Authentic page - 3 sonatas Op.10

[Peter]

Now available to members at
www.kingsbarn.freeserve.co.uk/authentic.html

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'Man know thyself'

[Amalie]

I very much enjoyed listening to this beautiful piece,
especially Ludwig's intensity of expression in the last movement, Largo e mesto, so brooding reflective, I can feel the deep emotion in his voice.

Beethoven stated that the D minor slow movement, Largo e mesto, of the Paino Sonata D major, was a reflection of "the state of a melancholy person's soul"


Could the cause of this melancholy expressed here be the realization of losing his hearing, even though, understandably the young Ludwig would not be prepared to admit it even to himself, the thought must have continually haunted him.





[This message has been edited by Amalie (edited August 01, 2003).]

[Rod]

Originally posted by Amalie:
I very much enjoyed listening to this beautiful piece,
especially Ludwig's intensity of expression in the last movement, Largo e mesto, so brooding reflective, I can feel the deep emotion in his voice.

Yet how many times have I read that the fortepiano is incapable of conveying these emotions!? But consider the two prestos presented at the page (which admittedly could have been played even more presto than presented here), does the music not sound much fresher and do not the more boisterous passages sound more transparent and natural on this instrument compared to the modern piano?

Originally posted by Amalie:

Beethoven stated that the D minor slow movement, Largo e mesto, of the Paino Sonata D major, was a reflection of "the state of a melancholy person's soul"


Could the cause of this melancholy expressed here be the realization of losing his hearing, even though, understandably the young Ludwig would not be prepared to admit it even to himself, the thought must have continually haunted him.

Well, I suspect Beethoven had the capacity for this kind of expression before his hearing became an issue. I don't find the idea that all this good stuff was largely the result of circumstance rather than Beethoven's natural compositional process all that appealing. Consider also that a significant part of the music in Op10 is upbeat rather than melancholic.


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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[This message has been edited by Rod (edited August 01, 2003).]

[Joy]

I agree, this was most enjoyable and the fortepiano was remarkable. You can hear the contrasting and emotional character of each piece. Beethoven himself highly regarded his Opus 10 and made this remark as late as 1823,
of the largo e mesto of the D major sonata that "the movement expressed the state of a melancholy man, with all the various nuances of light and shade that make up the picture of melancholy." Couldn't have said it better myself.

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'Truth and beauty joined'

[Andrea]

Lovely and sad; I love how Beethoven can capture so many emotions and turn them into some wonderful music.

Here's a little bit I found on these 3 Sonatas, Op. 10 from Marek's "Beethoven, Biography of a Genius":

When Beethoven was not quite twenty-eight, he finished three Piano Sonatas, Op. 10. For the third of these, No. 7 in D, he wrote a slow movement marked Largo e mesto (Slow and sad). What a revelation it is! How full of wonder! Here one enters another world, an undiscovered country. Here, indeed, is "unbounded fancy" bred in a new style. Beethoven muses, ponders, dreams, meditates- and what he meditates on must be "the troubled heart of man", as Vladimir Horowitz, who played the sonata beautifully, has said. Beethoven takes his time: the movement is the slowest of all his slow movements, save the Lento of the last quartet. There seems to be no "form"; it just goes on and on- and we have the illusion that we have come to understand what there is in us that is more than mortal. The intensity of its feeling is almost too much to bear. Yet it is never despairing; one thinks of Hamlet, "The readiness is all."

[Chaszz]

Bravo! This slow movement is out of this world. And it shows that Beethoven's writng of quite melancholy slow movements was not a result of his deafness, which I think (I may be wrong) would not show early signs until two years in the future.

I also like the fortepiano very much in the two allegros, and do feel I would rather hear them this way than on the modern piano.

(Nontheless, this has not cured me of liking other composers...)


[This message has been edited by Chaszz (edited August 03, 2003).]

[Gurn Blanston]

Rod,
Thanks so much for posting these. As you know I have been trying to acquire this set for several months, and now I see what I have been missing.
Regards,
Gurn

[Rod]

Originally posted by Gurn Blanston:
Rod,
Thanks so much for posting these. As you know I have been trying to acquire this set for several months, and now I see what I have been missing.
Regards,
Gurn

Well stick around because I've got plenty more where this came from, but not just from Badura-Skoda. By the time I've finished you'll be wondering why anyone bothered to play Beethoven on a Steinway in the first place - a question I've been asking myself for over 15 years and which was the sole reason for my becomming involved with Beethoven forums on the net back in '98.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[This message has been edited by Rod (edited August 04, 2003).]

[urtextmeister]

Rod,
Why play Beethoven on a Steinway? Because the Steinway piano is a great musical instrument. In many ways it represents great improvements over older fortepianos. Just as the modern flute is a vast improvement over it's predecessor.
In certain practical ways, one could make the case for playing Beethoven on a modern Steinway. For instance, in the finale to the c minor sonata you posted there are instances of two whole notes tied across the barline. On Badura-Skoda's instrument, the sound lasts about 1/3 of the intended length. On a modern instrument, you hear the full duration.
Then of course there is the sheer beauty of sound of a great Steinway. A forte piano tone may be more authentic but in terms of color, richness of overtone, ringing sound it is not as satisfying.
I think Beethoven would have been delighted with a Steinway product.
Would he have written the same had he had access to it? Interesting...
Having said all of that. I did enjoy the Badura-Skoda performances (not the cleanest performances I have ever heard. Is that the instrument or performer?..). Very interesting use of soft pedal. Anybody know when this device became common? I don't think Mozart used it much. Badura-Skoda's book on Mozart would probably be helpful. Wish I had a copy.
Anyway, thanks for the contributions as usual.