Beethoven Piano Sonatas Op. 10

Opus 10 (three sonatas, composed in 1798)

Like Ops 2, Opus 10 consists of three sonatas, also in one minor, followed by two majors, whose tonality is C minor, F major and D major. The tonal arrangement and character contrast between the three sonatas is also comparable to that of Opus 2: first in C minor, full of passion and heroism, in the witty and humorous F major, and finally in the dazzling and structured D major.

Opus 10 no. 1 (Sonata in C minor)

This is the most compact and concise of the three sonatas. Here, the C minor debuts as the famous "C minor complex" in Beethoven's piano sonatas, which Rosen believes "symbolizes Beethoven's artist personality and, in any case, reveals Beethoven's heroic nature".

The first movement, Allegro molto e con brio. The first theme, built on the main chord with minus seven chords, rises through jagged staggering, is consciously emphasized as strong bars (bars 1 to 2) and weak bars (the second half of bar 3 and section 4).

The subsequent three emphases on the genus G result in the first climax of the theme (bars 9 to 13), which is re-stated with greater force when the theme recurs, ending on the main chord of ff, and then suddenly returning to tranquility, a rest of a whole bar.

The brief pause here is more important than the notes of the sound, as is the case in all of Beethoven's works.

From bar 32 onwards, transposing passages, the serene four-part writing resembles a wood pipe group in a band, the second theme in E flat major, lyrical and singing, suggesting the descending pattern of the first theme semitone, and at the end repeating the rhythm of the beginning (bars 86 to 89).

A new melody appeared in the development department in f minor, and the second theme of the reproduction department was first in F major and then in C minor, ending in a concise and decisive ending. Although the whole movement is very fast, it is important to keep three beats per bar, rather than one beat per bar.

The second movement, Adagio molto (very slow). As is the case with Beethoven's works in C minor, the slow movements are mostly in the lower sixth key and in A major (recall his Symphony No. 5, the Violin Sonata in C minor, and the slow movement of the "Pathos" Sonata).

Regarding the stylistic characteristics of this movement, Kindermann argues that "its vast lyrical expression relies largely on decorative variations, especially in the quiet second theme, where each phrase is reshaped into a quick and delicate form". However, we see that the harmony of the whole movement proceeds rather slowly. Rosen points out that "this was almost the last time Beethoven used traditional decorative techniques in a slow motion."

This movement is more traditional, mildly lyrical, and it is a sonata without a development department, and only a strong genus chord is used before the reproduction department. The strong play here should be different from the strong play of the first movement, it should be full and deep. With each reproduction of the theme, the accompaniment part becomes more fluid, from quarter notes to eighth notes to sixteenth notes. Cherny's advice to play was: "Play with strong feelings... Rely on graceful touch keys and strict legato. "The decor is very light and delicate, don't disconnect in the middle.

The final movement, the extremely fast prestissimo, sonata-like, ominous and dynamic, with an quirky sense of humor. The semitone progression of C to B from the first movement reappears in a new context, and the second theme unfolds in parallel E-flat major, presenting a sharp contrast between dynamics, pitches and rhythms. The brief development goes back to C minor in E major, and towards the end, slows down to Adagio and falls on the chords of the minor D major, as if to mask the fact that the piece is about to end.

Here, Kinderman argues, "Beethoven evokes the aura of a slow-motion movement, then endows the finale with great speed, quickly dissolving in the silence that nurtures irony." Regarding the playing technique of the whole movement, Cherny said that only by overcoming the technical obstacles well can it be possible to play with a sense of humor. "If the technique is still problematic, then at most we will get an incomprehensible caricature of satire."

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Opus 10 of 2 (Sonata in F major)

Although this sonata, like Sonata No. 5 in C minor, is a three-movement piece, the two have nothing in common emotionally. C minor is dramatic, while this F major is lighthearted and witty. It should not be a pure coincidence that Beethoven usually writes a work of the exact opposite sentiment after a serious piece of music, such as Symphony No. 6 in F major (Pastoral) after Symphony No. 5 in C minor (Fate).

The first movement, Allegro. The first two chords and the subsequent quarter-note triplets lead to an entire composition, which Lockwood believes is a very important feature of Beethoven's musical composition. Moreover, this ability to construct music in short, minor shapes is also visible in the Ministry of Development (bars 65 to 68).

Anton Cody's statement is interesting: "The first thing that appears is a jumping motive with mysterious magic, followed by a rest and a simple response, then a jump and a response, and then the extraordinary theme melody of Work 10 of 2 soars in the purest song." Who can explain how these many different pieces of material fit together so perfectly? ”

The Development Department was developed with three descending notes at the end of the Presentation Department. It starts in A minor and moves all the way to subordinates, D minor, g minor, C minor, F major, B major, and so on. The development tribe is followed by a genitive rest in D major (subsection 116), where the reproduction appears innocently and softly on a "wrong" key (D major). Some call it a "fake rendition", and after six bars it gently returns to F major, completing the rest of the subject, a stroke that fully embodies Beethoven's sense of humor, which Rosen believes is a technique learned from Haydn, and Blundell similarly believes that it is a continuation of Haydn's tradition.

Second movement, Allegretto, F minor. There is no slow movement here, it combines the characteristics of small steps, harmonic music and slow movement. It contains a graceful and soft middle of the three voices that sounds a little serious, lockwood says "here the dark shadows prevail", which is a polylogy, reproducing the theme when repeated, the right hand comes out half a beat later than the left hand, forming a split rhythm, which Rosen believes needs to have some rubato rhythm here.

The last movement, the presto. The opening theme is reminiscent of Bach's Two Creative Works in F major, and it is also a fugue style, very close to the mood of Haydn's final movement. Dennis Matthew describes the movement this way: "It is like a country carnival played by a wind instrument, with the fugue section played first by the tuba, bringing the whole player together to the continuous bass on the second theme." This movement is typical of string quartets, and the broken sections from bar 69 foreshadow Mendelssohn's style of humor. The final movement, and even the entire sonata, needs to be performed in what Blunder called "Beethoven's humor, which cannot be overemphasized."

Opus 10 no. 3 (Sonata in D major)

This is the largest of the 10 works we see now, and it goes back to the structure of the four movements, the whole sonata is based entirely on D major, And Beethoven unusually adopts the system of the same name, in which the slow movement in D minor is its culmination, known as one of the greatest slow movements in the early sonatas, the bleak mood, the slow and sad wide-plate speed, its great expressiveness, as Solomon points out, "eclipsed by the first two in comparison". And Brundell considered the sonata "the greatest of his early sonatas, and if I had to choose it, it was the most perfect of the 32 sonatas."

The first movement, Presto. The theme at the beginning seems fairly simple, and it is based on four notes (bars 1 to 10) down from the octave-in-unison D major scale. Many of the motives of the whole movement, derived directly from it, are so brief but contain so much potential for development that some even hint at the theme of the final movement.

Rosen said: "This ability to take inspiration from the smallest motives and develop it, in the history of music, is comparable to Beethoven except Bach. ”

The first theme ends in bar 10, the second variation repeats the theme in a manner, but rises to the ascending F tone, leading to the connecting segments in B minor (bars 23 to 30), which are legato, but here Beethoven draws lines by bar, and Gordon Wesser thinks that such a "mechanically" division is not natural, and his proposal for a line division can be found on page 57 of the Notes on Beethoven's 32 Sonatas. The connecting segment ends in A major, and the first four notes of the sub-theme are the four descending notes of the main theme, only this time it is in A major rather than D major, and in the presentation part, the motivation composed of these four tones appears tirelessly about fifty times until the end of the presentation. The Development Department also begins with this descending four-degree note, giving the rest of this rapid movement an inner vitality. Kinderman notes: "This dynamism tightened the architecture of the classical sonata and extended it from within, which was an important sign of Beethoven's early style." ”

The second movement, the sad slow plate (Largo e mesto). It is the most tragic musical expression of Beethoven's early compositions, as can be seen from the composer's addition of "mesto" to the speed marker. Beethoven only used it once in the later String Quartet in F major, op. 59 of 1. Kinderman said That Beethoven "injected a sense of defeated struggle and obedience into the sonata." The sense of light and hope evoked by the beginning of the unfolding part in F major is quickly negated by the powerful minus seven chords". It has a large epilogue, the state of the theme in the bass area, leading to a chromatic rise that enhances the dramatic tension, from the bass A of the 68th bar, all the way up to a high octave A, ending on the main D, and the last 12 bars ending in a bleak and sad mood. Regarding the speed of the movement, Rosen argues that most pianists play too slowly, and that on Pianos of Beethoven's time, too slow a pace would have sustained sound.

The third movement follows, Allegro, Menuetto, Allegreto. The tonality of D major swept away the gloomy atmosphere of the slow movement. It is a small step dance of a classical character, written entirely in the form of a string quartet, which can be almost unchanged onto four stringed instruments: the first 16 bars are the first violin solo, and from the 17th bar, the cello first enters on the ascending F tone, and the rest of the voices are imitated in the high fourth degree. Although each sentence begins with a sf protrusion mark, the entire segment should remain within the volume range of Beethoven's labels of p and dolce. The first theme was reproduced with greater momentum, a very strong force mark ff appeared, and suddenly weakened. The middle of the three notes should be played immediately after, without interruption or change of speed, in sharp contrast to the previous dolce segment, which consists of the motivation of two notes, starting with a break, and becoming a legato when repeated.

The final movement is the Rondo Allegro. It is based on a motive consisting of three notes, and some researchers have found that it comes from the theme at the beginning of the first movement (notes 4 to 7), and two extension marks on the 4th bar have a comedic effect. On the whole, it exhibits "unpredictable humorous characteristics", it does not have the impulse to keep moving forward, but is skeptical, avoidant, full of inquiry, like a game of searching for themes. It has a complex structure, with many transpositions, and the first connection part turns into B-lower major. The whole sonata quietly ends in the repetition of the motivation in the bass area.

In terms of content, the sonata is one of the most complex sonatas of Beethoven's early compositions, with four movements containing such different emotions and textures. It is huge, rigorously structured, and the mood changes fiercely, and it is not easy for the player to grasp its musical image as a whole.