The history of the creation of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata is closely connected with his biography, as well as with hearing loss. While writing his famous work, he experienced serious health problems, although he was at the top of his popularity. He was a welcome guest in aristocratic salons, worked hard and was considered a fashionable musician. On his account there were already many works, including sonatas. However, it is the essay in question that is considered one of the most successful in his work.

Acquaintance with Juliet Guicciardi

The history of the creation of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" is directly related to this woman, since it was to her that he dedicated his new creation. She was a countess and at the time of her acquaintance with the famous composer she was at a very young age.

Together with her cousins, the girl began to take lessons from him and conquered her teacher with cheerfulness, good nature and sociability. Beethoven fell in love with her and dreamed of marrying the young beauty. This new feeling caused him a creative upsurge, and he enthusiastically began to work on a work that has now acquired cult status.

Gap

The history of the creation of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, in fact, repeats all the vicissitudes of this personal drama of the composer. Juliet loved her teacher, and at first it seemed that marriage was on the way. However, the young coquette subsequently preferred a prominent count to a poor musician, whom she eventually married. This was a heavy blow for the composer, which was reflected in the second part of the work in question. It feels pain, anger and despair, which contrast sharply with the serene sound of the first movement. The author's depression was exacerbated by hearing loss.

Disease

The history of the creation of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata is as dramatic as the fate of its author. He was suffering from serious problems due to inflammation of the auditory nerve, which led to an almost complete loss of hearing. He was forced to stand close to the stage in order to hear the sounds. This could not but affect his work.

Beethoven was famous for being able to accurately select the right notes, choosing the right musical shades and keys from the rich palette of the orchestra. Now it was becoming more and more difficult for him to work every day. The gloomy mood of the composer was also reflected in the work in question, in the second part of which the motive of a rebellious impulse sounds, which seems to find no way out. Undoubtedly, this theme is connected with the torments that the composer experienced when writing a melody.

Name

Of great importance for understanding the composer's work is the history of the creation of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Briefly, the following can be said about this event: it testifies to the composer's impressionability, as well as how close he took this personal tragedy to his heart. Therefore, the second part of the work is written in an angry tone, which is why many believe that the title does not match the content.

However, the composer's friend, poet and music critic Ludwig Relshtab, she recalled the image of a lake at night with moonlight. The second version of the origin of the name is connected with the fact that at the time under consideration the fashion for everything that was somehow connected with the moon dominated, so contemporaries willingly accepted this beautiful epithet.

Further fate

The history of the creation of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata should be briefly considered in the context of the composer's biography, since unrequited love influenced his entire subsequent life. After parting with Juliet, he left Vienna and moved to the city, where he wrote his famous will. In it, he poured out those bitter feelings that were reflected in his work. The composer wrote that, despite the apparent gloom and gloom, he was predisposed to kindness and tenderness. He also complained about his deafness.

The history of the creation of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" 14 in many ways helps to understand further events in his fate. Out of desperation, he almost decided to commit suicide, but in the end he gathered his strength and, being already almost completely deaf, wrote his most famous works. A few years later, the lovers met again. It is indicative that Juliet was the first to come to the composer.

She recalled a happy youth, complained about poverty and asked for money. Beethoven lent her a significant amount, but asked her not to see him again. In 1826, the maestro fell seriously ill and suffered for several months, but not so much from physical pain as from the consciousness that he could not work. The following year he died, and after his death a tender letter dedicated to Juliet was found, proving that the great musician retained a feeling of love for the woman who inspired him to write his most famous composition. So, one of the most prominent representatives was Ludwig van Beethoven. The Moonlight Sonata, the history of which was briefly revealed in this essay, is still performed on the best stages around the world.

No. 2, was written by Beethoven in 1796 and dedicated to Joseph Haydn.
The total playing time is about 22 minutes.

The second part of the sonata Largo appassionato is mentioned in the story by A.I. Kuprin "Garnet bracelet".

The sonata has four movements:

1. Allegro vivace
2. Largo appassionato
3. Scherzo. allegretto
4. Rondo. grazioso

(Wilhelm Kempf)

(Claudio Arrau)

In this sonata, a new, not too long stage in the development of Beethoven's creative nature makes itself felt. Moving to Vienna, social successes, the growing fame of a virtuoso pianist, numerous, but superficial, fleeting love interests.

Spiritual contradictions are obvious. Should we submit to the demands of the public, of the world, find a way to meet them as accurately as possible, or go our own, difficult, difficult, but heroic path? Of course, a third moment also comes in - the lively, mobile emotionality of youth, the ability to easily, responsively surrender to everything that beckons with its brilliance and radiance.

Researchers have more than once been inclined to note the "concessions", the outward virtuosity of this and subsequent Beethoven piano sonatas.

Indeed, there are concessions, they are felt already from the first bars, the light humor of which is a match for Joseph Haydn. There are many virtuoso figures in the sonata, some of them (for example, jumps, small scale technique, quick enumeration of broken octaves) look both to the past and to the future (reminiscent of Scarlatti, Clementi, but also Hummel, Weber)

However, listening closely, we notice that the content of Beethoven's individuality has been preserved, moreover, it is developing, moving forward.

I. Allegro vivace

An athletic movement that has a bright disposition. The second theme of exposition contains some striking modulations for the time period. A large portion of the development section is third in F major, which contains a relationship with the key of the work, A major. A difficult, but beautiful canonical section is also to be found in the development. The reprise does not contain codes and the part ends quietly and modestly.

II. Largo appassionato

One of the few instances in which Beethoven uses the tempo marking "Largo", which was the slowest such marking for a movement. The opening imitates the style of a string quartet and features a staccato pizzicato-like bass against lyrical chords. A high degree of contrapuntal thinking is evident in Beethoven's conception of this movement. The key is the subdominant of A major, D major.

III. Scherzo: Allegretto

A short and graceful movement that is in many respects similar to a minuet. This is the first instance in his 32 numbered sonatas in which the term "Scherzo" is used. A minor trio section adds contrast to the cheerful opening material of this movement.

IV. Rondo: Grazioso

Beautiful and lyrical rondo. The arpeggio that opens the repeated material becomes more elaborate at each entrance. Rondo structure: A1-B1-A2-C-A3-B2-A4-Coda. The C section is rather agitated and stormy in comparison to the rest of the work, and is representative of the so called "Sturm und Drang" style. A simple but elegant V7-I closes the entire work in the lower register, played piano.

Beethoven dedicated the three sonatas of Op. 2 to Franz Joseph Haydn, with whom he studied composition during his first two years in Vienna. All three borrow material from Beethoven's Piano Quartets, WoO 36, Nos. 1 and 3, possibly of 1785. The sonatas were premièred in the fall of 1795 at the home of Prince Carl Lichnowksy, with Haydn in attendance, and were published in March 1796 by Artaria in Vienna.

The sonatas of Op. 2 are very broadly conceived, each with four movements instead of three, creating a format like that of a symphony through the addition of a minuet or scherzo. The second movements are slow and ponderous, typical of this period in Beethoven's career. Scherzos appear as third movements in Nos. 2 & 3, although they are not any faster than earlier minuets by Haydn. They are, however, longer than their precursors.

Beethoven's experimentation with tonal material within Classical-era frameworks begins with his earliest published works, as the first movement of the Op. 2, No. 2 sonata clearly demonstrates. After establishing the key of A major through a fragmentary, disjointed theme, Beethoven begins the transition to the dominant. When the second theme arrives, however, it is on the dominant minor (E minor), implying the keys of G major and C major. This implication is realized at the beginning of the development section, which is on C major. In the recapitulation, one would expect the transition to lead to the tonic, but here it suggests, again, C major through its dominant. At the moment the second theme arrives, Beethoven creates a deceptive cadence by moving to A minor, thus resolving the second theme to the tonic.

Sustained chords over a pizzicato-like bass part at the opening of the second movement could have been realized only on the most recent pianos of the time. In this movement, Beethoven borrowed material from the Piano Quartet, WoO 36, No. 3.

Beethoven retains the formal third principles of the minuet for his movement, an Allegretto Scherzo. There are, however, distinctly Beethovenian features, such as the second theme of the Scherzo being only a slight modification of the first theme, as well as the extension of the second section. In a reference to the key relationships of the first movement, Beethoven sets the Trio in A minor.

In the Rondo finale Beethoven applies some sonata-form procedures to the traditional rondo format and flexes his variation muscles. The overall structure is ABACAB"AC"A. Episode B touches on the dominant to such a degree that its return is rewritten to stress the tonic, while episode C is set in A minor, a key which is abandoned in favor of A major on its return.

In this sonata, a new, not too long stage in the development of Beethoven's creative nature makes itself felt. Moving to Vienna, social successes, the growing fame of a virtuoso pianist, numerous, but superficial, fleeting love interests.

Spiritual contradictions are obvious. Should we submit to the demands of the public, of the world, find a way to satisfy them as accurately as possible, or go our own, difficult, difficult, but heroic path? Of course, a third moment also comes in - the lively, mobile emotionality of youth, the ability to easily, responsively surrender to everything that beckons with its brilliance and radiance.

Researchers have more than once been inclined to note the "concessions", the outward virtuosity of this and subsequent Beethoven piano sonatas.

Indeed, there are concessions, they are felt already from the first measures, the light humor of which is a match for Joseph Haydn. There are many virtuoso figures in the sonata; some of them (for example, jumps, small scale technique, quick enumeration of broken octaves) look both to the past and to the future (reminiscent of Scarlatti, Clementi, but also Hummel, Weber).

However, listening closely, we notice that the content of Beethoven's individuality has been preserved, moreover, it is developing, moving forward.

First part sonata (Allegro vivace, A-dur) is notable for the growing richness of the thematic composition, the scale of development.

Following the sly, mischievous, “Haydnian” beginning of the main part (perhaps, it also contains some irony at the address of “Papa Haydn”), a series of clearly rhythmic and brightly pianistically colored cadences follows (with Beethoven’s favorite accents on pivot points). This fun rhythm game invites you to mindless joys. The brilliant play of the cadences is contrasted in the side part with languor - already of an almost romantic warehouse. It is anticipated in the transition to the side part, marked by sighs of eighth notes, alternating between the right and left hands. When the rhythmic background of the sixteenth tremolo in the left hand enters (m. 58, etc.), the sighs of the right hand become anxious, passionately impulsive and imploring. Chromatisms of an excitedly rising melodic line, syncopations, harmonies - up to the seventh chord, beloved by romantics, of two minor and one major thirds (later immensely exploited by Wagner in the opera "Tristan and Isolde") Everything here sounds so new, so fresh! The cadences of the main party were fractional, the development of the side party was continuous:

But, having reached the climax and breaking off the growth of romantic languor with loud exclamations and their quiet echoes, Beethoven again plunges into the stream of cheerfulness, brilliant fun of the final part. Here the resolute cadences are contrasted in exceptional relief with the chromatic yearnings of the secondary part. The nature of the whole image is also revealed. It is impossible to surrender to the pleasures of life with impunity - a thirst for depth, a passionate feeling awakens in the soul; and at the same time, suffering, dissatisfaction is born. Life again beckons with its seductions, and the will quickly copes with dreams of true happiness.

However, this is not yet the end. In development (where Lenz rightly found "symphonic development") a new element appears - heroic, fanfare. The fact that it (borrowed from the first element of the main part and transformed) is given against a trembling background of sixteenth notes from a side part is one of the manifestations of Beethoven's harmonious logic. The way of overcoming the anxieties and sorrows of personal life is outlined in the heroism of struggle, labor, feat.

The heroic principle appears in development even further, where it is developed by sequential roll calls and sounds like the orders of the will so “thoughtless”, passive at first, the second element of the main party. The lull on the dominant before the reprise is Beethoven's original use of the classical organ point, in order to create a break, a caesura of form and, at the same time, arouse a feeling of thirst for the return of the original images.

The recapitulation does not contain essentially new elements, and we will not specifically dwell on it. Let us only note the ending, deep in meaning, and exposition and reprise with a lull, pauses (Beethoven later loved such endings). The essence is in the emphasized unresolved, in, so to say, interrogative results of the development of images. Such an ending exacerbates the existing contradictions and especially firmly attracts the attention of the listener.

In second part sonatas (Largo appassionato, D-dur) have more purely Beethoven features than in the slow movement of the previous sonata.

It is impossible not to notice the density and juiciness of the texture, the moments of rhythmic activity (by the way, the rhythmic background of the eighth notes “solders” the whole), a clearly expressed melodiousness, the dominance of legato. It is no coincidence, of course, that the most melodious, middle register of the piano prevails (the last introduction of the theme - as if by woodwinds - sounds like a light contrast). Sincerity, warmth, richness of experience - these are very characteristic, predominant features of the images of Largo appassionato. And these are new features, which were not to a similar extent in the piano work of either Haydn or Mozart. Of course, A. Rubinshtein was right, who found here "a new world of creativity and sonority." Recall that A. I. Kuprin chose this Largo as the epigraph of his story "Garnet Bracelet", a symbol of Zheltkov's "great love" for Vera Nikolaevna.

The richness of emotional branches and shades of Largo is remarkable. The main theme, with its concentrated chorality (an early example of Beethoven's purely wise contemplations), serves as a pivot. And the bright sadness of the “violin” (then “cello”) intonations of affectionate speech (from t. 19) and the drama of the minor holding of the theme (from t. 58) wrap around this rod.

Romain Rolland rightly noted the special significance of the slow parts of Beethoven's sonatas. Criticizing contemporary professional formalists, Romain Rolland wrote: “Our musical era, more interested in construction than in feeling, attaches less importance to adagio or andante than to the first allegro of classical sonatas and symphonies. Things were different in Beethoven's era; and the German public at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. greedily quenched her thirst in the streams of "homesickness", Sehnsucht, tenderness, hope and melancholy that flow in Beethoven's adagios, as well as in songs of the same period (1795-1796) from "Wilhelm Meister".

Largo appassionato from the second sonata is an example of Beethoven's slow sonata movement already developed in the figurative and ideological sense. In the tendencies of such parts - to look at the world as if from the inside, from the side of moral norms - one can catch the echoes of the philosophical and religious trends of the era (indicatively, in this respect, the last, as if cleansed from the "carnal" carrying out of the Largo theme). But the fact of the matter is that Beethoven only occasionally, and then indirectly, touches the religious sphere. The real life content of the persistent thoughts of the people of his time dominates over the problems of ethics, the problems of improving the personality, which, delving into itself, finds the strength to master the passions, to subordinate them to the highest moral tasks. In Largo - and the struggle and overcoming. Lenz, who found "a whole little oratorio" here, was right in his own way.

The contrast brought by the subsequent scherzo (Allegretto, A-dur) is great. The appearance of the scherzo (instead of the minuet) testifies to innovation. Its essence is the need to revive the sonata whole with an element of joke, humor, genre. In the scherzo of the second sonata, the gallant "squats" of the first theme are transformed by a rough immediacy and straightforwardness. And in the trio - again melodiousness.

IN final sonatas (Rondo, Grazioso, A-dur) Beethoven famously chose a rondo structure with three main themes (and with a final introduction of the first theme); later he especially willingly uses this structure in his finales, as the most capacious, flexible and, you have, different from the sonata allegro.

Lenz wrote mocking words about the supposedly excessive length and banality of the music of this rondo.

On the contrary, A. Rubinstein saw in the finale of the second sonata the novelty of ideas and technique, the beauty of grace.

We think that the great drop in tension and the dominance of the elegantly superficial in the finale is not the result of a blunder or failure, but of Beethoven's conscious intention, generated by the composer's youthful enthusiasm and slyness of thought.

Having shown in the first and second parts the richness and exactingness of his emotional world, his ethical ideas, Beethoven now, as it were, hides all this under the cover of secular splendor, salon elegance. True, even in the finale, Beethoven's individuality makes itself felt - in the sharpness of rhythm, in the temperament of accents, in some fanfare intonations of minor fragments, in fresh, strong, tonal, rhythmic and textural turns of development before the last appearance of the initial theme. But sharp corners, after all, only peep through, do not catch the eye. The young lion seemed to be tamed, he forgot his wildness and independence. What a humble, polite cadence ends the rondo, and with it the whole sonata!

But let's not be deceived! Even if Beethoven was sincerely carried away by the "seductions of the world." This is fleeting, as we know from many biography facts of the great musician. Under the cover of transient hobbies remains a man of deep feelings, incorruptible will and great ethical demands. In his heart, he, apparently, is already ironic about his own weaknesses and the gullibility of secular listeners, ironically and is preparing for new creative exploits.

All musical quotations are given according to the edition: Beethoven. Sonatas for piano. M., Muzgiz, 1946 (edited by F. Lamond), in two volumes. Bar numbering is also given in this edition.

(1906-1989)

<Сонатная форма в фортепьянных сонатах Бетховена>

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1. In all 32 cycles first parts are sonata form, except five - 12., 13., 14., 22. and 28.- cycles. It must be added, however, that the 28. cycle is a special case requiring special consideration.

2. From recent parts clean sonata forms are the last movements 5., 14., 17., 22., 23., 26, 28. cycle (i.e. seven). (True, I still don't know what the last parts of the 29th and 31st cycles are.)

It follows from the foregoing that the cycles in which and first and last parts are sonata- This 5., 17., 23., 26.

N.B. A special case is last movement 1. sonatas, in which, with a real sonata exposition, the development is replaced - as in a large rondo - by a triangular second secondary theme.

3. Sonata forms in the middle parts cycles are found in: 3. (second Part), 5. (second Part), 11. (second Part), 17. (second Part), 18. [second part of Scherzo(!), 29. (third part) and 30. loop [ second part (?)], i.e. also in seven cycles.

However, the sonata forms of the middle movements [which are at the cycle level him (relatively) loose parts] differ, as a rule, in “flaws”: the second part of the 5th sonata cycle no development; in the second part 11. - the side theme is the final game; in the 18. Scherzo cycle (second movement) it also differs in ratios unusual for a sonata exposition; in the third part of the 29. cycle, the significance of the secondary theme is ceded by it to the connecting one, it also turns out to be the final game; the second part of the 30. cycle is devoid of a cadence that would separate the exposition from the development.

[As for the second part of the 3. cycle, it is necessary to speak about it separately.]

It turns out that in

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Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas are divided into four-part (13 sonatas), three-part (13 sonatas), and two-part (6 sonatas). But if I may say so, quantity parts of the sonata does not always coincide with their number. There can be three movements in a sonata, but one of them will combine the functions of two movements, so that in the end this cycle still includes four movements, of which one exists, so to speak, underwater, - on the shelf of one of the other three parts. On the contrary, it may happen that out of the four parts of the cycle, one or two of them, "absolutely" loosely constructed, cannot claim independent existence and pretend to belong to some other part of the cycle or to the cycle as a whole. So the above division into 13 + 13 + 6 does not turn out to be real from any point of view.

Let's start with four-part cycles. The first four sonatas (1. f, F, f, f; 2. A, D, A, A; 3. C, E, C, C; 4. Es, C, Es, Es) are four-part without any doubt. In them, each of the four parts is independent, although it occupies more or less in the cycle, that is, an unequal, prominent place. The same can be said about the 7. (D, d, D, D), 11. (B, Es, B, B) and even the 12. sonata (As, As, as, As), regardless of the fact that that here for the first time in a four-movement sonata (in three-movement sonatas this happened a long time ago), the relationship between the movements in the cycle complicated: in the 12th sonata there is no sonata form! In the next 13. sonata (Es, c, As, Es), where there is also no sonata form (except for the ghostly sonata features that occur in the third, most loose part of this cycle), the complex relationships of the parts are programmed by the fact that these parts belong to the sonata Quasi una fantasia. 15. sonata (D, d, D, D) is again characterized by the usual balance of a four-movement sonata, in which only an analysis of its infrastructure reveals phenomena that are rather unusual in their significance. Literally the same can be said about Sonata 18 (Es, As, Es, Es). 28. sonata (A, F, a, A), although its last movement is a sonata form, is close in its essence to 13. sonata. 29. the sonata (B, B, fis, B) can certainly be ranked among the “basic” four-part Beethoven sonatas (- this is where its paradox lies). 31. sonata (As, f, as[!], As) occupies an intermediate position between “ordinary” (“normal”) sonatas and sonatas like 13. or 28. As can be seen, the vast majority of four-movement sonatas pose creative (structural) problems, the solution of which was carried out without encroaching on the foundations characteristic of the four-movement sonata. Beethoven's three-movement piano sonata is an a priori attack on the usual appearance of four-movement.

But before turning to the three-movement cycles, let's go through once more before the formation of the four-movement sonatas. What are the internal relations of the four-partness in them?

1. sonata not quite indicative of a normal four-part structure. It consists of a sonata form, a small rondo, a scherzo-like movement, and a hybrid of sonata form and a large rondo. But this is not the usual type of hybrid in which the second sub-theme is replaced by a development and which can be called a rondo sonata. The hybrid, which is the fourth part of the 1st sonata, would be more correctly called not a rondo-sonata, but a sonata-rondo. Here - sonata form, in which the development is replaced by a second secondary theme.

2. sonata- normal type of four-part sonata. Its first three parts are the same as in the 1st sonata. The fourth part of it is a large rondo. 2. the sonata is indeed a normal type, standard four-part sonata, but it is perhaps (our review will show whether this is true or not), the only normal- in this sense - Beethoven's four-movement sonata.

3. sonata the form of its parts coincides with the 2. sonata, but with the exception of the second part, which is a sonata. Thus the four movements of this sonata: sonata, sonata, scherzo, large rondo.

4. sonata completely coincides in the form of its parts with the 2nd sonata. The internal structure of its movements (especially the second and third, but also the first) is very different from what happens in the same forms in the 2nd sonata.

7. sonata, as well as 4., completely coincides in the form of its parts with 2. sonata, again with very large differences in the internal structure of the parts.

11. sonata coincides in this respect with 3. sonata. Its movements are a sonata, a sonata, a scherzo movement and a grand rondo, and it goes without saying that the internal structure is highly autonomous compared to what happens in the 3rd sonata.

12. sonata devoid of sonata form. Its first movement is a theme and variations, followed by two schertz-like movements and a grand rondo.

13. sonata also devoid of sonata form. It consists of two more or less loose schertz movements, a very loose slow movement that has some sonata features, and a large rondo.

15. sonata It consists of sonata form, two schertz movements and a grand rondo.

18. sonata. The first and last parts are sonatas, the third part is schertz-like. The second movement of "Scherzo" is essentially also a sonata form. To what extent is this piling up of sonatas in one cycle related to the fact that the first movement begins with the second step?

< I половина 70 гг. >

Ministry of Higher and Vocational Education and Science of the Russian Federation

GAOU VPO "Moscow State Regional

Social and Humanitarian Institute"

department of music

Course work

in harmony

Ludwig van Beethoven. Early sonatas

Completed by: Bakhaeva Victoria

Muz 41 student

Faculty of Philology

Checked by: Shcherbakova E.V.,

Doctor of Cultural Studies

Kolomna 2012

Introduction

Chapter 1. The evolution of the sonata genre in Beethoven's work

1.1 The meaning and place of the piano sonata genre in the work of J. Haydn and V.A. Mozart

1.2 The meaning and place of the piano sonata genre in the works of the Viennese classics

1.3 Piano sonata - "laboratory" of Beethoven's creativity

Chapter 2. Beethoven's early sonata work: characteristics, features

2.1 Features of early sonata work

2.2 Analysis of sonatas No. 8 c-moll ("Pathetic"), No. 14 cis moll ("Moonlight")

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) - the great German composer and pianist, one of the founders of the Viennese school of classical music. His works are full of heroism and tragedy, they do not have a trace of the gallant sophistication of the music of Mozart and Haydn. Beethoven is a key figure in Western classical music between classicism and romanticism, and one of the most respected and performed composers in the world.

Beethoven is usually spoken of as a composer who, on the one hand, completes the classicist era in music, and on the other hand, paves the way for the "romantic age". In broad historical terms, such a formulation does not raise objections. However, it does little to understand the essence of Beethoven's style itself. For, touching on some sides at certain stages of evolution with the work of the classicists of the 18th century and the romantics of the next generation, Beethoven's music actually does not coincide in some important, decisive features with the requirements of either style. Moreover, it is generally difficult to characterize it with the help of stylistic concepts that have developed on the basis of studying the work of other artists. Beethoven is inimitably individual. At the same time, it is so many-sided and multifaceted that no familiar stylistic categories cover all the diversity of its appearance.

He wrote in all the genres that existed in his time, including opera, ballet, music for dramatic performances, choral compositions. But instrumental works are considered the most significant in his legacy: piano, violin and cello sonatas, concertos<#"601098.files/image001.gif">

They are answered by a gentle, melodious melody with a touch of supplication, which sounds against the background of calm chords:

It seems that these are two different, sharply contrasting themes. But if we compare their melodic structure, it turns out that they are very close to each other, almost the same. Like a compressed spring, the introduction harbored a huge force that demanded an exit, a discharge.

A fast-paced sonata allegro begins. The main party resembles violently rising waves. Against the background of the restless movement of the bass, the melody of the upper voice anxiously runs up and down:

The connecting part gradually calms the excitement of the main theme and leads to a melodic and melodious side part:

However, the wide "run-up" of the side theme (almost three octaves), the "pulsating" accompaniment give it a tense character. Contrary to the rules established in the sonatas of the Viennese classics, the side part of the "Pathétique Sonata" sounds not in parallel major (E-flat major), but in the minor mode of the same name (E-flat minor).

The energy is growing. She breaks through with renewed vigor in the final part (E-flat major). Short figurations of broken arpeggios, like biting beats, run across the entire piano keyboard in a divergent movement. The lower and upper voices reach the extreme registers. The gradual increase in sonority from pianissimo to forte leads to a powerful climax, to the highest point in the musical development of the exposition.

The second closing theme that follows it is only a short respite before a new "explosion". At the end of the conclusion, the impetuous theme of the main party unexpectedly sounds. The exposition ends on an unstable chord. At the boundary between exposition and development, the gloomy theme of the introduction reappears. But here her formidable questions remain unanswered: the lyrical theme does not return. On the other hand, its significance increases greatly in the middle section of the first part of the sonata - development.

Development is small and very stressful. "Struggle" flares up between two sharply contrasting themes: the impetuous main part and the lyrical opening theme. At a fast pace, the opening theme sounds even more restless, pleading. This duel between "strong" and "weak" results in a hurricane of impetuous and stormy passages, which gradually subside, going deeper and deeper into the lower register.

The reprise repeats the themes of the exposition in the same order in the main key - C minor.

The changes concern the connecting party. It is significantly reduced, since the tone of all topics is the same. But the main party has expanded, which emphasizes its leading role.

Just before the end of the first part, the first theme of the introduction appears again. The first part is completed by the main theme, sounding at an even faster pace. Will, energy, courage won.

The second movement, Adagio cantabile (slow, melodious) in A flat major, is a deep reflection on something serious and significant, perhaps a memory of what has just been experienced or thoughts about the future.

Against the background of measured accompaniment, a noble and majestic melody sounds. If in the first part pathos was expressed in the elation and brightness of music, then here it manifested itself in the depth, sublimity and high wisdom of human thought.

The second part is amazing in its colors, reminiscent of the sound of orchestral instruments. At first, the main melody appears in the middle register, and this gives it a thick cello coloring:

The second time the same melody is stated in the upper register. Now its sound resembles the voices of violins.

In the middle section of the Adagio cantabile, a new theme appears:

The call of two voices is clearly distinguishable. A melodious, gentle melody in one voice is answered by a jerky, "dissatisfied" voice in the bass. The minor mode (of the same name in A-flat minor), the restless triplet accompaniment give the theme an unsettling character. A dispute between two voices leads to a conflict, the music becomes even more poignant and emotional. Sharp, emphasized exclamations (sforzando) appear in the melody. The sonority intensifies, which becomes denser, as if the whole orchestra is entering.

With the return of the main theme comes the reprise. But the nature of the theme has changed significantly. Instead of leisurely accompaniment by sixteenth notes, restless figurations of triplets are heard. They moved here from the middle part as a reminder of the anxiety experienced. Therefore, the first theme no longer sounds so calm. And only at the end of the second part do gentle and friendly "farewell" turns appear.

The third movement is the finale, Allegro. The impetuous, agitated music of the finale has much in common with the first part of the sonata.

The main key in C minor also returns. But there is not that courageous, strong-willed pressure that so distinguished the first part. There is no sharp contrast between the themes in the finale - the source of the "struggle", and with it the tension of development.

The finale is written in the form of a rondo sonata. The main theme (refrain) is repeated four times here.

It is she who determines the nature of the whole part:

This lyrically agitated theme is close both in character and in its melodic pattern to the side part of the first movement. She is also elevated, pathetic, but her pathos has a more restrained character. The melody of the refrain is very expressive.

It is quickly remembered, it can be easily sung.

The refrain alternates with two other themes. The first of them (side part) is very mobile, it is set out in E-flat major.

The second is given in polyphonic presentation. This is the episode replacing development:

The finale, and with it the entire sonata, ends with a coda. Energetic, strong-willed music sounds, akin to the moods of the first part. But the stormy impetuosity of the themes of the first part of the sonata gives way here to decisive melodic turns, expressing courage and inflexibility:

What new things did Beethoven bring to the "Pathétique Sonata" in comparison with the sonatas of Haydn and Mozart? First of all, the nature of music has changed, reflecting the deeper, more significant thoughts and experiences of a person (Mozart's sonata in C minor (with fantasy) can be considered as the immediate predecessor of Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata). Hence - a comparison of sharply contrasting themes, especially in the first part. The contrasting juxtaposition of the themes, and then their "collision", "struggle" gave the music a dramatic character. The great intensity of the music also caused a great power of sound, the scope and complexity of the technique. In some moments of the sonata, the piano acquires, as it were, an orchestral sound. The "Pathetic Sonata" has a much larger volume than the sonatas of Haydn and Mozart, it lasts longer in time.

"Moonlight Sonata" (#14)

The most inspired, poetic and original works of Bekhoven belong to the "Moonlight Sonata" (op. 27, 1801) *.

* This title, which is essentially very little suited to the tragic mood of the sonata, does not belong to Beethoven. So it was called by the poet Ludwig Relshtab, who compared the music of the first part of the sonata with the landscape of Lake Firwaldstet on a moonlit night.

In a sense, the Moonlight Sonata is the antipode of the Pathetique. There is no theatricality and operatic pathos in it, its sphere is deep spiritual movements.

During the creation of "Lunar" Beethoven generally worked on updating the traditional sonata cycle. Thus, in the Twelfth Sonata, the first movement is written not in sonata form, but in the form of variations; The thirteenth sonata is of improvisational free origin, without a single sonata allegro; in the Eighteenth there is no traditional "lyrical serenade", it is replaced by a minuet; in Twenty-first, the second part turned into an extended introduction to the finale, and so on.

In line with these quests is the cycle "Lunar"; its form differs significantly from the traditional one. And, however, the features of improvisation inherent in this music are combined with the usual logical harmony for Beethoven. Moreover, the sonata cycle "Lunar" is marked by a rare unity. The three parts of the sonata form an inseparable whole, in which the role of the dramatic center is played by the finale.

The main departure from the traditional scheme is the first part - Adagio, which neither in general expressive appearance nor in form is in contact with the classicist sonata.

In a sense, Adagio can be perceived as a prototype of the future romantic nocturne. It is imbued with a deep lyrical mood, it is colored with gloomy tones. Some common stylistic features bring it closer to the romantic chamber-piano art. Of great and, moreover, independent importance is the same type of texture sustained from beginning to end. Also important is the method of opposing two plans - the harmonic "pedal" background and the expressive melody of the cantilena warehouse. The muffled sound that prevails in Adagio is characteristic.

Schubert's "Impromptu", nocturnes and preludes by Chopin and Field, "Songs Without Words" by Mendelssohn and many other pieces of romantics go back to this amazing "miniature" from the classicist sonata.

And at the same time, this music is at the same time different from the dreamy romantic nocturne. It is too deeply imbued with chorality, an elevated prayerful mood, depth and restraint of feelings that are not associated with subjectivity, with a changeable state of mind, inseparable from romantic lyrics.

The second part - a transformed graceful "minuet" - serves as a light interlude between the two acts of the drama. And at the end, a storm breaks out. The tragic mood, contained in the first part, breaks here in an unrestrained stream. But again, purely in Beethoven's way, the impression of unbridled, unfettered emotional excitement is achieved through strict classicist methods of shaping *.

* The form of the finale is a sonata allegro with contrasting themes.

The main constructive element of the finale is a laconic, invariably repeating motif, intonationally associated with the chordal texture of the first movement:

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The finale anticipates the Fifth Symphony in its formative principles: an expressive mournful motif, based on the principle of dance rhythmic ostinato, permeates the development of the entire movement, playing the role of its main architectonic cell. In the Sixteenth Sonata (1802), the etude-piaist techniques become a means of creating a scherzo-humorous image. Unusual here are the terts tonal

ratios in the exposition (C-dur - H-dur), anticipating the development of the "Pastoral Symphony".

The eighteenth (1804), large-scale and somewhat free in cyclic structure (the second part here is a marching scherzo, the third is a lyrical minuet), combines the features of the classicist distinctness of thematism and rhythmic movement with the dreaminess and emotional freedom inherent in romantic art.

Dance or humorous motifs sound in the Sixth, Twenty-second and other sonatas. In a number of compositions, Beethoven emphasizes new virtuoso pianistic tasks (except for the mentioned Lunar, Aurora and Sixteenth, also in the Third, Eleventh and others). He always connects the technique with the new expressiveness he develops in piano literature. And although it was in Beethoven's sonatas that the transition from harpsichord playing to modern pianistic art took place, the development of pianism in the 19th century did not generally coincide with the specific virtuosity developed by Beethoven.

Conclusion

As a result of the study, the following conclusions were drawn.

The piano sonata genre has come a long way in the work of the Viennese classics J. Haydn and V.A. Mozart. Haydn's sonatas were the most important of the clavier compositions. He, in this genre, is looking for the image of an ideal sonata. It is this that can explain the fact that his sonatas are two, three, four and even five-part. For Haydn, expressiveness, development and transformation of the material is very important.

Mozart, in turn, does not avoid difficulties either. His sonatas are very pianistic and easy to play. The style of his sonatas evolves through the complication of thematics and development.

L. Beethoven completes the stage of development of the classical sonata. The sonata genre in his work becomes the leading one. Beethoven discovers a new romantic art, which is dominated not by external dramas, but by the inner experiences of the hero. Beethoven is not afraid of sharp and strong accents, the straightforwardness of the melodic pattern. Such a revolution in Beethoven's work is the transition from the old style to the new.

All the events of Beethoven's life were reflected in the sonata work of the early period.

The early sonatas are 20 sonatas written by Beethoven between 1795 and 1802. These sonatas reflected all the main features of the composer's creative style of the early period.

In the process of the formation of the early sonatas, the composer's style and musical language evolved. In the process of analyzing some of the piano sonatas of the early period, we have identified the following features: in his music, not only the exquisite ornamentation, inseparable from the style of expression of the 18th century, has disappeared. The balance and symmetry of the musical language, the smoothness of rhythm, the chamber transparency of sound - these stylistic features, characteristic of all of Beethoven's Viennese predecessors without exception, were also gradually ousted from his musical speech. The sound of his music became saturated, dense, dramatically contrasting; his themes acquired hitherto unprecedented conciseness, severe simplicity.

Thus, the early sonata work played a significant role in the formation of Beethoven's style and influenced all his further works.

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Livanova T. History of Western European Music until 1789. - M.: Music, 1982

Musical encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet encyclopedia, Soviet composer. Ed. Yu.V. Keldysh.

Pavchinsky S. Some innovative features of Beethoven's style. M., 1967.

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