked away from in its sister sonata.

I should also mention that keys such as C-sharp minor, and previously A-flat minor were not typical realizations for Classical Era composer, although this one is simply the relative minor key to E Major. Still, Beethoven seems adamant regarding this particular key of C-sharp minor, fully fleshing out the key in both of the outer movements, with a brief reprieve to D-flat Major in the middle movement. If I mentioned Op. 26 being homotonal, I suppose one could make a similar argument for that happening here as well, since D-flat and C-sharp are enharmonic equivalents.

As to the actual music of this opening 'Moonlight' movement, what more can be said? This is a masterclass in music making, where Beethoven has tied the evolution of a movement to emotion in a way which has hardly been bettered.

Perhaps Kovacevich isn't as placid as some in this movement, but I don't think it necessarily lacks because of this statement. I like that the pianist doesn't lose the pulse of the music, something which can happen if taken too slowly. His rubato is simple and effective as well



Movement 2
Key: D-flat Major
Meter: 3/4
Tempo: Allegretto
BPM: 𝅗𝅥. = 75

The gentle lilt of the second-movement Allegretto is almost a surprise after the heavy mood of the first movement. Luckily, this movement is more gracious than it is high energy, not taking anything away from the transition between movements.

While Beethoven usually treats the Trio section as a contrasting one, here it is of a piece with the main portion of the movement, although the sonorities move lower and lower in pitch as the Trio moves on. 

With the outer movements reaching 6-to-7 minutes in length, this central movement almost appears inconsequential at barely 2 minutes. Perhaps this is a breather between two rather heavy, minor-keyed movements.



Movement 3
Key: C-sharp minor
Meter: Common time
Tempo: Presto agitato
BPM:  = 172

While this last movement bears the semiquaver endlessness the last two piano sonatas have contained, I don't sense the same Baroque qualities here, where here we are fully ensconced in Beethoven's own brand of Classical-Era Romanticisms. 

Beethoven very adeptly contrasts the incessant semiquavers with a more pointed quaver-laden section, one which is texturally dry compared to the heavily-pedaled main idea.

This is also the longest movement we have gotten from Beethoven in a very long time, putting the weight of the music for the listener firmly on the conclusion, if not firmly fixing our gaze upon the outer movements as an important pair.

Suffice to say, Kovacevich has long been waiting for a furioso movement such as this, and relishes leaping at the music. That said, he adroitly pulls back the less heavy music, with plenty of sforzando punctuation.

Piano Sonata 15, op. 28

Movement 1
Key: D Major
Meter: 3/4
Tempo: Allegro
BPM: 𝅗𝅥. = 68

Here in Op. 28 we have a work of grander proportions, making many of the previous piano sonatas seem rather lightweight in comparison.

If the nickname 'Pastoral' is linked to the repeated pedal D in this first movement, I hear it even stronger in the last movement, where Beethoven also keeps a pedal D of sorts as well. In the second motivic area, there are also an incessantly repeated bass notes, obviously an important element in this movement.

While the mood of this movement is generally light, the construction sounds more serious than what we have come across as of late.

The development section relishes the minor, but comes to a full stop. Here, a linking idea is taken from a syncopated figure found at the end of the exposition, something Beethoven does at this moment instead running straight into the recapitulation.

If the second motivic area in the exposition was unusual for its realization of C-sharp Major, Beethoven does the nearly same in the recapitulation, but in the equally distant F-sharp Major. And of course, the composer brings back the repeated D notes for the very conclusion of the movement.



Movement 2
Key: D minor
Meter: 2/4
Tempo: Andante
BPM: ♪ = 90

Ah... a slow-tempo second movement! This one is set in the parallel D-minor key, and again you will hear a repeated A in the opening contrasting section, perhaps an musical allusion Beethoven threads through the sonata.

The movement also sounds somewhat Baroque to my ears again, especially with the opening bass figures and occasional simply two-part textures. I could imagine this sounding equally effective on a harpsichord, even if that would not be in the spirit Beethoven wishes.

The middle portion of the movement is nearly humorous, with its laughing right-hand arpeggios. Beethoven also changes the key signature complete to D Major at this point, melding back to D minor seamlessly.



Movement 3
Key: D Major
Meter: 3/4
Tempo: Scherzo: Allegro vivace
BPM: 𝅗𝅥. = 96

Beethoven again makes use of repeated notes in this third-movement Scherzo, although these are stretched out across octaves. While the Scherzo makes use of rest between short musical cells, the Trio in the relative B minor is more connected in contrast, again in a Baroque two-part texture, with the bass motion occurring in octaves.


Movement 4
Key: D Major
Meter: 6/8
Tempo: Allegro ma non troppo
BPM: . = 88

As I alluded to earlier, the opening idea of the last movement is a dreamy pastorale as well. The left hand sets the drone rhythm while the left toodles as if a shepherds horn or flute, or perhaps even a light rustic dance. Beethoven quickly contrasts this with upward-moving semiquaver arpeggios.

As with the rules of a Rondo, this opening idea is contrasted with different section, with the pastorale coming back after every contrasting portion. Only an Allegro button on the final page interrupts what is a rather dreamy movement.

I like this Op. 28 piano sonata quite a bit. It might be missing some of the overt virtuosity from some of Beethoven's surrounding works, but there is something about the smiling calm in this music which calls to me. Kovacevich seems to handle this becalm well.

Final Thoughts

So far, each volume in this set has featured a piano sonata in a minor key, not an aspect often found from his Classical Era contemporaries. Very often, Beethoven is especially treasured for his minor-key music, of which, there is no lack for listeners in a set of his piano sonatas.

While I have sensed Stephen Kovacevich champing at the bit for some music with a bit more extrovert qualities, I was especially enchanted by his Pastoral Sonata. This was also the most substantial sonata on this program, save perhaps for the Moonlight Sonata and the earlier Pathétique Sonata, excellent examples of Beethoven making a meal of a shorter three-movement setup.

As I always, I look forward to the next volume with you my friends!

Cheers!

 

 

Work Series
Vol. 4 from Beethoven Piano Sonatas on Warner

Works
Piano Sonata 12 in A-flat Major, op. 26 (17.34)
Piano Sonata 13 in E-flat Major 'Quasi una Fantasia', op. 27 no. 1 (14.35)
Piano Sonata 14 in C-sharp minor 'Moonlight', op. 27 no. 2 (15.48)
Piano Sonata 15 in D Major 'Pastoral', op. 28 (22.41)

Soloist
Stephen Kovacevich, piano

Label: EMI / Warner
Year: 1998-99; 2017
Total Timing: 70.37

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