Beethoven "Piano Sonata No.26"

　Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 26, "Farewell".

　This piece is related to the battle of 1809 between the French army led by Napoleon and Austria.　The three movements are unusually self-titled: the first movement, "Das Lebewohl" (Farewell); the second movement, "Die Abwesenheit" (Absence); and the third movement, Das Wiedersehen" (The Reunion).　It is dedicated to Archduke Rudolf, the youngest son of the Holy Roman Emperor at the time, who fled Vienna to escape the war and returned to be reunited with his family.

　Now, the problem was the Adagio in the first movement.　When "Das Lebewohl" is called "Farewell," it seems to me that it was quite a tragic farewell.　But as expected, the teacher sent me the following comment as a hint.

　The Japanese translation "Farewell" is a mistranslation in my opinion.　I think this song is lost because of that.　I think the real nuance should be something like "Take care of yourself.　The German folk song "gum celluloseI wiki'd it and found that the German title is "Abschied" (Farewell Home).　I found on wiki that the German title was "Abschied", and I was right.　In other words, it is not a "farewell" to a deceased person, but a "farewell" to a person who is going out now but will come back again.

　I'm off for a while! If it was just a goodbye, it would not have been so tragic as "Have a nice trip, take care! It would not have been such a tragic farewell.　Indeed, Archduke Rudolf returned to Vienna about eight months later.　So, I tried to play the first movement, Adagio, in a less tragic way.

　　　　Title: Piano Sonata No.26 in E-flat major, Op.81a
　　　　Sound Source: Vienna Synchron Concert D-274
　　　　Audio file format: mp3
　　　　YouTube:.Beethoven Piano Sonata No.26