When we look at Beethoven’s piano music and focus on the Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, op. 31/2, “Tempest”, we find a work that reflects Beethoven’s 1802 feelings. Its title, “Der Sturm”(The Tempest), comes not from Beethoven but from a comment he made to Anton Schindler. Schindler asked Beethoven how to interpret this work and Beethoven told him he should read Shakespeare’s Tempest, and so the work received its nickname, although Beethoven never used it.
The first movement actually launches us off into alternations of peacefulness with stormy sections. Eventually, the storm defeats the peace, and, for a pianist, the movement is ideal for showing the changes in technique and tempo needed between the sections.
The second movement, Adagio, is in sonata form, although its development section is quite abbreviated. What Beethoven does in this movement, however, is to contrast the upper and lower registers of the piano, which at his time, were different sounds.
The final movement is energetic, flowing, and, yet, because of the D minor key, somewhat bitter. If the middle movement was a contemplative pause, this movement becomes the unhappiness of the ailing genius.
Here is pianist Evgeny Kissin to play this masterpiece for you:
