Beethoven: Sonata No.13 in E-flat major, Op.27 No.1 – Boris Giltburg | Beethoven 32 project

Whatever depths of evocative storytelling we encountered in Sonata No. 12, they come to a glorious culmination in the sister-sonatas Op. 27, Nos. 1 and 2. They create two worlds, as opposing as they are complementary, similarly rich in atmosphere, and possessing a similar power to transport us elsewhere immediately upon hearing their opening bars.

Beethoven’s critics had previously reproached him for writing sonata forms too close to fantasies, too irregular, too free. With Op. 27, it is as if Beethoven decided to show what he could achieve when explicitly attempting to meld a sonata and a fantasy. Both works in that opus are subtitled ‘Sonata quasi una fantasia’ – sonata in the spirit (or manner) of a fantasy. A fantasy was a free-form musical composition, commonly consisting of several loosely linked sections with abrupt shifts of tempo, mood and key. Interestingly, it is the less famous, unnicknamed Sonata No. 13 which adheres more closely to this ideal. Its four movements, performed without a break, show the ease of transition we might expect from an improvisation, or free
associative thinking – or a dream.

Dreaminess suffuses the opening of Op. 27, No. 1, with its wonderful simplicity, innocence and utter lack of desire to move anywhere, harmonically speaking (this, in contrast to the most basic tenet of a sonata form – its inherent need to change key, change subject, modulate, explore). Change, when it comes, is as sudden as a wake-up call: a brilliantly happy C major section, exuberant and effervescent. As quickly as it came, it is gone, and the soft opening theme returns for one final round.

The music segues into the second movement, a scherzo in function. If one reads it without playing, the material seems almost primitive: series of broken triads, played with both hands in unison. But in performance, it’s as magically atmospheric as the opening movement: subdued and shadowy, with the hands gliding over the keyboard at speed, each triad a touch of colour and emotion, all masterfully painted with delicate, suggestive brushstrokes.

The middle section wouldn’t be out of place in Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze, juxtaposing two syncopated gallops, the first fiery in spirit and a bit steely in sound, the second light-footed and questioning. Upon the scherzo’s return, a simple device shifts the music into super-virtuosic mode: Beethoven offsets the right hand by half a beat, effectively doubling the number of notes in what is already a fast tempo. The music grows towards the end, whipping itself into a technical and emotional frenzy and culminating in a dazzling cascade down a C major triad. A complete, gripping narrative in under two minutes!

With the same dream-like immediacy of transition, we find ourselves in the relatively distant key of A flat major (linked to C major by the single common note, C). The slow movement is a moment of Apollonian beauty, expressed in pure and full-bodied sound over resonant repeating octaves in the bass. It explores the upper reaches of the keyboard too, in a weightless and pointedly beautiful crystalline middle section. A return to the opening theme, accompanied this time by a flowing middle voice, leads into a short cadenza; the music halts for a brief moment …

… and then the finale hits, and it is a bit of a shock at first – so utterly down-to-earth it is, with both feet on the ground and all ten fingers solidly on the keyboard. Beethoven finally gives us a movement in full sonata form, as clear in its musical language as if it were illuminated by bright sunlight, realistic, full of good-natured humour, and propelling itself forward on the endless self-generated energy of its happily industrious semiquavers. In short, it’s the antithesis of everything Beethoven created in the sonata so far.

When I began studying this sonata, I at first resented Beethoven for rupturing the dream in such a way – but the finale’s energy is far too infectious to remain resentful for long! And Beethoven does have one final trick up his sleeve: after a cliff-hanger near the end of the movement, the slow movement returns – a structural device unprecedented in Beethoven’s large-scale works – granting us a valedictory dose of poetic beauty, before the music plunges into a presto coda, ending the sonata with finger-breaking fireworks.

The richness and variety of the worlds Beethoven creates and effortlessly joins together in this sonata is astounding, more so if we consider it is less than 15 minutes long. For me it is the true hidden gem of the
sonata cycle.

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Beethoven 32 – Over the year 2020, I will be learning and filming all 32 Beethoven sonatas. Subscribe to this channel to follow the project, and visit https://beethoven32.com for blog posts and listening guides to each sonata.

Boris Giltburg, piano

Filmed by Stewart French
© 2020 Fly On The Wall, London (http://fotw.london)

Filmed at the Fazioli Concert Hall, Sacile, Italy
@Fazioli Pianoforti

Видео Beethoven: Sonata No.13 in E-flat major, Op.27 No.1 – Boris Giltburg | Beethoven 32 project канала Boris Giltburg