Text в beethoven’s sonatas

Sonata is the most important form of instrumental music from the Baroque period to the present. It usually consists of four independent pieces called movements, each of which follows certain conventions of character and structure. Тwo different types of sonata must be distinguished: the Classical Sonata which became fully established about 1760 (Haydn, Mozart and their predecessors) and the Baroque Sonata, from about 1660 to 1760 (Vivaldi, Bach, Handel).

The piano sonatas by Haydn and Mozart have only three movements. Their string quartets and symphonies, however, show the full form. This form was adopted by Beethoven.

“Moonlight Sonata” is a nickname of Beethoven's Pianoforte Sonata in C-sharp minor, op. 27, no. 2, composed in 1801. The name probably derives from a description by L. Pellstab in which the first movement is likened to a boat floating in the moonlight on Lake Lucerne. Beethoven called this work as well as its companion, op. 27, no.1, “Sonata in the Manner of a Fantasy”, thus indicating that the order and forms of the movements are not those usually encountered in a sonata.

“Kreutzer Sonata” is a nickname for Beethoven's Violin Sonata, op. 47 (1803). It was dedicated to the French violin composer and virtuoso Rodolphe Kreutzer, but originally composed for the English violinist George Bridgetower, whom Beethoven accompanied at the first performance in 1803. Its first movement is notable for its forceful expression of intense emotions. In Tolstoy's story “The Kreutzer Sonata”, the composition is made a symbol of destruction of morals caused by violently emotional music.

“Waldstein Sonata” is Beethoven's Piano Sonata in C, op. 53 (1804). It was dedicated to Count Ferdinand Waldstein. It consists of three movements, the second being a relatively short Adagio in a somewhat improvisatory style, serving as an introduction to the Finale, an extended movement in rondo form.

“Appassionata” is a nickname for Beethoven's Piano Sonata in F minor, op. 37 (1806), adopted from an early publication (by Granz) where it was called Sonata appassionata. This famous work may be said to form the “dark” companion piece to the “Waldstein Sonata” composed two years earlier. Strikingly contrasted in character, the sonatas are similar in structure: each consists of three movements, the first and the last very extended, the second forming a lyrical interlude leading directly into the final movement. In both sonatas, as well as in the Emperor Concerto dating from the same period (1809), these transitions are among the most admirable tokens of Beethoven's genius. Forms of the movements of op. 57: sonata form – variation – sonata form.

In his later works Beethoven generally preferred German instead of Italian terms (also in expression marks). The name “Hammerklavier Sonata” is associated with his sonata in B-flat, op. 106, composed in 1818, which is by far the most extended and most complex of all the Beethoven's sonatas.

Proper Names

Franz Joseph Haydn ['frxnts 'dZouzif 'haIdn]

Antonio Vivaldi [xn'touniou vI'vxldi]

George Frederick Handel ['dZLdZ 'fredrIk 'hxndl]

Ludwig Pellstab ['ludvIg 'pelstAb]

Lucerne [lH'sWn]

Rodolphe Kreutzer ['roudOlf 'kroItsqr]

George Bridgetower ['dZLdZ 'bridZtauq]

Ferdinand Waldstein ['fWdinqnd 'vxldstaIn]

Appassionata [q,pxsjq'na:tq]