Piano Sonata No. 21 (Beethoven)
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Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, opus 53, commonly known as the Waldstein or the Waldstein sonata, is considered to be one of Beethoven's greatest sonatas, as well as one of the three particularly notable piano sonatas of his middle period (the other two being the Appassionata sonata, Opus 57, and Les Adieux, Opus 81a). The sonata was completed in the summer of 1804.
The Waldstein receives its name from Beethoven dedication of it to Count Ferdinand von Waldstein. Like the Archduke Trio, one of many pieces dedicated to Archduke Rudolf, there are other works dedicated to Count Waldstein. Perhaps the name stuck to this specific piece due to its originality.
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[edit] Movements
The Waldstein has three movements:
- Allegro con brio
- Introduzione. Adagio molto - attacca
- Rondo. Allegretto moderato
The substantial movements of the work are its first and third, each taking about 11 minutes to perform; the middle movement is a slow introduction to the last. This movement replaced an earlier, longer middle movement, which was later published separately as the Andante Favori, WoO 57.
[edit] First Movement: Allegro con brio
The sonata opens memorably with staccato chords, played pianissimo. This initial straightforward, but anxious rhythm is devoid of melody for two bars. It then swiftly ascends upward and follows with a three-note descent in the middle register and a four-note descent in the upper. More of this teasing rhythm rumbles forward, until 45 seconds later where the notes seem to almost stumble over themselves.
The second subject group, marked dolce, is a sweet chordal theme in E Major. Though not unprecedented (the first movement of the Sonata op. 31 no. 1 also has a second group in the mediant), this was the first major work in which Beethoven had chosen to modulate elsewhere than the customary fifth up for the second group, an idea he'd return to later in the Hammerklavier, for example).
For the recapitulation, Beethoven transposes the second subject into A Major, which quickly changes into A Minor and then back to C Major again. The movement ends in a heady coda.
[edit] Second Movement: Introduzione. Adagio molto - attacca
The second movement is a short Adagio set in jutting 6/8 time. At once halting, angular, and tranquil, the music gradually gets more agitated before calming down and seguing into the Rondo.
[edit] Third Movement: Rondo. Allegretto moderato
The Rondo begins with a sweet and consoling tune played pianissimo, which soon comes back fortissimo, over daringly fast scales in the left hand and a continuous trill on the dominant in the right. Beethoven then introduces the second theme - a series of broken chords in triplets - but soon interrupts it with a turbulent section in A Minor that foreshadows the central episode.
Soon we're back to C Major, and the sweet theme is repeated before being followed by a beautiful series of staccato octaves that mark the start of the central episode, one of the few cases of where such melodic change is seen, a theme repeated in larger works like the Piano Concerto No.5 . Soon the octaves are accompanied by swirling triplets in first the left and then right hands; the music grows more tense and runs into a series of angular chords, which transitions into a more quiet section, which returns after much drama to the C Major theme, now played in a triumphant fortissimo.
The second theme reappears, followed by another long line of beautiful dance-like music which is perfectly characteristic of Beethoven. Another series of fortissimo chords is struck, ushering in a short, delicate pianissimo section, and the movement seems to die away...but instead segues into the Prestissimo coda, a wondrous section that plays with the various themes of the movement and more before ending in a triumphant rush of sound.
With all its contrasts and striking originality, the Rondo is often thought to be the greatest achievement of Beethoven's middle period piano works, and is certainly a fitting end to this sonata.
| Piano Sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven |
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| Op. 2 No. 1 | Op. 2 No. 2 | Op. 2 No. 3 | Op. 7 | Op. 10 No. 1 | Op. 10 No. 2 | Op. 10 No. 3 | Op. 13 (Pathetique) | Op. 14 No. 1 | Op. 14 No. 2 | Op. 22 | Op. 26 | Op. 27 No. 1 (Quasi una fantasia) | Op. 27 No. 2 (Quasi una fantasia — Moonlight) | Op. 28 (Pastoral) | Op. 31 No. 1 | Op. 31 No. 2 (Tempest) | Op. 31 No. 3 | Op. 49 Nos. 1 and 2 | Op. 53 (Waldstein) | Op. 54 | Op. 57 (Appassionata) | Op. 78 | Op. 79 | Op. 81a (Les adieux) | Op. 90 | Op. 101 | Op. 106 (Hammerklavier) | Op. 109 | Op. 110 | Op. 111 |
