Piano Sonata No. 13 (Beethoven)

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The Sonata no. 13 in E flat major , composed from 1800 to 1801 is the first of two piano sonatas that Beethoven put together in his opus 27th Dedicated to Princess Josephine von Liechtenstein , it bears the subtitle “Sonata quasi una fantasia” just like the subsequent and better-known Sonata No. 14 .

A musical peculiarity of the sonata is that, unlike Beethoven's previous piano sonatas, it does not have any formal movements . Its four sentence-like parts merge attacca .

History of origin

Beethoven composed the sonata between 1800 and 1801 at the age of 30. The autograph is lost and nothing is known about the first performance of the sonata. The first print was published in March 1802 by Giovanni Cappi in Vienna. Despite the close connection through the compilation in the opus, the sonata was not published together with sonata No. 14, but in a separate booklet. This made it possible for Beethoven to give the sonatas different dedications . The title page of the sonata bears the inscription "Sua Altezza la Signora Principessa Giovanni Liechtenstein, nata Langravio Fürstenberg" . The dedication to Princess Josephine von Liechtenstein also indirectly includes a dedication to her husband Johann Joseph Prince of Liechtenstein . He was a member of one of the richest aristocratic families in Vienna and cousin of Count Waldstein , an early patron of Beethoven. Little is known about his relationship with Josephine von Liechtenstein.

Musical analysis

Although the sonata formally has no explicit movements, it is still common to divide it into four movements or sections. The description and structure given here is to be understood as a suggestion. Depending on the point of view, other delimitations and interpretations are also possible.

  • Andante, Es-Dur, Allabreve - Allegro, C Major, 6 / 8 -Stroke - Tempo I
  • Allegro Vivace molto e, c Minor, 3 / 4 -stroke
  • Adagio con espressione, As-Dur, 3 / 4 -stroke
  • Allegro vivace, in E flat major, 2 / 4 -Stroke - Tempo I, 3 / 4 -Stroke - Presto, 2 / 4 -Stroke

The performance of the entire sonata takes about 15 minutes.

First sentence

The first movement of the sonata is an Andante in E flat major. It begins with the conception and development of a simple theme in many successive four-measures that are repeated over and over and always end on the tonic . The dynamics fluctuate between piano and pianissimo. The obvious, almost obtrusive simplicity right at the beginning of the sonata represents a novelty in Beethoven's work and prompted the musicologist Jürgen Uhde to write:

“No other Beethoven first movement shows such a low degree of tension as the first and last part of this piece. It is almost a mystery that such a sentence actually fulfills its function in the statics of the overall architecture. "

- Jürgen Uhde

More and more, sometimes subtle, variations of the opening theme open the sentence in the middle section. A sudden increase in tempo and volume in bar 37, as well as a transition to C major, mark the next formal part of this movement. Fast sixteenth-note chains and a lively dynamic form a sharp contrast to the previous part. The smooth transition to C minor in bar 57 then leads back to the tonic in E flat major. This is followed by the recapitulation of the Andante from bar 63. Further variations of the opening theme, as well as an exchange of voices, lead to a faintly fading end, followed by the second section without a break.

Second sentence

The second movement of the sonata is a typical Beethoven scherzo of the form ABA, beginning in C minor, the parallel minor key of E flat major. With soft quarter notes tied to the beat and the basics of harmony , Beethoven initially plays a demonic game. After a two-bar introduction, this is essentially based on the superposition of three different musical stylistic devices: the right and left hands run consistently in opposite directions from bar 3 onwards; while the right hand descends within a harmony, the left hand ascends. At the same time, either a change of position between high and low position or a change of harmony takes place in cycles. These simple means give the beginning of the movement a dark, spooky but also excited atmosphere.

The following middle section of the movement from bars 42 to 72, which corresponds to a trio , has a completely different form. While the left hand sets a staccato rhythm with an A flat major chord in the bass , the right hand rises within the harmony to finally arrive as the climax in fortissimo in a long trill on gb. The second part of the trio begins very similarly, with the difference that the bass now staccates on the A-flat major dominant seventh chord . This time, however, there is no highlight. Instead, after a repetition, the trio part seamlessly merges into the recapitulation of the scherzo.

The repetition is initially literal, but after the first 16 bars the rhythmic structure changes fundamentally again: the right hand now hangs an eighth behind the left hand. This small change means that the piece works many times faster and that the previously clear structures seem to be dissolving. After a short coda , the movement ends in fortissimo with both voices falling to c.

Third sentence

The third movement is a vocal adagio which, as in the early C minor sonatas, Op. 10 and Op. 13, is in A flat major. It begins smoothly and calmly with a theme that develops gently over an octave eighth note accompaniment in the bass. In a progressive process, further tonal spaces open up again and again until they finally cover almost four octaves in bar 14. There is an intense increase in expression from bars 13 to 16, as the melody voice is played in syncope here. This expressive section immediately leads back to a repetition of the opening theme, which is now played pianissimo and supported by sixteenth notes. The movement closes with a three-measure trill cadenza that ends on a simple A -flat , the subdominant of the long final movement.

Jürgen Uhde writes regarding the classification of this very short third sentence:

"Like the 3rd movement of op. 101, this 3rd movement floats like an island in front of the mainland of the last movement, which here and there can be called the destination of the journey."

- Jürgen Uhde

Fourth sentence

The final fourth movement of the sonata is now back in the main key of E flat major. In terms of form, it is a mixture between the classical sonata movement form and a rondo . The movement begins carefree with a soft melody in the lower registers, which is accompanied by running sixteenth notes in the bass. The leading voice quickly picks up speed in the first three bars by shortening the note values: What is still quarter notes in the first bar increases to eighth notes in the second up to sixteenth notes in the third and fourth bars. The four-bar motif is repeated in higher registers, with the melody now in fortissimo and octave-like fanfare demonstrating a change of mood within the entire work. The following sweeping section, which continues the melody that has already begun, tends, like the entire movement of the sonata, to the orchestral sound. The movement develops in constant ups and downs, accompanied by uninterrupted sixteenth notes. A repetition of the opening theme beginning in measure 82 is turned into a short fugato of the bass over this from measure 106 and further developed. The recapitulation that begins in measure 167 increases in drama from measure 224 and finally comes to rest in measure 254 for two measures and with a fermata extended on the dominant seventh chord. The Adagio is repeated, but now in the main key of E flat major, followed by another trill cadenza. The subsequent coda in the form of a short, rapidly advancing Presto, which briefly and condensed the main theme of the movement, ends the sonata with two polyphonic chords.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Egon Voss : 2 piano sonatas op.27. In: Ludwig van Beethoven - interpretations of his works. Volume 1, Laaber-Verlag, 2009, ISBN 978-3-89007-305-7 , p. 221.
  2. ^ Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen : Beethoven - The piano sonatas . Bärenreiter-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-7618-1890-9 , p. 162.
  3. ↑ Jürgen Uhde: Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas . Reclam-Verlag, 1968, ISBN 3-15-018958-6 , p. 352.
  4. ↑ Jürgen Uhde: Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas . Reclam-Verlag, 1968, ISBN 3-15-018958-6 , p. 369.