Beethoven was said to be especially pleased with his Sonata #11. In 1800, when he sent it to his publisher in Leipzig, Hoffmeister, he wrote ‘Die Sonate hat sich gewaschen’, which can be roughly translated as ‘This sonata is really something’. Besides calling it a ‘Grande Sonate’, he was also confident of its success, predicting that it would sell more than the other two works he offered simultaneously: his Symphony No 1 and the Septet, Op 20.
The first movement is a brilliant Allegro con brio: there is a lot of material here with which Beethoven indeed builds something impressive.
The slow movement, marked Adagio con molta espressione, is — for me – the best part of the piece. As in the first movement, there is no coda.
I have always thought that it is the last movement that causes the most problems in this work. It is one of Beethoven’s rondos that are quite long, and need a good technique combined with an equally good imagination to hold them together.
Here is pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli to show you one fine interpretation of this work:
