Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, "Waldstein" Op. 53 Ludwig van Beethoven
Begun in
1803 and completed in 1804, Beethoven wrote his Waldstein Sonata exactly 100 years before Debussy's Estampes appeared in print for the first
time. Arguably the most brilliant of his
32 piano sonatas, Beethoven dedicated the piece to an old friend, Count
Ferdinand Waldstein. Beethoven had
reached a new stage in his compositional evolution in these early years of the
19th century, which saw the creation of the Eroica Symphony, "Triple" Concerto for piano, violin, and cello,
Fourth Piano Concerto, Op. 59 String Quartets, and the Appassionata Piano Sonata.
The Waldstein Sonata is chronologically
the first Piano Sonata from this great Middle Period.
Beginning
in an excited pianissimo, the first
few measures give a foreshadowing of the type of piece that will unfold over
the next 24 minutes: one of extraordinary dynamic range, terse motivic
development, and bold harmonic steps.
The latter can be felt almost immediately, as we slide briefly into a
chord on B-flat, a very distant harmony from the home key of C Major, within
the first few seconds. A turbulent
C-minor seems to open a chasm into the fabric of the music itself before we
churn to a complete stop and begin again in C Major. All of this takes only 15 seconds. The rest of the first movement unfolds in
adherence to the Classical Sonata Form model, but Beethoven firmly and
indelibly places his stamp with his heroic material.
A short and
mysterious Adagio separates the two fast movements. Titled Introduzione,
it is just that: an introduction, albeit harmonically complex in its own right,
to the final Rondo. The Rondo theme
melts out of the Adagio in a haze of pianissimo
arpeggios and wide melodic leaps, outlining a childlike melody that finds its
confidence through repetition until it is finally clothed in a garland of
trills. Numerous episodes explore
different keys and characters, but the overall mood is one of glorious
celebration, and the Rondo theme itself is never too far away. Its final repetition leads to a virtuosic Prestissimo coda, complete with glissandos, the aforementioned trills,
and an ending worthy of his greatest symphonies. Michael Mizrahi
Classical Music | Piano Music
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major Play
Recorded on 02/06/2008, uploaded on 01/20/2009
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, "Waldstein" Op. 53 Ludwig van Beethoven
Begun in 1803 and completed in 1804, Beethoven wrote his Waldstein Sonata exactly 100 years before Debussy's Estampes appeared in print for the first time. Arguably the most brilliant of his 32 piano sonatas, Beethoven dedicated the piece to an old friend, Count Ferdinand Waldstein. Beethoven had reached a new stage in his compositional evolution in these early years of the 19th century, which saw the creation of the Eroica Symphony, "Triple" Concerto for piano, violin, and cello, Fourth Piano Concerto, Op. 59 String Quartets, and the Appassionata Piano Sonata. The Waldstein Sonata is chronologically the first Piano Sonata from this great Middle Period.
Beginning in an excited pianissimo, the first few measures give a foreshadowing of the type of piece that will unfold over the next 24 minutes: one of extraordinary dynamic range, terse motivic development, and bold harmonic steps. The latter can be felt almost immediately, as we slide briefly into a chord on B-flat, a very distant harmony from the home key of C Major, within the first few seconds. A turbulent C-minor seems to open a chasm into the fabric of the music itself before we churn to a complete stop and begin again in C Major. All of this takes only 15 seconds. The rest of the first movement unfolds in adherence to the Classical Sonata Form model, but Beethoven firmly and indelibly places his stamp with his heroic material.
A short and mysterious Adagio separates the two fast movements. Titled Introduzione, it is just that: an introduction, albeit harmonically complex in its own right, to the final Rondo. The Rondo theme melts out of the Adagio in a haze of pianissimo arpeggios and wide melodic leaps, outlining a childlike melody that finds its confidence through repetition until it is finally clothed in a garland of trills. Numerous episodes explore different keys and characters, but the overall mood is one of glorious celebration, and the Rondo theme itself is never too far away. Its final repetition leads to a virtuosic Prestissimo coda, complete with glissandos, the aforementioned trills, and an ending worthy of his greatest symphonies. Michael Mizrahi
More music by Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Concerto No 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 19, Third Movement (Rondo: Allegro molto)
Bagatelle N° 25 "Für Elise"
Sonata No. 32 in c minor, Op. 111
Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101
Sonata No. 32 in c minor, Op. 111
33 Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli, Op. 120
Fantasie in g minor, Op. 77
String Quartet No. 11 in f minor, Op. 95, Serioso
String Quartet Op. 131
Sonata for cello and piano in g minor, Op 5, No. 2
Performances by same musician(s)
Prelude and Fugue in A-flat Major from Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I
Prelude and Fugue in f-sharp minor from Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I
Five pieces from the ballet Romeo and Juliet for viola and piano
Marchenbilder for viola and piano, Op. 113
Sonata No. 5 for Violin and Piano in F Major, Op. 24 "Spring"
32 Variations in c minor, WoO 80
Ballade No. 1 in g minor, Op. 23
Tango for Viola and Piano
Mazurka in c-sharp minor, Op. 63, No. 3
First Ballade
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