It took some time, but I have finally completed Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 27.
Chronologically speaking, there is a gap of about four years between No. 26, “Les Adieux,” and this sonata, during which Beethoven composed no piano sonatas. This period coincides with the time of the Congress of Vienna following the fall of Napoleon, and from a musical-historical perspective, it marks a turning point toward the Romantic era.
In that sense, Beethoven can be seen as a bridge between Classical and Romantic music. This sonata, too, seems to reflect that transitional role: it appeals more directly to emotion and feels quite different in character from his earlier works.
At the beginning of each movement, Beethoven conveys his intentions directly through detailed instructions written in German.
For the first movement, he writes “Mit Lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck” (lively, and throughout with feeling and expression), and for the second movement, “Nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar vorgetragen” (not too fast, and played in a very singing manner). From around this time, such detailed performance instructions become increasingly common in his scores—perhaps reflecting the fact that his hearing had already deteriorated significantly.
That said, this sonata differs in character from the deeply introspective trilogy of Sonatas Nos. 30 to 32. It has always struck me as somewhat enigmatic, which is probably why I kept putting No. 27 aside. As expected, shaping the sound turned out to be far from easy.
My teacher once commented:
“Especially in the second movement, there are many repetitions. The overall change is subtle, and the movement is long, which makes it resemble Schubert’s late sonatas. For that reason, playing it well is anything but easy. Even when listening to performances by younger pianists, one often ends up feeling that it sounds ‘boring.’”
András Schiff also mentions an interesting remark in one of his lectures. According to him, Arthur Rubinstein once said:
“Why does Beethoven bring back the theme so many times in the second movement of this E-minor sonata? Doesn’t it appear far too often?”
I cannot agree with that view at all. If someone has written a theme this beautiful, why shouldn’t we hear it again and again? After all, it never returns in exactly the same form. Its character is constantly transformed by what precedes it and by what follows.
In fact, expressing that transformation is precisely what makes this sonata so difficult.
So—how does my finished version sound?
Song Title:
Title:.
Piano Sonata No. 27 in E Minor, Op. 90
Sound source:
Sound Library:
Synchron Concert D-274
Audio file format: mp3
For streaming on a PC, please see this page.
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For streaming on a PC, please see
this page.