Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 16, 17 & 18

Hybrid/SACD - playable on all compact disc players
DSD recorded

The Sonatas Op. 31, which were composed during the years 1801/02, occupy a special place in Beethoven's sonata oeuvre, as they mark a new beginning for the composer, which he described to his pupil Carl Czerny as follows: "I am not content with the work I have written so far. From now onwards, I want to tread a different path." Op. 31 is a direct first result of this "different path" (even though the Sonatas Op. 26, 27 and 28 already clearly deviated in form, especially from the basic cyclical sonata model). Literature justly points out that - in Beethoven's oeuvre - the Classical sonata model at the beginning of this phase had, in fact, come to an end. And, to the same degree, just as the all-embracing scheme from now onwards became increasingly individual, so the individual types of movement were also caught in the wake of the changes. For example, the first movement based on the sonata form, which so far had been considered a valid basis for a first movement, was broken up structurally without, however, rigorously doing away with the traditional foil. And to that can be added - for the first time in Op. 31, No. 2 - the breakthrough of a truly extra-musical category in the content matter. The reference to Shakespeare's Tempest - as expressed by Beethoven to Anton Schindler - represents a blossoming of thought behind the composition, which is also accompanied by the search for new solutions for the form.

According to Alfred Brendel, the first movement of the Sonata in G, Op. 31, No. 1 presents "a mixture of compulsive determination and absent-mindedness". Perhaps he was referring to, for example, the rhythmic complications at the beginning, which allow equally for either a serious or a humorous interpretation. The right hand continually anticipates the left hand in a fractional syncopation - thus making a rhythmic setting almost impossible. During the rest of the movement, Beethoven continually surprises the listener: instead of the second theme, the first theme once again returns in the tonic; the second theme is then presented in the "forbidden" mediant of B major. During the development, the first theme dominates; in the recapitulation, the second theme; after which the movement resolves itself successively in the Coda in its different segments. The slow movement makes an artificial - although highly subtle - impression due to its serenade-like elegance (or is this more like an aria?) with numerous ornaments. As far as form is concerned, Beethoven mixes elements here from both the rondo and the sonata movement. The Finale is a Rondo with sonata-movement elements, virtuoso, dance-like. The ensuing Coda is striking, and presents perhaps one of the most unusual ends in Beethoven's works: the Rondo theme is followed by a pause in the Adagio, which transforms itself into a stormy Presto, until the movement resolves into thin air following pauses and muted chords.