Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110 [Lortie]

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The Piano Sonata No. 31 in A♭ major, Op. 110, by Ludwig van Beethoven was composed in 1821 and published in 1822. It is the middle piano sonata in the group of three (Opp. 109, 110, and 111) that he wrote between 1820 and 1822, and is the penultimate of his piano sonatas. Though the sonata was commissioned in 1820, Beethoven did not begin work on Op. 110 until the latter half of 1821, and final revisions were completed in early 1822. The delay was due to factors such as Beethoven's work on the Missa solemnis and his deteriorating health. The original edition was published by Schlesinger in Paris and Berlin in 1822 without dedication, and an English edition was published by Muzio Clementi in 1823.
This sonata is the second one of the so-called triptych (the first one being Op. 109 and the last one Op. 111) and weirdly enough it has no dedication. There has been some speculation about the fact that Beethoven had wanted to dedicate this A-flat sonata to Antonie Brentano but instead dedicated the Diabelli Variations to her.
0:00 - I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo:
After a string quartet-like 3-bar introduction, mm. 4 contains an “eingang” which carefully repeats the downbeats of the introduction proportionally. Right after that, there’s a song with a melody and an accompaniment which is particularly odd in such a polyphonic musical language. In the second subject there’s a hint to the ariosi in the last movement and the development is quite short and is built on the rhythm of the very beginning: here the music is much darker and more polyphonic than the lyrical and soothing exposition. The recapitulation is one of the most heartwarming by Beethoven, with the LH taking the 32nd-notes of the exposition and a RH with a much larger sonority and even here there’s the third-related shift to E major which is exquisite. The poetic coda introduces the main motif of the fugue.
6:27 - II. Allegro molto
Actually an attacca subito similarly to Op. 109, this movement is the only touch of humor in the entire work. It’s often played in a dramatic way, Lortie belongs to this category, but Beethoven wrote in a letter that he used 2 popular Austrian folk songs. The trio section actually created some serious troubles for Beethoven and you can see that in the manuscript. The movement ends in F major, serving as the dominant of the following final movement.
8:33 - III. Adagio ma non troppo:
When they say there are no composers who were able to give value to the last movement as much as Beethoven, this is particularly true to the late sonatas. Here, as well as in the Moonlight Sonata, Waldstein Sonata and more similarly Tempest Sonata, the use of a single pedal creates a blurred texture which is controversial to what was and still is taught, and even more controversial is the repeated-A while being written under a tie (something done on the clavichord). Then comes the first arioso, the lamenting song, which recalls the St. John Passion. Thematically, the theme is based on the first folk song of the second movement (note how such a funny-sounding theme can at the same time sound so lamenting). After the first arioso, the fugue is introduced and it’s rather conventional, except for the double bass (more of a fugue for the organ rather than for the piano). Note also the narrative power of the fugal elements here, which is a very new way to write. Abruptly cutting the fugue, the arioso is repeated and varied, with the melody being uneven and broken, as if it was someone who is sobbing (Beethoven writes “ermattet” in German, which means exhausted). While you expect a dramatic ending from the arioso, the G major chords are almost as if a phoenix is born from the ashes. The second fugue which is the inversion, is in the key of G, half tone higher than the first one (as for the ariosi the other way around, the first one being written in A-flat minor and the second one in G minor). If we compare the struggle Beethoven had while writing this second fugue (going from G to A-flat) to the struggle of the trio in the second movement, the latter is nothing compared to the former. This fugue is full of augmentations (approximately three times as fast) and diminutions (more or less twice as slow); the tempo gets faster and faster, bursting into a triumphant chorale which is right the antithesis of the laments and concludes the piece.
Sources: @88KeysPiano, wikipedia.org
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[@88KeysPiano]

Thanks a lot for making my all-time favorite sonata! A work that is absolutely marvelous, which I treasure most. 3/32 BTW! :)

[@pigeonpapi286]

Massive! My favorite Beethoven Sonata

[@DomFileoreum]

THAT FUGUE
THAT GORGEOUS FUGUE OMG

[@harryk4840]

❤️

[@dwacheopus]

I really love this sonata

[@CO2Del]

Can you do Liszt's transcription of symphony no. 9 played by cyprien katsaris??
I've always wonder what it would look like in synthesia.

[@Numberonesorabjifan]

It's quite hard cuz he adds a lot of notes which you'll have to figure out by listening

[@ZKLofiTone]

Chopin...actually Beethoven was really ahead of his time with his melodies in a lot of occasions!!!! HEAR THIS : 10:29 and the best melody : 10:55

[@AS-gy5wn]

Love this piece so much. This is one of the big sonatas you were taking about

[@Palermo.340]

Beatiful piece and performance!

[@thequakeguy4642]

I would love to see a video of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition

[@sskreechiest9144]

Là Beethoven very epic Transcription is well done.
But can you please do Allegro De Concert Op.18- Scriabin it is a very good song!