Beethoven: Sonata No.16 in G major, Op.31 No.1 - Boris Giltburg | Beethoven 32 project
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ย. 2024
- There are, in Beethoven’s cycle, numerous sonatas that grab you immediately, whether as a performer or as a listener. Prior to this project, Sonata No. 16 was not one of those for me. I was offered the chance to play it as a teenager; I read through it briefly, decided with typical teenage cockiness that it wasn’t ‘that awesome’, and asked to play Sonata No. 28 instead.
Today, I can both understand my initial reaction and see how superficial it was, and, ultimately, how wrong. Sonata No. 16 is a delight, but a delight perhaps more cerebral than emotional. It is akin to a pocket universe, where rules apply that might not apply elsewhere, and discovering and accepting these rules is a prerequisite to enjoyment. Like great science fiction writing often arises from a simple ‘what if’ question, the outer movements of the Sonata explore two musical worlds where something fundamental has been altered.
The first movement asks ‘what if it were okay for the hands not to play together?’ As any first year piano student can attest, normally this would be very bad - clumsiness at best, affectation at worst. But once the question has been asked, Beethoven explores it with all the seriousness and thoroughness he would accord any of his usual musical motifs. The results are often humorous, and Beethoven complements his fundamental idea with other comic ingredients - highly contrasting dynamics, theatrical fermatas and pauses.
But the final result is more than a joke: there’s plenty of genuine drama in the development, and a fascinating interplay between major and minor keys in the second subject, foreshadowing Schubert’s immediacy of mood changes. For sheer theatrical pleasure, though, listen to the transition to the reprise (4:18) - the crossing of the hands, as they simply can’t come together, the plaintive E flat clashing with the deadpan repeating D, the waits and stops and hesitations - it’s masterly; and so is the coda (6:14).
The second movement (6:52) can seem even more enigmatic than the first. It is decidedly un-Beethovenian at first listening - beautiful, but in a detached, equanimous way. Prolonged, but without an implied narrative or strong atmosphere (its C major can at times even seem bland). It has been suggested that the whole movement might be a parody of an overwrought and over-ornamented operatic aria (I would say a duet, if anything, as the left hand consistently repeats everything the right hand does). But it seems to me that the writing is far too pianistic to parody opera, and perhaps too pristine to be a parody at all. I see there a ballet for the fingers, with beautiful hand choreography implied in the music - stately steps in the left hand, slow wide leaps contrasted with fast-fingered runs in the right hand, all frozen on the page, awaiting a graceful reawakening. The question of an extra-musical meaning will probably remain open for this movement, but there is definite pleasure in simply letting go and floating slowly through this classically beautiful soundscape.
The finale (17:20) is my favourite movement. Its underlying question seems to be ‘what if there were no strong downbeats?’ This leads to a highly fluid musical text, almost devoid of hard stops or sharp edges, with seamlessly interlocking phrases, each picking up the narrative thread just as the previous line is about to end. Strongly accented notes, although rare, occur mostly on weak beats, helping obscure the bar lines. But this is an altogether more subtle question than the one asked by the first movement, and for me, the finale works wonderfully without any analysis too. Its easy charm is lovingly explored by Beethoven - the movement is full of imaginative sonorities (the shimmering accompaniment to the melody at 20:23 is a highlight), interesting harmonies (for example the descending chromaticism at 22:08), and a natural, easy to follow (and easy to like) narrative. The coda (22:37) is like an entire theatre scene in itself, finally erupting into a hyper-energetic presto - decisive, bold and even containing a strong downbeat or two. But in the very last bars the fundamental question of the movement reasserts itself, and all ends on weak beats.
A highly unusual, intriguing and fascinating sonata, far more ‘awesome’ that an initial glance might suggest.
***
Beethoven 32 - Over the course of 2020, I have learned and filmed all 32 Beethoven sonatas. Subscribe to this channel to follow the project, and visit beethoven32.com for blog posts and listening guides to each sonata.
Boris Giltburg, piano
Filmed by Stewart French
© 2020 Fly On The Wall, London (fotw.london)
@FazioliPianos
Dear all, thank you very much for your kind words and wishes, but actually it isn’t my birthday... I think it’s Beethoven’s birthday which is coming up, on the 16th of December.
I. Allegro vivace - 0:06
II. Adagio grazioso - 6:52
III. Rondo: Allegretto - 17:20
Muchas gracias, maestro . Las diferentes frases musicales, bien diferenciadas. Discurso muy claro. Desde Chile 🇨🇱. Mario Dueñas B.
I've seen you perform once, in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. You played Liszt's Transcendental etudes and Rachmaninov Op. 32. I remember preparing for this concert by listening, for the first time, to Rachmaninov Op. 32. Your recording, in fact. And I was blown away. I was completely obsessed by this album the days leading up to the concerts and also weeks after. Brilliant writing by Mr Rachmaninov, and stellar playing by you. No. 4 especially grabbed me, and to then hear you play it live, it's just pure bliss. Absolutely amazing. And when you think it just can't get any better, you also played Schumann's Arabeske. Such tender beauty after a storm of Liszt and Rachmaninov. This is, I suppose, a digital, (sort of) personal thank you for the best recital I've ever attended.
Anyway, beautiful playing of my absolute favourite Beethoven sonata, bravo! I wish you all the best with the remainder of your Beethoven project and all future projects you might have, I'll make sure to follow you closely. You're an inspiration, Boris!
Many thanks!
This sonata intrigued me as a boy when I first met it, in score, because it was so unlike other music that I had met. I was never good enough to play it well but knew what it should sound like, but it was many years before I heard it played. This was the 1950s when the BBC Radio 3 (Third Programme then) had the attitude that if it wasn't atonal you shouldn't be listening to it, so you were lucky to hear anything other than the most popular classical/romantic works.
Atonal music is objectively garbage.
Wonderful playing Maestro! My favorite Beethoven Piano Sonata.
You have good taste.
Your a wonderful pianist, I really enjoy your interpretation. Thank you!
С Днём Рождения, Мастер!
Спасибо за Вашу замечательную игру!
This song is for listening with eyes closed and an open heart. 🌻
Hermoso! Very beautiful! Thanks! Bravooo 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Eduardo Poblete de Chile, acusioso análisis de la sonata que se agradece, técnica perfecta, espectacular forma de interpretar a Beethoven, considerando los grandes maestros que lo han interpretado como olvidar a Gilels, Richter, o Horowitz. Por nombrar solo algunos de los grandes maestros del teclado.....muy agradecido, y te seguimos con mucho cariño un abrazo fraterno desde Chile....
Fazioli pianos are really incredibles! And of course your performance is exceptional as always!
Happy birthday Mr B 🍺
I love your Beethoven‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️
Beautiful! Bravo!
So much talent!
A magnificent performance as always. Really nice to hear something ' different ' from you always !!
When's the Appassionata coming ?
Thanks! Appassionata is No. 23, so around late January 2021
Ok. Thanks.
BUON COMPLEANNO MERAVIGLIOSO RAGAZZO, MERAVIGLIOSO COME LA TUA MUSICA .
Anna ,mamma di Paolo
amazing… +1 sub!!!
Happy bday! Beautiful playing)
Are you russian 💀
Non ho parole. Grandioso
Great playing!! beethoven loved and venerated, but ditched - mostly - the counterpont style of Mozart and Bach in favor of this clever and thrilling show music. Probably there was not as much ground left there, so he just ran off and had a lot of fun - and left a legacy of tendonitis and pretty good, OK, great music.
I've always had a hard time hearing the second movement trough the 'opera-parody' perspective, there's just too much sincere classical beauty and elegance there in my opinion and your aproach as a 'ballet for the fingers' works very well! Also, the slight accelerando/crescendo at 16:55 is just great!
Agree completely - I read about the opera-parody idea already after playing the sonata and couldn't quite connect it to the music. But it's certainly an unusual movement (in an unusual sonata!)
😊😊😮😊ㅑ 해😊😊😊😊😊😊
In the first theme of the Allegro Vivace you cannot keep time in f and slow down in p because when you get to bars 25-29 the phrase becomes exhausting. The same thing happens towards bar 63. Accentuating dynamic contrasts makes you play too nervously
17:20