Piano Sonata No. 3 -- a flummoxing cadenza?

[euphony131]

Indeed I have. The Pathetique is one of my favorites.

Speaking of Sonata No. 8, I just revisited it and, yes, it is amazing. But in terms of milestones I'd argue No. 7 is the bigger one. That Largo! It's like from another world. Of course, the slow mvt in No. 8 is expressive and pretty...but the one for No. 7 is like a meditative tragedy. It turns trauma into something almost ethereal. And doesn't it have the longest coda LvB ever wrote?

I don't think LvB returns to such a spiritually vast landscape until the Adagio Sostenuto in No. 29 or the Arietta in No. 32. Of course, I'm no musicologist! Just speaking as a fanboy!

[Sorrano]

Speaking of Sonata No. 8, I just revisited it and, yes, it is amazing. But in terms of milestones I'd argue No. 7 is the bigger one. That Largo! It's like from another world. Of course, the slow mvt in No. 8 is expressive and pretty...but the one for No. 7 is like a meditative tragedy. It turns trauma into something almost ethereal. And doesn't it have the longest coda LvB ever wrote?

I don't think LvB returns to such a spiritually vast landscape until the Adagio Sostenuto in No. 29 or the Arietta in No. 32. Of course, I'm no musicologist! Just speaking as a fanboy!

That largo from the number 7 is my personal favorite from the piano works.

[Peter]

Speaking of Sonata No. 8, I just revisited it and, yes, it is amazing. But in terms of milestones I'd argue No. 7 is the bigger one. That Largo! It's like from another world. Of course, the slow mvt in No. 8 is expressive and pretty...but the one for No. 7 is like a meditative tragedy. It turns trauma into something almost ethereal. And doesn't it have the longest coda LvB ever wrote?

I don't think LvB returns to such a spiritually vast landscape until the Adagio Sostenuto in No. 29 or the Arietta in No. 32. Of course, I'm no musicologist! Just speaking as a fanboy!

Agree - this is the profoundest movement amongst the earlier sonatas and prior to the slow movement of the string quartet Op.18/1. I think the sonata as a whole is on a higher level than the more familiar and popular Pathetique.

[euphony131]

Agree - this is the profoundest movement amongst the earlier sonatas and prior to the slow movement of the string quartet Op.18/1. I think the sonata as a whole is on a higher level than the more familiar and popular Pathetique.

While on the subject of No. 7...I'm fascinated by the pause LvB puts in the early part of the 3rd theme (or is that the 2nd? Preceded by a Transition?) in Mvt I. Halts the charm for a moment and creates a kind of trippy effect. Wondered what other people thought about it.

Here's the legendary Richter playing live. You can hear it at 1:12 -- 1:14. Though one should listen a few seconds before to hear the effect the pause has.