Of the 32 piano sonatas by Beethoven, the #31 is my favorite, and today you have an opportunity to listen to this music again.
Composed in 1821, the Opus 110 shares the same humanity and other-worldly atmosphere of its neighbors, Opus 109 and Opus 111. In fact, the first movement is a close cousin of Op. 109: both display a warm lyricism and tenderness. It is also remarkably compact – some 19 minutes in length.
The Sonata is a distillation of ideas of compelling meaning and profound expression by a composer who has all but rejected the rules of classical sonata form. Indeed, in the hands of certain performers, it opens out like a fantasy, improvisatory and constantly intriguing and challenging.
Here too, Beethoven harks back to Bach and the Baroque, especially in the final two movements
Here is pianist Helene Grimaud to play this music for you:
