Piano Sonata No. 21 (Beethoven)
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Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, opus 53, commonly known as the Waldstein, is considered to be one of Beethoven's greatest sonatas, as well as one of the three particularly notable piano sonatas of his middle period (the other two being the Appassionata sonata, Opus 57, and Les Adieux, Opus 81a). The sonata was completed in the summer of 1804.
The Waldstein receives its name from Beethoven dedicating it to Count Ferdinand von Waldstein. Like the Archduke Trio, one of many pieces dedicated to Archduke Rudolf, there are other works dedicated to Count Waldstein. Perhaps the name stuck to this specific piece due to its originality.
The Waldstein has three movements:
- Allegro con brio
- Introduzione. Adagio molto - attacca
- Rondo. Allegretto moderato
The sonata opens memorably with staccato chords, played pianissimo. This initial straightforward, but anxious rhythm is devoid of melody for two bars. It then swiftly ascends upward and follows with a three-note descent in the middle register and a four-note descent in the upper. More of this teasing rhythm rumbles foreward, until 45 seconds later where the notes seem to almost stumble over themselves. The second subject, marked dolce, is a sweet chordal theme in E Major (the piece is one of the first instances in which Beethoven had chosen to modulate elsewhere rather than the customary fifth up for the second subject, an idea he'd return to later in the Hammerklavier, for example). For the recapitulation, Beethoven transposes the second subject into A Major, which quickly changes into A Minor and then back to C Major again. The movement ends in a heady coda.
The second movement is a short Adagio set in jutting 6/8 time. At once halting, angular, and tranquil, the music gradually gets more agitated before calming down and seguing into the Rondo.
The Rondo begins with a sweet and consoling tune played pianissimo, which soon comes back fortissimo, over daringly fast scales in the left hand and a continuous trill on the dominant in the right. Beethoven then introduces the second theme - a series of broken chords in triplets - but soon interrupts it with a turbulent section in A Minor that foreshadows the central episode. Soon we're back to C Major, and the sweet theme is repeated before being rudely interrupted by a series of staccato octaves that mark the start of the central episode. Soon the octaves are accompanied by swirling triplets in first the left and then right hands; the music grows more tense and runs into a series of angular chords, which transitions into a more quiet section, which returns after much drama to the C Major theme, now played in a triumphant fortissimo. The second theme reappears, but instead of being interrupted, continues in a cascade of glorious sound up the keyboard before finally settling on the dominant. Another series of fortissimo chords is struck, ushering in a short, delicate pianissimo section, and the movement seems to die away...but instead segues into the Prestissimo coda, a wondrous section that plays with the various themes of the movement and more before ending in a triumphant rush of sound. With all its contrasts and striking originality, the Rondo is often thought to be the greatest achievement of Beethoven's middle period piano works, and is certainly a fitting end to this sonata.
External links
- [A performance of the work by pianist Michael Hawley]
- Analysis of [Beethoven's Waldstein Sonata] on [All About Ludwig van Beethoven]
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