crescendo in the last cello sonata
I attended a lecture of sorts that was a part of the Music@Menlo Beethoven festival and David Finckel of Emerson told a story of getting access to the actual manuscript of the last cello sonata (Op. 102?) and realizing that there was no crescendo marking in the finale of the first movement, though they had been playing it with the crescendo all along.
He and pianist Wu Han then proceeded to play the passage both ways. I have to say that without the crescendo, the ending is far more striking and forceful since it just comes out of nowhere. I'm kind of confused though - is the crescendo marking in most modern scores? And if so, why is that?
He also talked about how affecting it was to see how Beethoven's emotional state was reflected in the handwriting -- the ending of the first movement was all thick, straight lines written quickly, but the beginning of the somber adagio on the same page is all thin, quivering lines. Just wanted to share that, even though it's probably common knowledge around here.
They then played the second and third movements in their entirety, after a first go where the speaker/lecturer (Ara Guzelimian) broke down the changes and main themes in the music briefly. I wish there were more live events like this available to the general public. People who study music seriously are probably used to this sort of thing, but people like me have no access to live performance with commentary. They send you CDs of "audio notes" for the concerts you buy tickets for in advance in which a commentator speaks about the pieces and plays some short bits of each, but it's quite a bit more dull than seeing that sort of thing live.
There are free pre-performance performances of quintets and sonatas and quartets almost everyday for almost two whole weeks! The organization of this event is pretty amazing. I dream of this sort of event happening more often. Or maybe I'm just ill informed about classical festivals??
Later in the festival Emerson is going to play Op. 132 and Op. 130 with the Grosse Fugue finale. Guzelimian hinted that they might encore with the alternate ending, so I can't wait!
He and pianist Wu Han then proceeded to play the passage both ways. I have to say that without the crescendo, the ending is far more striking and forceful since it just comes out of nowhere. I'm kind of confused though - is the crescendo marking in most modern scores? And if so, why is that?
He also talked about how affecting it was to see how Beethoven's emotional state was reflected in the handwriting -- the ending of the first movement was all thick, straight lines written quickly, but the beginning of the somber adagio on the same page is all thin, quivering lines. Just wanted to share that, even though it's probably common knowledge around here.
They then played the second and third movements in their entirety, after a first go where the speaker/lecturer (Ara Guzelimian) broke down the changes and main themes in the music briefly. I wish there were more live events like this available to the general public. People who study music seriously are probably used to this sort of thing, but people like me have no access to live performance with commentary. They send you CDs of "audio notes" for the concerts you buy tickets for in advance in which a commentator speaks about the pieces and plays some short bits of each, but it's quite a bit more dull than seeing that sort of thing live.
There are free pre-performance performances of quintets and sonatas and quartets almost everyday for almost two whole weeks! The organization of this event is pretty amazing. I dream of this sort of event happening more often. Or maybe I'm just ill informed about classical festivals??
Later in the festival Emerson is going to play Op. 132 and Op. 130 with the Grosse Fugue finale. Guzelimian hinted that they might encore with the alternate ending, so I can't wait!
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