During his lifetime of 57 years, Ludwig van Beethoven composed a total of 32 piano sonatas. It is quite a challenge to say which one I like best. Upon some thought, however, I choose Beethoven’s piano sonata, No. 31 in A-flat, Opus 110.
And why? Maybe I have a ‘thing’ for late sonatas, those last-but-one utterances. Or perhaps it is because, in my opinion, this is simply one of the most beautiful, extraordinary creations ever written for the piano.
Much has been written about Beethoven’s final sonatas. Although they are not the last works he wrote for the instrument, they are his last in the piano sonata genre, and as such are often regarded as his final words on this topic.
Composed in 1821, the Opus 110 shares the same humanity and other-worldly atmosphere of its neighbours, and its 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 — it 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 Sviatoslav Richter to perform Beethoven’s Sonata #31:
