Piano Sonata No. 23 (Beethoven)
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Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, opus 57, colloquially 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 Les Adieux, Opus 81a). It was composed during 1803, 1804, 1805, and perhaps 1806, and is dedicated to Count Franz von Brunswick. The first edition was published in February 1807 in Vienna.
Like the early Sonata No. 8, Pathétique, the Appassionata was not named by the composer, but was so labeled in 1838 by the publisher of a four-hand arrangement of the work.
The Appassionata was considered by Beethoven to be his stormiest piano sonata until the Hammerklavier, being described as a "brilliantly executed display of emotion and music". 1803 was the year Beethoven came to grips with his complete deafness, and the Appassionata clearly reflects the emotional turmoil he felt during its composition.
An average performance of all three movements of the Appassionata sonata lasts about 23 minutes.
Contents |
[edit] Form
The sonata 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 is roughly 10 minutes long. The movement moves quickly through startling changes in tone and dynamics, and is characterised by an economic use of themes. The main theme, in octaves, is quiet and ominous. The rhythm of the theme is based on the Scottish folk song On the Banks of Allen Water[citation needed]. (British folk songs were well-known in Vienna at that time, and Beethoven, like Haydn, wrote many arrangements for British publishers). Just after four bars the main theme is repeated in G-flat major, creating a great contrast. There is a short but important recurrent four note motif reminiscent of the main theme in Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. In the recapitulation the fortissimo outbreak is triumphantly shifted to F-major. The second subject is a direct quotation of the first two lines of the folk song, re-hashed to fit the 12/8 time (the folk song is in 3/4). As in Beethoven's Waldstein-sonata the coda is unusually long, containing quasi-improvisational arpeggios which span most of the [early 19th-century] piano's range. 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 second movement is a theme and variations on a slow, quiet, hymn-like tune in D-flat major, comprising two eight-bar sections that both repeat; the second section starts in A-flat major. 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 pair of diminished 7th chords, the first pianissimo and the second fortissimo, strike like a thunderbolt and lead without pause into the third movement. Beethoven ends the third (scherzo) 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).
The third movement is a sonata-allegro in which, very unusually, only the second part is directed to be repeated. The movement is based on a perpetuum mobile theme, with rapid sixteenth notes that are only interrupted for brief moments in the development and coda. The coda, when it arrives, contains a totally new theme in binary form, which is very percussive. It leads into a climax in unwavering F minor and its dominant seventh, which eventually crashes down in a manner similar to that of the Op. 27 no. 2 sonata. The movement is mysteriously complex and fast-paced in nature. It has some short melodic fragments and canons. The movement has been called many things by music critics — passionate, despairing, and breath-taking.[citation needed]
[edit] The sonata in popular culture
- Maxim Gorky recorded that Vladimir Lenin once said, “I know the Appassionata inside out and yet I am willing to listen to it every day. It is wonderful, ethereal music. On hearing it I proudly, maybe somewhat naively, think: See! people are able to produce such marvels!” He then winked, laughed and added sadly: “I’m often unable to listen to music, it gets on my nerves, I would like to stroke my fellow beings and whisper sweet nothings in their ears for being able to produce such beautiful things in spite of the abominable hell they are living in."[1]
- In the 2006 film The Lives of Others, playwright Georg Dreyman tells his girlfriend that Lenin once said of the Appassionata: "If I keep listening to it, I won't finish the revolution."
- In the book The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice, it is often played by Sybelle, a young girl who with her friend saves Armand after his failed suicide.
[edit] Media
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Piano Sonata No. 23, 1st movement - Problems playing the files? See media help.
[edit] External links
- Creation History and Discussion of Musical Content
- Analysis of Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata on the All About Ludwig van Beethoven Page
- Further analysis at BBC Radio 3
- Recordings of this Sonata by Serg van Gennip
[edit] Sheet music
- Piano Sonata No. 23 was available at the International Music Score Library Project.
- Public domain score and midi file of the 2nd movement on Mutopia
