Piano Sonata No. 7 (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10 No. 3 was written between 1796 and 1798 and - like the other two works of this opus number - is dedicated to Countess Anna Margarete von Browne. It is the longest and most weighty work of the three sonatas op.10. It lasts about 25 minutes.
construction
First sentence
Presto; D major; alla breve; Sonata form; 344 bars
Exposure
The exposition can be divided into four parts: main topic, transition topic, secondary topic and final group. The main theme is introduced by a four-note motif, which often recurs at later points in the sentence. The transition theme is in B minor and does not play a role in the further course of the movement. The secondary theme in A major lets the four-note motif of the beginning shine through again; the accompaniment also reminds of the main theme of the finale. This theme, too, appears only briefly and introduces an episode that sequences the four-note motif and lets it appear in numerous changes. The final group sounds a strongly changed variant of the main theme; the exposition ends when the four-note motif appears ten times. It comprises 124 bars.
execution
The implementation only deals with the main topic, but in a further variant. The theme is chased through the keys of B flat major, G minor and E flat major to A major, which turns out to be the dominant of D major, via Albertian basses n. The development is relatively artless and comprises only 59 bars.
Recapitulation and coda
The recapitulation, like op. 10 nos. 1 and 2, begins with a shortening of the main theme. Transitional and secondary themes run almost as in the exposition; the final group turns to G major at the end. Here the coda begins in pianissimo, dealing only with the four-note motif. Almost the entire coda should be played piano to pianissimo; this gives the final increase from bar 333 all the more effective. The recapitulation is 115 bars, the coda 46 bars.
Second sentence
Largo e mesto; d minor; 6/8 time; free sonata form; 87 bars
Exposure
The Largo in free sonata form has three themes, the first of which runs through almost the entire movement. The first, chorale-like theme takes eighth notes; here the diminished seventh chord is used particularly frequently. The second theme has the character of a song and leads to A minor, where the third theme sounds, which is interspersed with suspensions and also often uses the diminished seventh chord.
execution
As in the first sentence, the implementation only covers the first topic. It begins in F major, but soon turns to G minor via diminished seventh chords and from there to A major as the dominant of D minor.
Recapitulation
The recapitulation presents the three themes in the same way as the exposition. The first theme this time turns over the Neapolitan sixth chord to E flat minor and later to G minor, which harbors an eerie character that is supposed to be elaborated further in the coda.
Coda
The coda is the most important part of the movement and its climax. It begins with the first theme, which piles up from the depths and in pianissimo up to the fortissimo. The harmonies of this episode are strongly chromatic and already point to the chromatic style of Wagner and Mahler . A motif from the development leads back to pianissimo, in which the theme fades away.
Third sentence
Menuetto. Allegretto; D major; 3/4 time; Three-part minuet form; 68 bars
The third movement is unusually not a scherzo, but a minuet , as Haydn and Mozart always called it. The form is minuet - trio - minuet (repetition); the trio is in G major.
Fourth sentence
Rondo. Allegro; D major; 4/4 time; Rondo shape; 113 bars
The rondo is made according to the ABACA Coda scheme . A is the main topic, B and C are the side topics. The main theme has the character of an improvisation with many pauses and fermatas. The first side theme is initially in A major and has more of an episodic character, especially since it only occurs for 9 bars. Then the main theme is heard in a shortened form; a dramatic B flat major chord leads over to the second secondary theme; which has the character of an implementation with many modulations. In addition, the harmonic sequence Bg-Eb also reminds of the implementation of the first movement. A chromatic finish in D minor leads back to the main theme, which this time appears longer. The coda varies the main theme; the end is made by chromatically ascending and descending passages in a continuous piano. This sentence shows how far Beethoven has distanced himself from the tradition of the “happy sweeping”; the sentence shows a mysterious, almost mystical mood.
Character and interpretation
character
Like other Beethoven trilogies such as op. 2 or op. 59, op. 10 is based on the order thesis - antithesis - synthesis. The first movement has a driving and energetic character with its continuous eighth runs, which would have to appear to the listener at a fast pace like sixteenth runs. The remaining sentences are all kept in a more state-of-the-art mood: The second movement breathes an eerie and ominous mood, the third movement is more reserved and the fourth movement, as mentioned above, shows a mysterious and mystical mood. So the “activity” of the music seems to decrease from sentence to sentence.
interpretation
Beethoven said of the second movement that he composed it after reading Goethe's “ Egmont ”; it was supposed to represent the death of Clara. Researchers mean, however, that the gloomy mood in the same could be a premonition of Beethoven's coming deafness.
literature
- Siegfried Mauser, Beethoven's Piano Sonatas, A musical work guide, 2nd edition, Munich 2008
Web links
- Piano Sonata No. 7 (Beethoven) : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Lecture (MP3; 31.7 MB) by András Schiff on Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 7 op.10