This piece also took quite a long time to program. Since I had to create the sound for both the cello and piano individually, as well as their combined sound, I suppose it’s reasonable for a piece of less than 30 minutes.
The most challenging part was the Scherzo in the second movement. Although it's in triple meter, it frequently uses tied notes connecting the third beat to the following downbeat. Please refer to the opening sheet music below.
In triple meter, the typical pattern is strong-weak-weak. However, on the piano, once a key is struck, the sound cannot be easily altered. Yet, Beethoven changes the fingering between the third beat and the following downbeat. In other words, he instructs the player to switch from finger 4 to finger 3 while holding the same note.
According to my teacher, this means "the first beat has significance." Since the fourth finger is weaker than the third, the third beat should be played gently, and by switching to the third finger while keeping the key pressed, the first beat naturally feels like a strong accent. I see!
That said, expressing this in a DAW is quite challenging. This time, I tried increasing the volume of each downbeat individually—essentially raising the volume during the decay phase.
Another challenge in this second movement is its ABABA structure. Despite having three repetitions, Beethoven does not use repeat signs, which raised the question of how to differentiate each iteration.
At first, I played all three sections with the same tempo and dynamics, but my teacher pointed out that something felt uninteresting. So, I listened to various performances for inspiration.
In the recording I used as a reference—Antonio Meneses and Maria João Pires—the volume slightly decreases in the third repetition. Additionally, according to my teacher (citing "The Art of Glenn Gould"), Leonard Rose and Glenn Gould take this even further, reducing the volume to pp on the third repetition.
With this in mind, I decided to lower the volume on the third repetition as well. Now, the question is—how does it sound?
Title: Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69
Sound Source: Emotional Cell(cello),Vienna Synchron Concert D-274(Piano)
Audio file format: mp3
YouTube:Cello sonata No.3