Classical Sonata, including Beethoven
Like Mozart, Beethoven was an accomplished piano virtuoso who frequently performed on the instrument both solo and with an orchestra as a soloist. However, unlike Mozart who grew up with the harpsichord and adopted the piano later in adulthood, Beethoven (fourteen years younger than Mozart) grew up in a musical world in which the piano was already gaining popularity and overtaking the harpsichord. In addition, Beethoven is often considered a transitional figure between the Classical and Romantic periods. Steeped in the Classical style, he pushed the boundaries of that style and in many ways prefigured developments in musical style to come in the 19th century. As we look at some of his piano sonatas for this class, we can see the development of his style and how he gradually moved away from the strictures of the Classical forms and treated them much more loosely. In order to show this, I’ve assigned three first-movement sonata forms from three of his piano sonatas which represent three different points in his career. Beethoven’s career is traditionally divided into three periods with distinctly different styles: early, middle, and late.
The sonata as a genre has roots in the 17th century in which it referred to a piece for one or more instruments (sonata is from the Italian word meaning “to sound”). At that time, sonatas could take many forms and involve many different instruments, but as the 18th century progressed, it came to mean a piece for generally one solo instrument alone, or maybe two instruments (generally a solo melody instrument with basso continuo accompaniment). By Beethoven’s time, this had more or less solidified into subgenres such as the piano sonata (for piano alone), the violin sonata (violin solo with piano accompaniment), and many others.
Furthermore, it is impossible to talk about Beethoven without considering the impact of his deafness on his life and music. While he gradually lost his hearing, rather than losing it all at once, this was something he had to wrestle with throughout his life. In fact, at one point in 1802, he considered committing suicide, even going so far as to write a letter to his brothers, now known as the Heiligenstadt Testament, which would have acted as a sort of suicide note. However, he never sent the letter and never attempted to take his own life, instead choosing to live with his deafness. See a facsimile of the original letter, which has been preserved.
In the course of this loss of hearing, he developed ways to cope with it, including constructing a Gehörmaschine or hearing machine which was essentially a dome that he put on top of his piano to funnel the sound forward to the player, thereby amplifying it. Take a minute to watch this video about the work that musicologist Tom Beghin and others have done to reconstruct this device and try to understand Beethoven’s experience in playing with hearing loss.
A couple of the recordings I’ve assigned for you to listen to are played by Beghin as part of this project. All of them are performed on pianos that are similar to what Beethoven would have used. They will sound slightly different to Mozart’s piano which you listened to last class, but still different from the modern piano. Pay attention to these differences as there is a discussion question below about the topic. Here is an image of one of Beethoven’s pianos, made by the English piano manufacturer John Broadwood & Sons, founded in 1728 and still operating today. Beethoven received this piano in 1818 as a gift from Thomas Broadwood (one of John’s sons).
Early Period (1792–1802)
One of the best-known piano sonatas from Beethoven’s early period is his Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 (composed 1798, published 1799) often known as the “Sonata Pathétique.” The nickname refers to the idea of pathos, or deep and strongly felt emotion, often with connotations of tragedy. It features the key of C minor, familiar to us now from his Fifth Symphony, which for Beethoven was the key to use in music that conveys deeply tragic feelings. While Beethoven’s hearing loss began in 1798, it is unlikely that this sonata was meant to reflect his own feelings about that, since it was so recent. It did however help to establish the young composer successfully in Vienna and begin to grow his fame. The opening movement certainly conveys the idea of pathos and while it features a fairly traditional sonata form, there are some elements that are unusual including the fact that the slow introduction actually comes back later in the movement and there are not two but three themes in the exposition. Take a look at the form guide below and listen along:
Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, “Pathétique” (1798)
Recording performed by Tom Beghin. [Listen on YouTube]
Slow introduction: 0:00–1:44 (quasi-improvisatory, highly chromatic and meant to sound unmetered, but is actually specifically written out carefully)
Exposition: 1:44–3:19
First theme: 1:44–2:03 (basic idea heard twice, but the theme itself is very short, in tonic C minor, uses “rocket” melody that rises quickly with tremolos in left hand)
Transition/bridge: 2:03–2:15 (very short, quickly changes key from tonic C minor to relative major Eb)
Second theme: 2:15–2:43 (suddenly in E♭ minor instead of major, more lyrical and longer than theme 1, uses hand crossings for the right hand which has to leap over the left hand to play very low notes and then back to high notes)
Third theme: 2:43–3:02 (finally E♭ major! contrasting in character to both themes 1 and 2, ends with clear cadence unlike other themes)
Closing theme: 3:02–3:08 (extremely short, confirms E♭ major)
Codetta: 3:08–3:19 (mini coda, brings back theme 1 in E♭ major instead of C minor, then begins to move key back to C minor in preparation for repeat)
Repeat of exposition 3:19–4:57 (some performers also repeat the slow introduction but not all, in our case, the slow introduction is omitted from the repeat)
Interlude: 4:57–5:32 (surprising return of the beginning of the slow introduction, except now in G minor)
Development: 5:32–6:20 (see if you can recognize which themes from the exposition are developed here)
Recapitulation: 6:20–7:48
First theme: 6:20–6:30 (back to C minor again, shortened from the exposition, interrupted by transition)
Transition/bridge: 6:30–6:42 (completely different from exposition, surprisingly moves from C minor to F minor)
Second theme: 6:42–7:07 (starts in F minor but soon returns to C minor)
Third theme: 7:07–7:26 (similar to exposition but now in C minor)
Closing theme: 7:26–7:32 (similar to exposition but now in C minor)
Codetta: 7:32–7:48 (similar to exposition but now in C minor)
Interlude: 7:48–8:27 (part of the slow introduction returns again)
Coda: 8:27–8:38 (final closing to the whole movement, uses beginning of first theme and then a final cadence)
Middle Period (1802–1812)
Beethoven’s middle period is often described as his “heroic period” due to compositions like the Fifth Symphony which feature music that expresses some kind of striving or struggling against adversity and ultimate victory. Of course at the same time, we know that he was struggling with increasing loss of hearing. While musicologists today hesitate to ascribe personal, biographical reasons for compositional choices, it is possible that Beethoven’s struggle with hearing loss inspired him to a certain extent to depict this musical struggle and victory, even as he was not victorious over his deafness.
One of the best known piano sonatas of this period is the Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 (1804), nicknamed the “Waldstein” due to its dedication to Beethoven’s friend and patron Count Ferdinand Ernst Gabriel von Waldstein (1762–1823).
Where the Pathétique sonata featured fast, rhythmically driven sections interspersed with extremely slow and quasi-improvisatory pathos-filled interludes, the Waldstein opening movement is a roller coaster ride from start to finish. Again Beethoven’s use of sonata form here is a bit different than expected. Mostly, in this case, the differences are harmonic; the second theme is not in the expected dominant G major but instead in the mediant E major, a technique that Beethoven used in other sonatas as well. When the second theme returns in the recapitulation, it is presented in A major/minor, again a surprise. Take a look at the form guide below and follow along as you listen.
Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, “Waldstein” (1804)
Recording performed by Ronald Brautigam. [Listen on YouTube]
Exposition: 0:00–2:10
First theme: 0:00–0:21 (Driving rhythms right away, also features modal mixture which uses some pitches from the C minor scale without actually fully changing the mode)
Transition/bridge: 0:21–0:51 (starts with part of first theme in faster notes but soon moves away, changes key from C major to A minor then to E major)
Second theme: 0:51–1:15 (lyrical, flowing as expected for a second theme, but in key of E major instead of expected G major, which is the dominant of C, theme is presented twice, second time with added triplet countermelody on top)
Closing theme: 1:15–1:50 (back to driving rhythms, confirms E major)
Coda: 1:50–2:10 (retraces harmonic steps of the transition, from E major to A minor to C major in preparation for repeat of exposition)
Repeat of exposition: 2:10–4:18
Development: 4:18–6:02 (a little more extensive than in the Pathétique sonata, see if you can identify which themes are developed)
Recapitulation: 6:02–8:26
First theme: 6:02–6:31 (a little extended from exposition, even more modal mixture)
Transition/bridge: 6:31–7:02 (similar to exposition, moves from C major to A minor but ends up in A major instead of E major)
Second theme: 7:02–7:27 (similar to exposition except in A major, moves back to A minor and hovers between A minor and C major)
Closing theme: 7:27–8:01 (now solidly in C major)
Coda: 8:01–8:26 (doesn’t change key as it did in exposition but features a lot of modal mixture which confuses the harmony)
Final coda: 8:26–10:00 (fairly extensive, features multiple themes from earlier and finally ends on a clear cadence)
Late Period (1813–1827)
Beethoven’s late period is characterized by an inward turn, likely due to the complete loss of hearing he experienced during this time. While there are compositions from this time that are large, outgoing and joyous such as the finale to the Ninth Symphony (“Ode to Joy”), many of his chamber works, such as piano sonatas and string quartets, show a more introspective and experimental style. The late string quartets are especially known for a variety of unusual compositional techniques, but his late piano sonatas show this influence as well. For instance, in terms of sonata form, he begins to treat the form very loosely, more as a suggestion than a template. See this image of an anonymous painting of Beethoven later in life working at the piano. This was painted around 1890, so it is the artist’s imagining of this scene, not a firsthand account. But it depicts very well the popular image of Beethoven in his late period as the messy artist solely focused on his work.
For example, let’s look at the first movement of his Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109 (1820). This movement is definitely in sonata form, but it does not follow many of the conventions. First, there is no transition/bridge theme, and second, the two themes of the exposition are not just in different keys but also in different tempos and meters! Also, the second theme starts on a very harmonically ambiguous chord, so it’s not for a while that the second key of B major is made clear. Skipping the traditional repeat of the exposition, the development is quite short and really only deals with the first theme very briefly, while the recapitulation is strikingly different from the exposition, not just in terms of key. Finally, the coda brings back the first theme again, so the only guiding principle of this movement is that the first theme is present in all parts of the form. Look at the form guide below and follow along as you listen:
Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109 (1820)
Recording performed by Tom Beghin. [Listen on YouTube]
Exposition: 0:00-0:59
First theme: 0:00-0:14 (fairly fast, duple meter but not as aggressive as earlier works, E major)
Second theme: 0:14-0:47 (suddenly much slower, triple meter, ostensibly in B major but never made clear with any cadences)
Closing theme: 0:47-0:59 (B major, extremely short, devoid of the clear cadences that a Classical period closing theme would have)
Development: 0:59-1:36 (focuses entirely on first theme, returns seamlessly to recapitulation with first theme such that the boundary is extremely unclear)
Recapitulation: 1:36-2:41
First theme: 1:36-1:50 (now much louder than it was in exposition)
Second theme: 1:50-2:25 (significantly different from exposition, appears to be in E major at beginning though still ambiguous as in exposition, makes a sudden move to C major before coming back to E major)
Closing theme: 2:25-2:41 (slightly different from exposition, solidly in E major)
Coda: 2:41-3:35 (uses first theme, although slightly different from exposition, but quiet again as before)
Discussion Questions
- What are some of the ways Beethoven plays with the template of sonata form in these three sonatas? Why do you think audiences would find those deviations from the template interesting and compelling?
- What are some consistent techniques across Beethoven’s three compositional periods? What are some that change?
- The piano was continually evolving as an instrument through Mozart’s and Beethoven’s lives. The recordings I’ve assigned for this week use instruments that replicate the kinds of pianos Mozart and Beethoven would have used. How do they sound different from what you’re used to in the modern piano? Does this difference change anything about how you experience the music?
