2nd mvt: Beethoven at his most Sublimely Lyrical

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Exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas Part 2

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Curtis Institute of Music

Exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas Part 2

74 calificaciones

Welcome to Part 2 of Exploring Beethoven's Piano Sonatas! I'm delighted to launch another set of new lectures of this course as Part 2. As before, this class is meant for people of all levels of experience with Beethoven's music (including no experience at all!). Remember that you are able to watch the lectures as many times as you like, at whatever pace is comfortable for you. As I’ve done with the first set of Beethoven lectures, I look forward to meeting with students—online and in person, in various cities. The dates and locations will be posted in the Announcements and Events section, as part of the course content. So please remember to check back there for details. In these four new lectures, we will explore the following sonatas: • Sonata Op. 2, No. 3 • Sonata Op. 13 (“Pathetique”) • Sonata Op. 53 (“Waldstein”) • Sonata Op. 90 The Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation supports Curtis’s lifelong learning initiatives.

De la lección

Op. 13, "Pathetique"

The course continues with Beethoven's Op. 13 Sonata, nicknamed the "Pathétique." Known for its high drama and pathos, the "Pathétique" is a gem from Beethoven's early period and is one of Beethoven's most popular piano sonatas. In this lecture, Mr. Biss uncovers how Beethoven achieves these intense characters within the context of a classical sonata.

A Groundbreaking, Overexposed Masterwork4:02

1st mvt: The Slow Introduction as a Major Addition to Sonata Form6:46

1st mvt: An Exposition in Constant Upward Motion8:44

1st mvt: The Introduction's Complex, Revolutionary Role9:16

1st mvt: Subverting Expectations until the Bitter End5:56

2nd mvt: Beethoven at his most Sublimely Lyrical9:47

2nd mvt: The Emotional Power of Structural Simplicity7:03

3rd mvt: Introducing an Element of Ambiguity3:23

3rd mvt: Tying the Movement to the Rest of the Work, Devastatingly10:15

Conoce a los instructores

Jonathan Biss
Neubauer Family Chair in Piano Studies
Performance Faculty

(MUSIC)

So, having unpacked that monster of a movement, we come

to the much simpler pleasures of the second movement.

This movement is in every way more modest than the first – in fact, the second and

third movements combined take only a few seconds longer to play

than the first does on its own.

That in itself is no proof that this music is modest, or not revolutionary – the first

two movements of opus 109, combined, are only about 6 minutes long, and no one could listen

to them and fail to find them rich with substance and invention.

But the slow movement of the Pathetique is not just short-ish: it’s both serene and

un-radical – as opposed to the first movement, it doesn’t aim to start any revolutions.

Nevertheless, it is, for good reason, probably the most famous part of this altogether famous

piece, and only partially because Karl Haas rammed it into his listeners’ heads over

a period of decades.

No, the main reason for its renown is its uncommon beauty.

(MUSIC)

As I’ve mentioned previously, somewhere along the line, Beethoven developed the reputation

for being uninterested in – and untalented for – melody.

Perhaps it’s because he was able to write music of such immediate, emotional power without

much to speak of in the way of melody.

Take the justly celebrated second movement of the 7th symphony, which the composer John

Corigliano once called the first ever minimalist piece of music.

(MUSIC)

Remove the harmony, and here’s what you are left with.

(MUSIC)

This movement builds to a tremendous, and tremendously affecting, climax without

ever including a proper “melody” – melody defined, here,

as something that you might conceivably want to sing.

I’ve pointed out a similar phenomenon in the second movement of the Appassionata.

Stripped of its chordal progression, we’re left with (MUSIC).

And the opening of the “Moonlight” is no great shakes either, on those terms (MUSIC).

The element of rigor is so dominant in Beethoven’s music, it may be fair to say that it doesn’t

always leave room for more sensuous pleasures.

And yet!

One need only listen to the opening of the Pathetique’s slow movement to know that

Beethoven was, when he wanted to be, a GREAT melodist.

Think of the composers most renowned for their lyrical gift – Schubert, Chopin.

This melody would be a great credit to any of them.

Why is it so beautiful?

This is a notoriously difficult subject to talk about.

No aspect of music is more mysterious than the question of why a certain sequence of

notes can be so wistful, or haunting, or uplifting, as the case may be.

So I won’t overanalyze it.

But I will say that one of this melody’s winning features is that it manages to be

beautifully balanced without being so symmetrical that it becomes predictable.

Its first half is all about melodic rise.

First there is the rise of a fourth

(MUSIC), and then a bigger, albeit gradual rise – a

seventh this time. (MUSIC)

The second half, by contrast, features a series

of three falling fifths, the first perfect (MUSIC), and the second two diminished:

(MUSIC)

But whereas the first half features just two, clearly delineated upward intervals (MUSIC),

the second half has three downward ones, which follow one another in immediate succession,

creating a kind of down-up-down-up zigzag.

(MUSIC)

So, the theme has the logic of a question being followed by an answer, without ever

developing a stultifying regularity.

The other aspect of this theme which I can confidently say contributes to its magic

is how seamless it is.

I’ve spoken of two halves of the theme, one (MUSIC),

and two (MUSIC).

But there is no break at all between the two halves.

On the contrary, Beethoven connects the end of the first half to the beginning of the second

with a slur (MUSIC).

The poetry of a rise being answered by a fall gives the phrase a two-part shape, but that

slurring makes it clear that Beethoven conceived of it as one continuous unit.

This is bolstered by the start-to-finish, gently undulating accompaniment

Beethoven gives it (MUSIC),

ensuring that despite all of its hills and valleys, the line continues

to spin all the way through.

It’s quite a trick, really.

As I’ve said about a thousand times, the first movement of the Pathetique is forward-looking

and influential; not only is the second movement far more traditional, it actually looks back

in quite a literal sense.

This opening theme is unusually closely derived from Mozart – from the central episode of

the slow movement of his C minor sonata, K457. Mozart -

(MUSIC),

and Beethoven (MUSIC).

The combination of the key, the tempo, and the notes themselves means this cannot be

coincidence – this is, if not an homage, certainly a case

of Beethoven taking inspiration from Mozart.

And what’s interesting is, if one goes by stereotype, the Mozart is much more “Beethovenian”,

whereas the Beethoven sounds just a little bit like Mozart.

In the Mozart, a crescendo over the moving notes, followed by an abrupt subito piano,

(MUSIC)

these give the music a determined, even driven aspect.

In fact, the entire sonata has a quite Beethovenian sense of propulsion, and of struggle.

Beethoven’s theme, by contrast, is remarkably serene --

not for nothing did I use the word “seamless”.

Beethoven probably loved the Mozart C minor sonata altogether, but what he took from it

he transformed entirely, and in a surprising way.

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