Beethoven composed 32 piano sonatas during the 57 years of his lifetime. These works are often categorized as emerging from his so-called “early”, “middle”, or “late” periods.
Recently I have been studying the last three of these, and yesterday I listened some more to #30, Opus 109.
This amazing composition opens as though one opens the door to a room where music is already playing. It starts with sounds like a sweeping exhalation, like a speaker who is encountered in mid-sentence.
Sounding like an improvisation, the first movement ends as it begins, and is followed immediately by a minor-key prestissimo — shorter even than the first movement.
The final movement is where I spent most of my time in careful listening. Technically it is a theme with six variations. The movement opens and ends in the warmth of serenity, daring not to conclude with a bang, but with a sigh.
While each movement has its customary Italian titles, look closely at the words in German with which Beethoven instructs the performer at the beginning of this final section:
“Gesangvoll mit innigster Empfindung”
Roughly translates as: “In a songful manner, with deepest feeling.”
Listen now to that amazing third movement form the Piano Sonata Op. 109, as performed by Mitsuko Uchida:
