LESSON NOTES AND RESOURCES: EXPLORING BEETHOVEN'S PIANO SONATAS

Lectures 1-8
Key points from the lectures, by Jonathan Biss
© 2015 Jonathan Biss

Note about terms: To find definitions of musical terms, visit a resource such as On Music Dictionary (http://dictionary.onmusic.org).
For more detailed definitions, visit your local library to check Oxford Music Online (http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com) or Grove's
Dictionary of Music and Musicians. To listen to the complete sonatas, go to http://www.IMSLP.org.
Note: Whenever a composer is not mentioned, the work is by Beethoven . –Curtis Teaching Staff

LECTURE 1: HOW THINGS WERE SONATA INFORMATION

Music in the Time of Bach
A huge part of the way we respond to music has to do
with the way it fulfills or confounds our expectations.
And these expectations are based on many things: the
culture we come from, the culture the music itself
comes from, and the psychological effect that musical
structure—harmony, in particular—has on us.

Beethoven really has only three predecessors who are

connected to him in any meaningful way: Johann
Sebastian Bach, Franz Josef Haydn, and Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart.

Music in the time of Bach had a private function in the

home, a political function, and perhaps above all a
religious function. The closest Bach’s music came to
concert performance in his lifetime was as the
accompaniment to coffee-drinking.

Appreciation for a musician in Bach’s time didn’t look

anything like it does now—or even like it did in
Beethoven’s heyday, 50 to 60 years after Bach’s death
in 1750.

Additional References
String Quartet Op. 18, No. 5; Quintet for Piano and Winds, Op. 16

NOTES

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Music in the Time of Haydn and Mozart
Haydn is the father of so many of the forms that came
to dominate the classical era. No one, to this point, had
considered creative fulfillment to be a significant
reason for Haydn’s writing music, to say nothing of
Bach’s.

Whereas Haydn accepted his lot as a musical servant,

albeit a well-treated one, for most of his career Mozart
was instantly unhappy under similar circumstances.

With Mozart, it is the first time, on record, that a

composer of note refused to be treated as a servant, the
first time a composer ever left permanent employment
without first achieving financial security.

Haydn wrote no fewer than 30 string quartets in the

late 1780s; these are among his finest and most
influential achievements.

When Haydn was old and ill, he was carried into the
hall on an armchair to listen a performance of his
Creation, and at home he was attended to by servants.
This world was very far away from the one Bach
inhabited.

In Haydn and Mozart we have examples of composers

who struck out on their own, and despite vastly
different practical outcomes, managed to produce
timeless work without the support—and the
shackles—of their early years.

By the time Beethoven reached his maturity, the court

system was disappearing as the model for the great
composers.

Additional References
Mozart’s “Jeunehomme” concerto, K. 271; Haydn’s Six String Quartets, Op. 33

Haydn worked for the Esterhazys, one of the wealthiest and most prominent Austro-Hungarian families.
Mozart’s employer was Archbishop Colloredo in Salzburg.

NOTES

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Enter Beethoven
Beethoven, perhaps because he was so fixated on
innovation, and because he first sketched and then
revised his music so much more extensively than
Mozart did, wrote at a much more deliberate pace.

Beethoven could develop at a less frenzied rate (than

Haydn or Mozart), and only published his first works
at the age of 25. Beethoven really was the first
professional composer. However, ONLY one of the 32
piano sonatas was performed publicly in Beethoven’s
lifetime.

Beethoven’s imagination could be fully engaged in the

sonatas in a way that it probably couldn’t with
symphonic music.

There is simply an inherent difference between

playing alone, and playing with a large group.

Beethoven was the first composer to write piano

sonatas of the same proportions as his largest chamber
works.

Additional References
Three Piano Trios Op. 1; 9th Symphony; Sonata Op. 101

Liszt started playing piano recitals in the 1830s; he was the first to do so.
Beethoven’s sponsors: Count Razumovsky, the Elector of Vienna, Princes Lobkowitz and Lichnowsky,
Archduke Rudolph

NOTES

Sonata Form in Theory

While form is indeed about rules, and about the
grammar and construction of music, it is ultimately all
about psychology—about not just the way the music is
put together, or works, but the way it works on the
listener. To study musical structure is to create a map
of the emotional content of a piece of music.

Many people feel that the classical era, aka the heyday
of sonata form—is THE pinnacle of western music.
Sonata form was perpetually in a state of evolution.

© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 3 of 43

The sonata form does not refer to the shape of an
entire sonata, but of a single movement—usually the
first movement. It is the story of two oppositions: the
opposition of two themes, and the opposition of the
tonic and the dominant. It is the central fact of tonal
music that a dominant ALWAYS wants to resolve to a
tonic.

NOTES

Sonata Form in Practice

The sonata form is three-part: exposition,
development, and recapitulation.

Whatever happens in the development, the return of

the tonic is always preceded immediately by the
dominant. The opposition of the two is once again
reinforced.

You will know instinctively when you hear the end of

the exposition that the piece cannot be over. It is
simply unresolved. Really the fundamental
psychological essence of how we hear a sonata is
contained in that tonic-dominant relationship.

And this stripped-down version of sonata form also

implies a stripped-down story: we are home, then we
are lost. Finally, we return home again.

Harmony is color—by taking us so far away from the

tonic, or even dominant area, composers introduce not
just the element of surprise, but a drastically different
sonority. Harmony is the main currency of feeling in
all music, at least prior to the 20th century.

Additional References
Mozart’s Sonata K. 331, the so-called “Alla Turca”; C major String Quintet, K 515
Sonata Op. 13, the “Pathétique”

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NOTES

…and the Form of the Sonata

There is no traditional model with as much built-in
tension as the sonata form.

In the time of Haydn and Mozart, the center of gravity

of not just the sonata, but the string quartet, the
symphony, the piano trio, is ALWAYS in the first half
of the work.

Mozart, like Haydn, did not feel that his works needed
to build, inexorably, towards a conclusion.

But Beethoven, from the very beginning of his sonata-

writing career, clearly perceived this as, if not a
shortcoming, then at least a limitation. And the story
of the 32 Beethoven sonatas is, to a great extent, the
story of him addressing this question, in a variety of
imaginative, and finally, astonishing ways.

Beethoven internalized the classical model, perfected

it in his early works, then bit by bit throughout his life,
rebelled against it, chafed against its strictures, no
matter how inspiring they could be, and then
ultimately destroyed it. By the time Beethoven was
finished, he left music a permanently altered art form;
the innovations he introduced were probably the single
most significant factor in shaping the remainder of the
music of the 19th century.

Really, music is, above all other things, a language.

Additional References
Mozart’s String Quintet in G minor, K516; Don Giovanni; Sonata in F major, K533

NOTES

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Terms

Sonata: A term used to denote a piece of instrumental music that usually consists of several movements, most
commonly for a solo instrument or an instrument with piano. The solo and duet sonatas of the Classical period
generally incorporate a movement (or movements) that are written in sonata form (also called ‘first-movement
form’).

Sonata Form: This refers to the actual form of a particular movement, not a “sonata” as a whole. This form is
almost always present in the first movement of a Classical-period sonata. A typical sonata-form movement
consists of three main sections: Exposition, Development, and Recapitulation.

Opus: Latin, meaning “a work.” Abbreviated as "Op." A musical composition. Beethoven’s opus numbers
were assigned by his publishers, and follow the order in which his works were published, rather than the order
in which they were written.

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© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 7 of 43
Tonic: In tonal music, the tonic is the primary pitch and the first note of the scale. For example, if we are in
the key of E major, the tonic note is “E.” This serves as “home base” in the context of sonata form.
Dominant: The dominant is the 5th note of the scale. To follow our previous example, if we are in the key of
E major, the dominant note is “B.” Chords built on this scale degree are called dominant chords, and typically
resolve to the tonic. This tonic-dominant relationship is essential to sonata form.
Composers

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)

J.S. Bach was a German composer and organist of the Baroque period. Music written in this time served either
a religious, political or private function, as the idea of a public concert hall did not yet exist. Employed as a
church musician, Bach wrote more than 200 cantatas, many of which were straightforwardly religious works,
with biblical texts; most of the others are special-occasion works written for noblemen. He is regarded as one
of the greatest composers of keyboard music, notably for his Well-Tempered Clavier, the partitas, the English
and French Suites, the Goldberg Variations, and the Italian Concerto. His partitas, Goldberg Variations, and
Italian Concerto were all published as “Übungen,” meaning studies, reinforcing the idea of music with a
private purpose, as opposed to a concern for public performances.

Learn more about Bach’s life and work at Classical Net.

Joseph Haydn (1732–1809)

Haydn's life circumstances and the many genres he invented make him a crucial pivot point in the history of
classical music. His primary employment was the position of Kappellmeister for the Esterhazy, one of the
wealthiest and most prominent Austro-Hungarian families. A Kappellmeister had many responsibilities and
ran the musical life of the court. Still considered a servant, like Bach, Haydn wrote what he was told to write
and performed when he was told to perform. Haydn left Esterhazy in 1790—after 30 years, nearly the entire
duration of Mozart’s life. He spent much of the next five years in London, where his work was already known,
and where he became extremely popular.

Learn more about Haydn’s life and work at Classical Net.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91)

Mozart, like Haydn, was an Austrian composer who began his career working in the court, however he didn’t
remain confined by the system for long. His earliest years were spent as an exploited prodigy, with public
performances as early as age 6. At 16 years old he was employed by the Archbishop Colloredo in Salzburg,
although the position did not last for very long, as he eventually rejected the constraints and limitations placed
on him by his employer and resigned in 1777, thus becoming the first freelance composer. Mozart was, for a
time, financially secure in this path, however he and his wife overspent their income. Mozart’s final years were
an unhappy mix of part-time employment, poverty, ill-health, and general humiliation.

Learn more about Mozart’s life and work at Classical Net.

Further Research

Recommended Listening

 Mozart, Sonata in B-flat major, K. 333 (recordings by Daniel Barenboim, Mitsuko Uchida)
 Mozart, Piano Quartet in E-flat major, K. 493
 Haydn, Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI:50 (recording by Alfred Brendel)

© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 8 of 43

Suggested Reading

 Beethoven's letters: Project Gutenberg, www.gutenberg.org, also published by Dover Publications

 Mozart's letters: Project Gutenberg, www.gutenberg.org, also published by W.W. Norton & Company

Charles Rosen, The Classical Style

LECTURE 2: THE FIRST THIRTEEN SONATA INFORMATION

Beethoven’s Early Style Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-flat major, Op. 7
The Sonata Op. 7 is very much a work of what is I. Allegro molto e con brio: E-flat major
commonly known as the early period. (sonata form)
II. Largo: C major
The idea of dividing Beethoven’s music into three periods III. Allegro: E-flat major and E-flat minor
comes from Wilhem von Lenz, who in 1855 wrote one of (menuet)
the first ever biographies of Beethoven. IV. Rondo: E-flat major (rondo)

Beethoven’s first published pieces were meant to be, Average Duration: 30 minutes
among other things, calling cards. Composition Year(s): 1796-97

Beethoven initially travelled to Vienna in hopes of

studying with Mozart, but ultimately ended up studying
with Haydn.

The most salient feature of the late works is their refusal

to be restricted by any sort of convention, to fall back on
rhetoric.

Beethoven’s treatment of sonata form was ALWAYS in

flux. The first thirteen Beethoven sonatas—all written
between 1795 and 1800—form a unit.

The “early” period finds Beethoven already fully mature,

but still aspirational; one can hear in it the desire to
impress, with brilliance—both compositional and
instrumental—that is occasionally just slightly show-
offy.

Unlike early catalogue Mozart, Beethoven’s first

published works are definitely not prodigy pieces.

Additional References
Works of the middle period: Sonata Op. 53, “Waldstein”; Sonata Op. 57, “Appassionata”; Symphony Op. 55,
the “Eroica.”

First 13: the first 11 published sonatas, plus Op. 49, Nos. 19 and 20

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NOTES

Expanding the Scope of the Sonata: Op. 7, 1st Sonata No. 4 in E-flat major, Op. 7
Movement I. Allegro molto e con brio: E-flat major
The Sonata Op. 7 takes longer to play than any sonata (sonata form)
other than the “Hammerklavier.”

The first movement conforms absolutely to the traditional

sonata form model.

Op. 7’s center of emotional gravity is firmly planted in the

first half of the work. It is in four movements. Neither
Haydn nor Mozart ever wrote a four-movement piano
sonata. From the very beginning, Beethoven took the
sonata to be a more major statement than did Haydn and
Mozart.

This opening movement is not thematically driven.

Beethoven’s themes are very often designed to be played
with, wrestled with. The opening theme is malleable
precisely because it is so neutral: that is a quintessential
Beethoven quality.

What is also notably symphonic in Op. 7 is the use of the

piano.

Beethoven was always stretching the limits of the

instrument, always looking to get more out of it. That
sense that the instrument is never really quite enough for
him is always there—a part of the DNA of the music—a
source of its power.

Additional References
Sonata Op. 57, “Appassionata”; 5th Symphony, Op. 67; Sonata Op. 110
The “fortepiano” had 5 octaves, increasing to 7 octaves in Beethoven’s lifetime. He owned Broadwood pianos.

NOTES

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Early Experiments in Metaphysics: Op. 7, 2nd Sonata No. 4 in E-flat major, Op. 7
Movement II. Largo: C major
One of Beethoven’s greatest gifts was his use of silence—
to articulate the grammar of the music, to heighten
tension, and simply to create atmosphere.

The slow movements of Op. 2, No. 3, and Op. 7 are in

keys that are distant from the sonata’s home. The key
becomes an important tool in giving the slow movements
a special gravity, a totally differentiated sound world and
affect from the rest of the pieces.

Additional References
Sonata Op. 2, No. 3; 3rd Piano Concerto, Op. 37; 3rd Symphony, the “Eroica”; Sonata Op. 106, the
“Hammerklavier”

NOTES

Respecting and Disrespecting Tradition: Op. 7, 3rd Sonata No. 4 in E-flat major, Op. 7
and 4th Movements III. Allegro: E-flat major and E-flat minor
The last two movements of Op. 7 seem to represent a (menuet)
return to a more traditional aesthetic. The minuet is an IV. Rondo: E-flat major (rondo)
older, more traditional form than a scherzo. And the
character of the minuet is less typically Beethovenian than
the scherzo—it is less acerbic, has less bite.

Fortissimos of any kind are extremely rare prior to

Beethoven; Mozart used it exactly once in all of his piano
music.

The end of the Op. 7 turns out to be one of its greatest

inspirations. When Beethoven introduces such a distant
key into the rondo of Op. 7 itself, however, it really breaks
the contract he has with the 18th-century listener.

The first two movements of Op. 7 are still where the most
happens, but the last movement holds its own, and the end
is what lingers in the memory. This represents a
significant first step towards a total reinvention of the
shape of the sonata.

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NOTES

Terms
Menuet: A dance form, originally French, performed in a moderate or slow triple meter. It was used as an
optional movement in Baroque suites, and frequently appeared in movements of late 18th-century multi-
movement forms such as the sonata, the string quartet, and the symphony.
Motif: A short musical idea, melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, or any combination of these three. A motif may be
of any size and is most commonly regarded as the shortest subdivision of a theme or phrase that still maintains
its identity as an idea. (Source: Grove music online)
Rondo: A formal structure, frequently used in the Classical period for the finales of multi-movement works,
where the initial thematic section repeats in alternation with different material, for example: ABACADA, etc.
It will always begin and end with the “A” section, with any number of alternating sections in between.
Cadence: Any melodic or harmonic progression which signifies the ending of a musical phrase.
Half-cadence: The cadence ends on the Dominant (as opposed to the Tonic) and as a result feels unresolved.
“Relative” keys: The term “relative” is used to indicate the connection between a major and a minor key that
share the same key signature. For example, C major’s relative key is A minor; the C major and A minor scales
consist of all the same notes, just with a different starting point.
Beethoven’s Three Periods
An imperfect but useful method, in use since the mid-19th century, of categorizing Beethoven's works and thus
observing his development.
1. ca. 1782–1802: “Early Period”
2. ca. 1802–12: “Middle,” “Heroic”
3. ca. 1813–27: “Late”

Further Research

Period instruments
 Metropolitan Museum of Art: an image of a 19th-century fortepiano by Graf and an essay on Viennese
pianos
 Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra three-part article on/about the fortepiano
 Explore the world of musical instruments: an online Europeana exhibition, including historical pianos,
fortepianos, etc., primarily from European museums

Recordings Mentioned
The complete recordings of the Beethoven piano sonatas by Artur Schnabel (EMI Great Recordings of the
Century, #63765) and by Richard Goode (Nonesuch, #79328)

Digital Mozart Edition

The complete works of Mozart, being developed for online study as the Digital Mozart Edition

© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 12 of 43

LECTURE 3: NEW PATHS SONATA INFORMATION
Moving Beyond the Early Period Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat major, Op. 26
In 1802, Beethoven wrote a letter in which he said, “from Average Duration: 20 minutes
now on I am going to take a new path.”
Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major, Op. 27,
Once Beethoven began to question the foundations on No. 1 (“Sonata quasi una fantasia”)
which his early works were based, the history of music Average Duration: 15-16 minutes
itself changed course—this can be seeing as the beginning
of the more-than-century-long dismantling of first the Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27,
classical style, then the sonata form, and finally, the tonal No. 2 (“Moonlight”)
system itself. Average Duration: 15-16 minutes

The four sonatas Beethoven wrote immediately preceding Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28
the “new paths” remark strike me as being the ones that (“Pastoral”)
mark a clear break with the past. Average Duration: 23-24 minutes

The four sonatas that first find Beethoven veering off the Composition Year(s): 1800-02
path are the Sonata Op. 26, the two Sonatas quasi una
fantasia Op. 27, and the so-called “Pastoral” Sonata, Op.
28.

Op. 26 breaks ground in many ways, but the most obvious

thing is that for the first time Beethoven eschews sonata
form for the first movement—in fact, none of the four
movements is sonata form.

The cohesion of the work cannot be explained by

examining the structure, or fishing around for motivic
connections between the movements: there is simply an
emotional logic to the succession of events—another link
between this sonata and the romantic era, which
sometimes valued feeling over form.

Having abandoned the sonata form for the first movement

of Op. 26, Beethoven instead gives us a series of
variations.

NOTES

Re-shaping the Sonata: Op. 26 Sonata No. 12 in A-flat major, Op. 26

The variation form is about as far from sonata form as one I. Andante con variazioni =Theme and
could possibly be. It’s an entirely novel notion for a variations
Beethoven first movement: that the narrative of the music II. Scherzo: Allegro molto
relies not on harmony, or on motivic development, but on
III. Marcia funebre sulla morte d'un eroe
embroidery.
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Beethoven absolutely loved using the subito piano—he =Funeral march
practically invented the idea. IV. Allegro
For the second movement, Beethoven gives us a scherzo. The four movements are slow—fast—slow—fast,
Placing the scherzo (or minuet) second, and not third, is reminiscent of Baroque sonatas.
pretty well unprecedented for Beethoven in 1801.
Score and recordings: IMSLP
The third movement of Op. 26 is a funeral march. This is a
kind of “dress rehearsal” for the Funeral March from the
“Eroica” Symphony—written four years later, and one of
the most impressive, most iconic, and simply most
enormous movements from the middle period.

The funeral march from Op. 26 was played, in an

orchestrated version, at Beethoven’s own funeral.

Many of Beethoven’s innovations introduced in Op. 26

did indeed prove to be one-offs, but in total they represent
a new willingness to view the sonata as, if not a blank
canvas, at least an open-ended genre of terrific possibility.
NOTES

Blurring the Lines Between Fantasy and Sonata: Op. Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major, Op. 27, No. 1
27, No. 1 I. Andante
Even the name of the two Sonatas Op. 27 breaks ground: II. Allegro molto e vivace
each is called “Sonata quasi una fantasia.” III. Adagio con espressione
IV. Allegro vivace
This title makes a bold statement, which Beethoven has
clearly been leading up to with Op. 26: that something The division of movements is blurred; there is no
other than sonata form, and the standard succession of break or pause to separate the movements.
movements, can be the glue that holds a sonata together.
Score: IMSLP
Again, this notion had an enormous impact on 19th-
century composers.

The Sonatas Op. 27 are utterly unlike anything Beethoven

had ever written—or really, like anything he would write
subsequently. The real innovation in Op. 27 number 1 is
that there are no breaks between the movements.

This is a work which not only helps redefine the role of

each movement within the sonata, it suggests that the
movements themselves cannot be truly separated out—a
radical notion.
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No subsequent sonata links all of the movements—as
Beethoven goes along, he finds less literal but ultimately
more meaningful ways of uniting the movements of his
sonatas.

NOTES

Psychological Extremity in Music: Op. 27, No. 2 Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2
Op. 27, No. 2 moves from energy suppressed to energy I. Adagio sostenuto
unleashed, from repression to the ruthless expression of II. Allegretto
something primal. Beethoven’s conception of the sonata III. Presto agitato
finale was ever in evolution; in the case of the
“Moonlight,” the last movement is the sonata’s terrifying Mvt. 1: Adagio sostenuto
id.  Sonata form, though not easily discerned
 Does not feature the contrasts in material
The first movement of Op. 27, No. 2 is a sonata form, and color one typically associates with
stripped down, radically. sonata movements.
o Triplet accompaniment is
A sonata form that doesn’t provide us with contrasts, with persistent.
oppositions, really doesn’t carry the normal weight of a o Sustain pedal is held throughout
sonata form. the entire movement.
 The movement is very compact—only 69
In the first movement of Op. 27, No. 2, Beethoven asks measures!
the pianist to hold the sustaining pedal down from start to  Very slow tempo
finish. Keeping it down for that long will inevitably lead Mvt. 2: Allegretto
to a serious haze of sound.  Performed without a break between
movements; immediately connected to the
By this point in time, Beethoven’s focus was much more end of Mvt. 1.
on the structure of the WORK than on the structure of the  Menuet and trio
MOVEMENT.
Mvt. 3: Presto agitato
 Sonata form
 Again, no contrast between themes

Score and recordings: IMSLP

NOTES

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Subtlety and Innovation: Op. 28 Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 (“Pastoral”)
Whereas Op. 26 and 27 seem out to break as many rules I. Allegro
as possible, Op. 28’s mission seems to be show just how II. Andante
much room there still is for innovation and imagination in III. Scherzo: Allegro assai
the old model. IV. Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo

Beethoven was content in the Sonata Op. 28 for the Follows the old model: sonata allegro, followed
harmonic content to unfold sometimes very slowly. by a slow movement, scherzo, and rondo.

In the development of the first movement of Op. 28, Score and recording: IMSLP
Beethoven is using the construct of the sonata form to
maximum effect: he is playing with our expectations, and A special video performance by a current Curtis
in doing so, without any great fanfare, makes us feel student of the first movement of Op. 28 is
utterly lost. available on Curtis Performs.

More than any composer before or since, he is able to

bring us into an altered state, an altered mode of
perception.
Never again, from this point on, was he to write a sonata
that did not, in one way or another, point the way forward.

NOTES

LECTURE 4: CRISIS SONATA INFORMATION

Beethoven’s Mediant Fixation Begins: Op. 31, No. 1 Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31, No. 1
In the Sonata Op. 31, No. 1, Beethoven finally makes a I. Allegro vivace
bold move he’s been leading up to most of his life: he II. Adagio grazioso
eliminates the dominant as the primary foil for the tonic,
III. Rondo: Allegretto
and replaces it with the mediant.
Score: IMSLP
In the first movement, the tonic-dominant tension is still
there. But it is no longer the main subject of the music,
and the weakening of that relationship is a first step
towards the fundamental weakening of the tonal system.

Beethoven had a mediant fixation. There is something

about the color of the harmony that appealed to him.

The infinite is what Beethoven is ultimately most

interested in.

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NOTES

Deafness, Personal Problems, and Searching for a New

Way
Opp. 77, 78 and 81a were written just as Beethoven was
beginning to enter what was, by his standards, a fallow
period. Around 1809, his pace of composition begins to
slow, first slightly, then dramatically.

The years of his brother’s illness and the subsequent

custody battle are precisely the years when he composed
the least.
Beethoven is not only the first great composer not to have
permanent employment, he is also the first one without
any family of his own.

Beethoven was going deaf; he had experienced bouts of

tinnitus as early as the 1790s.

Beethoven’s late works forced him to rebuild his musical

language, from the ground up. The only possible parallels
are Schoenberg and Stravinsky.

NOTES

Beethoven as Improviser: Fantasy, Op. 77 Fantasy, Op. 77

In the Sonatas Op. 78 and 81a, we see Beethoven point the
way, however tentatively, towards the future. Score: IMSLP

Op. 78 was a work that Beethoven himself loved—along

with the “Appassionata,” it’s his favorite of the sonatas
prior to the late period.

The most convincing theory as to why Beethoven

composed the Fantasy is that it was conceived as a
companion piece for the Sonata Op. 78.
© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 17 of 43
Early in life, Beethoven was renowned for his ability as an
improviser—perhaps even more than for his performance
of finished works. The Fantasy is probably THE closest
we come to knowing what his improvisations really
sounded like.

NOTES

Serenity and Slapstick: Op. 78 Sonata No. 24 in F-sharp major, Op. 78

This sonata is in two movements. After the two early, I. Adagio cantabile—Allegro ma non
slight Sonatas Op. 49, Beethoven eventually returned to troppo
the two-movement sonata on four separate occasions, in
II. Allegro vivace
each instance producing something special and
unrepeatable.
Score and recording: IMSLP
The second repeat in the first movement of Op. 78
suggests that, for at least a moment, the structure of the
music takes a back seat to the moment-to-moment beauty
of the material.

We expect the first moments of works to establish some

ground rules, to give us a harmonic and rhythmic
framework.

When Beethoven decides to be funny, he simply cannot

get over his own joke.

NOTES

Formal Experimentation and Musical Storytelling: Sonata No. 26 in E-flat major, Op. 81a (“Les
Op. 81a adieux” or "Lebewohl")
The Sonata Op. 81a is Beethoven’s mostly serious I. Les adieux: Adagio—Allegro
flirtation with programmatic music.
II. L'absence: Andante espressivo
This sonata was a serious influence on the 19th century, III. Le retour: Vivacissimamente
when musical storytelling became incredibly central.
© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 18 of 43
The story “Farewell”-“Absence”-“Return” in the Score and recordings: IMSLP
“Lebewohl” sonata shows that Beethoven’s focus was on
the overall progression through the work, not within the
movements.

The opening of Op. 81a dominates the movement not only

because of its length, its gravity, and its awesome beauty,
but because the whole work is infused with the three-note
idea at the start of the work.

Op. 81a is an absolute masterpiece of structure, where

harmonic and motivic details are what give the music its
intensity.

Additional References
Julie Guicciardi—recipient of the "immortal beloved" letter
Full text of the Heiligenstadt Testament: http://www.nyu.edu/classes/gilbert/classic/heiligenstadt.html
NOTES

Terms
Mediant: This chord is built on the third scale degree, halfway between the tonic and dominant.

Cadenza: A virtuoso passage inserted near the end of a concerto or movement of a work, usually indicated by
the appearance of a fermata over an unresolved chord. Cadenzas may either be improvised by a performer or
written out by the composer.

Program music: Music which expressed an extra-musical idea, either of mood, narrative or pictorial image.
Program music became an established genre in the Romantic period.

LECTURE 5: TOWARDS INFINITY SONATA INFORMATION

Beethoven’s Late Style(s) Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
The quality of the 32 Beethoven Sonatas is beyond all Average Duration: 20 minutes
argument unsurpassed, in terms of mastery, charisma, and Composition Year(s): 1820
the draw they have on the listener. On top of that, the
variety demonstrated in the sonatas is just tremendous. Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10, No. 1
Average Duration: 19 minutes
The Beethoven Sonatas are incomparably more diverse Composition Year(s): 1795-97?
than the Mozart concerti in terms of style, of musical
language, of structure.

© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 19 of 43

While Beethoven does sometimes careen wildly from
sonata to sonata in terms of character, there is undoubtedly
an overall direction in terms of structure, away from
“straight” sonata forms, away from the absolute primacy
of the tonic-dominant relationship, away from the normal
passage of time, away from this business of decreasing the
heaviness as the work progresses.

It was not possible to write a piano sonata in the 19th

century as if the Beethoven sonatas had not been written.
They set the agenda, and they established which elements
of the classical style and tonal system were still useable,
and which ones—many—were now obsolete.

Until the late period, despite the “New Paths” letter, and
despite some rather wild works, the development has been
stepwise, incremental.
The development found in the late sonatas is a leap. These
last sonatas step way into the unknown. The music world
is still trying to come to grips with what Beethoven
achieves here, and in the last string quartets, written
several years later. Coming to terms—to some very
limited extent—with late Beethoven is one of the central
tasks facing any serious musician.

Additional References
Sonata Op.110

NOTES

Circling Back and Moving Forward: Comparing the Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
First Movements Op. 10, No. 1 and Op. 109 I. Vivace, ma non troppo
There are many things at work in the exposition of the II. Prestissimo
first movement of Op. 109. First of all, the tempo
III. Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo
flexibility: I cannot think of another sonata movement
before this that is in two different tempi.
Score and recordings: IMSLP
No other instrument emphasizes the moment of attack in Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10, No. 1
such an extreme way. A string or wind player can, if he so I. Allegro molto e con brio
chooses, begin a note nebulously, and bring it slowly into
II. Adagio molto
focus; with the piano, there is no disguising the moment of
contact between hammer and string. For hundreds of III. Finale: Prestissimo
years, composers have looked for ways around this. But
© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 20 of 43
Beethoven, in his early works, is often quite comfortable Score and recording: IMSLP
with this extra degree of definition of sound. It gives the
music an extra thrust which suits him well. How far from
that is Op. 109, which—at least in its first theme—
manages to have no edges, no points of gravity. It shows
Beethoven, once again, asking the piano to go beyond its
natural means.

While Op. 109’s first movement has such a feeling of

freedom about it, and seems to have moved beyond the
old forms entirely, it is actually a perfect sonata form—
pared down to necessities.

I also refer to it as a “distillation” of the sonata because

the contrast of the two themes is so absolute. There is this
radical difference of tempo, the vivace of the opening
giving way to an unprecedented adagio sostenuto. Beyond
that, there is the contrast of the rhythmic regularity of the
first theme versus the freedom of the second.

Lastly, there is the contrast of harmonic stability on the

one hand, and great instability on the other.

The way the first two movements interact with one

another is fascinating. The first movement is a bit of a neat
trick, really, because again, it is extremely terse in
construction, with no wasted notes, and even more
significantly, no auxiliary material, no excess of any kind.
And yet the overall impression it leaves the listener with is
one of great spaciousness—of a leisurely generosity.

Despite the record-breaking brevity of the first movement,

due to its character, when the second movement arrives, it
gives the impression of disturbing the peace, of
interrupting comfort with anxiety. Or, more to the point, it
creates a massive contrast, a total contrast.

The whole point of these very brief first two movements

seems to be to represent absolutely opposed character and
ideas. But then if you look more closely at the first
movement, if you look WITHIN it, you see that it, too,
despite seeming unified in the grander picture, is a study
in contrasts itself! This is not only a highly impressive
feat, it has a profound effect on the way we experience the
piece, and demonstrates Beethoven’s fascination with and
mastery of structure: based on whether we are zooming in
or out—figuratively, with our ears—the first movement
becomes an entirely different sort of experience.

That the first two movements are dissimilar—foils, really.

© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 21 of 43
Again, they are united only in being dramatically pared-
down sonata forms.

The first two movements of Op. 109 are two fully fleshed-
out sonata movements, full of power and paradox, in six
minutes flat! If you leave aside the two sonatas Op. 49,
and the G major Op. 79—sonatinas rather than sonatas,
really—there is no other proper sonata form first
movement by Beethoven as short as these two are
together!

Additional References
Sonata Op. 7; Sonata Op. 111; Sonata Op. 22

NOTES

Variations as Psychology: Op. 109’s Finale

If the first two movements of Op. 109 are models of
economy, the last is spaciousness itself. This is one of so
many ways in which the unchallenged dominance of the
finale is established—it takes over twice as long to play as
do the first two movements, together.

The movement is a set of variations, but it reinvents the

form as profoundly—or perhaps more so—as the first two
movements reinvent, or reimagine, sonata form.

But when Beethoven turns to the variation form in his late

period—and he does so frequently—he is invariably after
something deeper. What was merely embellishment has
become psychology. In these late sets of variations, we see
the theme turned inside out.

The first half of the theme is subdivided into four groups

of 2 bars each—and each features E moving to B, 1
moving to 5. This has two primary effects. First, given the
lack of harmonic variety, of harmonic “fodder” in the
theme, Beethoven will need to be fantastically resourceful
in other ways to create sufficient material for the
variations. Second, and to me more crucial, is that this 1-5
is established, and re-established, absolutely relentlessly.
Even if our focus is placed on counterpoint, on rhythm,
and color, this most fundamental harmonic motion—1 to 5
© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 22 of 43
and back to 1—is ever-present.

The theme itself is a chorale: the voices are all close

together, and they move more or less in tandem. In the
first variation, this sort of writing is immediately
dispensed with, the melody separated by a distance of
several octaves from what is now very obviously an
accompaniment.

In the second variation, the voices are made truly

independent, with the two lines playing at different times
and assuming roles of equal importance. In the third
variation, Beethoven increases the speed with the marking
“Allegro vivace.” In doing so, he creates a contrast of
speed so dramatic, so jarring, that we feel we have moved
not just from slow to fast, but from chasteness to wildness.

It is only with the fourth variation that the floodgates

open. The only way I’ve ever been able to describe this
variation is as a stream of consciousness. Clearly it is
drawn out of the theme, and yet even its fundamental
shape is altered; its skeleton is almost imperceptible.

How does Beethoven find his way out of this dream-state?

With a fugue. This is actually quite an influential idea. In
the romantic era, it became almost standard practice to
prove one’s mettle with a fugue in the middle of a work’s
finale.

There is an additional surprise, and one of real

significance, in this fifth, fugal variation: it features an
“extra” repeat. The second half of the fugal variation
appears not twice, but three times. Four variations in, we
have structural expectations, which have yet to be
frustrated; here they are. This serves the dual function of
making the music seem to reach further into the unknown,
and of creating a sense of uncertainty within a variation
that was launched with great confidence.

This leads us to the last variation, which is as full of

wonder as music comes. It resurrects the shape of the
theme, and returns to its speed. What is new is that
through virtually the whole variation, and with increasing
insistence, there is now, either in the bass, or in the treble,
a pedal point B – 5.

After all the adventures this music has gone through—in

its final moments, it is ALL about the B needing to
resolve to an E. That basic resolution is absolutely
spotlighted here. In the last moments of the work,
© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 23 of 43
Beethoven is fixated exclusively on the search for this
most fundamental, classical resolution.

When this resolution finally comes, it is into the theme

itself. Beethoven offers us the theme, as a recollection, to
bookend the work.

The only difference between the two iterations of the

theme, in short, lies in what has occurred—the theme has
taken on vast new meaning through what it has been
through, through the past it has acquired. This is a
gateway to the music of the romantic generation—the
need for harmonic resolution has already, thanks to
Beethoven’s own work, begun to dissipate, and
structure—aka, our need for things to follow one another
in a particular way—is more and more based on our
memory of what we have already heard.

Additional References
Sonata Op. 7; Sonata Op. 27, No. 2, the “Moonlight”; Sonata Op. 26; String Quartet Op. 131
Tchaikovsky; Dvorak; Bach’s Goldberg Variations

NOTES

Coda: The Sonata after Beethoven

From 1795 to 1822, over the course of 32 works,
Beethoven transformed the sonata. At the beginning, it
was the product of an enormously effective but rather
straightforward model; by the end, he had evolved it into
something so much more free-form and flexible, the
model had become obsolete, or at the very least, not the
point any more. Unlike music that is, in some way, the
product of a system, the sonatas are inimitable.

The tail end of Beethoven’s life turns out to have been not
only a huge turning point in the history of music, but a
moment of amazing creative flowering.

Beethoven died in 1827; Schubert died a year later, at the

age of 31.

Schubert is one generation younger than Beethoven, the

only truly great composer born in the years leading up to
© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 24 of 43
the 19th century. Fifteen years later, however, there is an
extraordinary concentration of masters born at the same
time. Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, Wagner, Verdi
and Liszt are all, amazingly, born between 1809 and 1813.
Which means that each of them was coming of age just
exactly at the time of the death of Beethoven. It also
means that they were coming of age just as diatonicism
was being seriously threatened for the first time, as the
classical style’s rubber band was being stretched
perilously. All of this, naturally, is thanks to Beethoven.
Amazingly, these composers mostly abandoned the piano
sonata—the form in which Beethoven was most prolific.

The Beethoven Influence is incessantly talked about, yet

in honesty, while it would be wrong to call it “negative,”
given that it spawned such creativity, it was in a sense a
“destructive” influence. Put another way, Beethoven
advanced the forms he worked in to a point where their
total destruction was probably inevitable if music was
going to remain vibrant.

The reason we are sitting here, talking about, playing,

grappling with Beethoven, almost two centuries after his
death: he is all-encompassing. In terms of his skill, the
emotional terrain represented in his music, and the legacy,
positive, negative and otherwise, that he leaves, he has
more to say about humanity than any artist whose work I
know.

Additional References
String Quartet Op. 131; Sonata Op. 101, Sonata Op. 31, No. 1
Schubert’s A major Sonata D. 959; Mendelssohn’s Sonata in E major, Op. 6

NOTES

Further Study
Compare finale of Beethoven Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31, No. 1, to the last movement of Schubert
Sonata No. 20 in A major, D. 959.

Additional Research
These are composers coming of age at the time of Beethoven's death (1827):
 Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809–47)
 Robert Schumann (1810–56)
© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 25 of 43
 Frédéric Chopin (1810–49)
 Richard Wagner (1813–83)
 Giuseppi Verdi (1813–1901)
 Franz Liszt (1811–86)

LECTURE 6: OP. 2, NO. 1 AND OP. 10, NO. 2 SONATA INFORMATION

Re-introduction
Although the sonatas’ quality is relentlessly sky-high,
Beethoven hardly ever repeats himself, and is constantly
reimagining the genre and its possibilities. This is first of
all a result of Beethoven’s personality, which was large
enough to encompass a fairly enormous range of interests:
each piece had not only a unique sound and shape and
character, but a unique reason for being. But it also was
only possible because the sonata turns out to be an
enormously flexible genre.

NOTES

Beethoven at 24: Style and Priorities

Haydn and Mozart had already created a body of truly
great music in the genres Beethoven most cared about—
sonata, quartet, and symphony above all.

Beethoven’s first published works are of extremely high

quality, and are fully in his “voice.”

One of the hallmarks of the F minor sonata (Op. 2, No. 1)

is the way in which it both nods to tradition and chafes
against it. The three sonatas of Op. 2 are dedicated to
Haydn, who was a profound influence on Beethoven.

NOTES

© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 26 of 43

OP. 2, NO. 1 SONATA INFORMATION
Wrestling with the Past Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1
The local orchestra in Mannheim was apparently virtuosic.
I. Allegro
Stamitz and other creditable, but not great, composers
II. Adagio
would write "rockets" for them: upward arpeggios that the III. Menuetto: Allegretto
orchestra would play while making a crescendo. IV. Prestissimo
Beethoven opens Op. 2, No. 1—and the first of the Op. 1
trios—with a Mannheim rocket, but I cannot think of
another occasion where he used it, unadorned, again. By Average Duration: 18 minutes
1795 it was, if not dated, at least a very conscious Composition Year(s): 1793-95
“reference” to a musical tradition.

Varying the phrase lengths—or the “periods," as they are

sometimes called—is one of the key sources of character
in Beethoven’s music. Lengthening the periods can create
a sense of spaciousness, or stasis, or in certain cases, of
being stuck, caught in a loop; shortening them, as here, is
generally a sign of excitement or turmoil.

An extended silence—which is what a rest with a fermata

is, really—is one thing if it follows a declarative sentence;
in that case, it functions as a period, or an exclamation
point, or maybe a paragraph break. When a silence
follows a question, the silence adds to the tension. A
musical question demands an answer just as a verbal one
does, and withholding that answer is a powerful way of
unsettling the listener.
Additional References
Three Trios, Op. 1; Three Piano Sonatas, Op. 10; Three Piano Sonatas, Op. 31; Three Sonatas for Piano and
Violin, Op. 12; Three Sonatas for Piano and Violin, Op. 30; Three String Quartets, Op. 59
Mozart’s D minor Piano Concerto, K. 466; G minor Symphony, K. 550, A minor Piano Sonata, K. 330

NOTES

1st Mvt.: Mining his Materials Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1
Since Op. 2, No. 1 is in minor, the standard modulation is
I. Allegro
to the relative major (F minor to A flat major).

Beethoven’s most remarkable qualities: his materials don’t

necessarily need to be beautiful, or even distinctive, to
function as tools out of which he can create anything he
wants. If Haydn was the composer with the most ideas,
Beethoven was the most resourceful composer ever.
© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 27 of 43
Terms

Sforzando: An indication to perform a specific note or chord of a composition with strong, sudden emphasis.

NOTES

1st Mvt.: Sonata Form in the Minor Mode

In a minor key sonata, the second theme will mostly
typically appear in the relative major before coming back
in the tonic. This means that not only does it change key
from exposition to recap, it changes from the major mode
to the minor mode. This difference between major and
minor can make the appearance of the second theme in the
recap a moment of enormous significance.

Additional References
Mozart’s D minor Concerto, K. 466

NOTES

2nd Mvt.: Borrowing from Haydn, and Himself Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1
A sort of spirituality becomes ever more apparent in
II. Adagio
Beethoven’s slow movements as time goes on. On the
evidence of the opening of the slow movement of Haydn’s
C major Sonata and that of Beethoven's Op. 2, No. 1, it
seems clear that this is an aspect of Beethoven’s music
that owes much to Haydn.

The theme of the second movement of Beethoven’s Op. 2,

No. 1 is lifted from his own C major Piano Quartet.

All four movements of this sonata have the same tonality:

F, major or minor. Therefore, the brief foray into D minor
provides a respite from the F “color” that we experience
throughout the piece, more-or-less nonstop. This
monochromatic nature is somewhat unusual for
Beethoven: Beethoven wrote 13 sonatas with four
movements, and this is only one of four in which no
movement moves away from the home tonality. This is
© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 28 of 43
limiting, in a sense, since Beethoven was a great master of
creating character through the sonority of a given key.

Even early in life, Beethoven was deeply attuned to the

way the movements of a large-scale work were in
dialogue with one another, and the way in which they
balanced each other out.

Additional References
Mozart’s A major String Quartet, K. 464
Sonata Op. 101; String Quartet Op. 18, No. 5

Lecture 2, Op. 7

NOTES

3rd Mvt.: Adding Ambiguity to an Old Form Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1
This movement, which is back in the minor mode, is the
III. Menuetto: Allegretto
third of four, and it is a menuet. This is an innovation,
because prior to Beethoven, sonatas had, at most, three
movements. The menuet is an addition to the structure, if
not an outright intrusion.

Beethoven was eager to establish, right off the bat, that for
him “sonata” meant a work of scope equal to that of a
symphony.

A menuet is a dance, and one of the fundamental features

of a dance is that the beats of the bar relate to one another
in a way that is regular and predictable. In the menuet, the
main stress is on one: ONE-two-three. More often than
not, when there is a menuet in an early sonata, Beethoven
places emphases on what should be weak beats. It seems
there was something about the form which struck him as
potentially staid, and which he wanted to upset.

Articulation is often a major source of character in music.

Additional References
Mozart’s G minor Symphony, K. 550

Terms

Menuet: A dance form, originally French, performed in a moderate or slow triple meter. It was used as an
© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 29 of 43
optional movement in Baroque suites, and frequently appeared in movements of late 18th-century multi-
movement forms such as the sonata, the string quartet, and the symphony.

NOTES

4th mvt.: Releasing the Shackles Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1
The fourth movement of Op. 2, No. 1 has very genuine
IV. Prestissimo
fury about it. That’s a signature Beethoven quality, one
you don’t find in either Haydn or Mozart to anything like
the same degree: Beethoven can convey a sense of
profound dissatisfaction with the world.

[sturm und drang]

I cannot readily think of another example of this sort of

amalgam of the two different forms: rondo and sonata
allegro. That is part of the genius of Beethoven: his formal
innovations were never “just because”—he gave each
piece the form it needed.

One of the defining features of this sonata is that it is

mostly black and white, with very few shades of gray. The
only thing about it that is ambiguous is its relationship to
the musical past, which it borrows from and attempts to
move beyond in equal measure.

Additional References
Mozart’s C minor Piano Sonata, K. 457

Lecture 5, Op. 109

Terms

Rondo: A form of composition in which the first section recurs after the second section is performed in an
A-B-A style.

NOTES

© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 30 of 43

OP. 10, NO. 2 SONATA INFORMATION
Beethoven’s Humor! Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10, No. 2
Beethoven’s sense of humor is one of his most essential I. Allegro (F major)
qualities. It is one of the qualities that enlivens and II. Allegretto (F minor)
humanizes his music: it exists right alongside his loftiest III. Presto (F major)
music. Beethoven’s humor is also highly varied. In the
case of Op. 10, No. 2, the humor is generally on the gentle Average duration: 14 minutes
side, and most often comes from Beethoven’s refusal to do Composition Year(s): 1796-98
what is expected.

NOTES

1st Mvt.: Subverting Expectations Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10, No. 2
As we saw with the opening of Op. 2, No. 1, character is I. Allegro (F major)
drawn, to a great extent, from the lengths of the periods
(phrase lengths). Of course, it’s an entirely different
character in this case.

The most interesting and surprising harmonic event in the

exposition occurs when Beethoven interrupts the harmonic
progression of tonic (1) to dominant (5) by seeming to
prepare for the mediant (3). It turns out to be nothing more
than a red herring, the classical music equivalent of
saying, "Fooled you!"—after a brief silence, he gives us
the dominant.

NOTES

1st Mvt.: Beethoven as Stubborn Child

In repeating this three-note idea over and over, to the
exclusion of all else and sometimes in a quite forceful
manner, Beethoven is playing the role of the willful,
stubborn child to perfection.

The end of the development is also a joke. It is a full,

nearly unaltered reiteration of the opening of the piece—in
the wrong key. We never get a proper return, an arrival
© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 31 of 43
back at the opening of the piece, in the correct tonality.
Beethoven’s idea of “splitting” the moment of return—
first we get the material, then later we get the right key—
is an entirely original one, and it is simultaneously witty
and moving.

In early-period works, the first movements tend to be the

most innovative, richly detailed, and substantial.

NOTES

2nd Mvt.: The Menuet/Slow Movement Hybrid Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10, No. 2
The second movement of this sonata bridges the gap II. Allegretto (F minor)
between the menuet and the slow movement.
Its minor mode, and its misterioso character—here almost
entirely devoid of the humor that is so central to the rest of
the piece—set it dramatically apart.

The form is not arbitrary or theoretical: rather, it is

designed to do what the piece needs it to do.

The menuet/slow movement was to become a rather

influential idea. Beethoven himself reappropriated it for
his E major Sonata, Op. 14, No. 1. And Brahms was to
take the idea of blending slow movement and menuet (or
scherzo). The lines between different forms, so firmly
drawn in the time of Mozart, get more and more blurry as
we move into the romantic era.

The menuet does have a trio—a middle section—which

moves into D-flat, and the contrast in tonality is instantly
noticeable and quite moving.

NOTES

3rd Mvt.: The Non-fugue Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10, No. 2
This movement is a fugue that isn’t a fugue. The finale of III. Presto (F major)
Op. 10, No. 2 is a concise, but fully fleshed-out sonata
© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 32 of 43
form, which has fun dressing up in a fugue’s clothing.
Beethoven likes the fugal sonority, it seems, but he
doesn’t trouble himself with the pesky business of actually
writing a fugue. When it suits him, he goes back to writing
counterpoint (melody and accompaniment), but only when
it suits him.

The specifics of the jokes in this piece are all different

from one another, but they spring from the same source:
the fact that Beethoven is confounding our expectations,
and enjoying himself immensely in the process.

NOTES

LECTURE 7: OP. 57 ("APPASSIONATA") SONATA INFORMATION

Beethoven and the Tragic Mode Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57
The “Appassionata” entered the repertoire and the public (“Appassionata”)
imagination very quickly, and it has never left. Beethoven I. Allegro assai
declared it his favorite among the 23 sonatas he had II. Andante con moto
already written. III. Allegro ma non troppo - Presto

As listeners to music, we are, all of us, very suggestible: Average duration: 24 minutes
we tend to hear what we expect to hear, and the stronger Composition Year(s): 1804-06
the expectations, the more likely this is to be the case. So
when we are listening to the “Appassionata,” or playing it,
or analyzing it, the main task is to bring open ears—to
reverse the curse of ubiquity, and to try to hear it as if for
the first time.

Beethoven wrote a great many pieces that begin in tragic

mode, but there are surprisingly few that end there as well.
There is one piece that is a proper analogue to the
“Appassionata” in terms of its start-to-finish darkness: the
E minor string quartet, Op. 59, No. 2. The two pieces were
written around the same time.

NOTES

© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 33 of 43

1st Mvt.: Musical Economy as Noose-tightening Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57
Beethoven began the “Appassionata” in 1804, and it I. Allegro assai
wasn’t published until 1806. This is the heart of what’s
known as Beethoven’s middle period.

Each of Beethoven’s greatest works written around the

same time as the “Appassionata”—the “Waldstein”
sonata, the three Op. 59 quartets, the 4th piano concerto
and the violin concerto prime among them—is absolutely
enormous in scope, and points to Beethoven’s widening
ambition.

The first movement exposition is in unison, which means

that the two hands are playing the same notes, albeit on
different octaves, without any further harmonic support.

In music, what isn’t played tends to be every bit as

meaningful as what is.

The desolation only increases with next phrase. Beethoven

simply takes the opening phrase and shifts it up a half
step. This chord, the flatted second, is known as the
Neapolitan. In the sonata, the presence of the Neapolitan,
F-to-G-flat, will become crucial.

The “Appassionata”’s first movement is a masterpiece,

perhaps the masterpiece, of musical economy; I cannot
think of another work, by any composer, where so much is
done with so little. The movement feels absolutely
massive, but it is practically monothematic. The materials
on which it is built are the opening four-bar theme, and
this four-note “knocking” motive that appears shortly
afterwards. Beethoven takes the whole opening paragraph
and boils it down to four utterly crucial notes. The motive
is like a metaphor for the whole piece: it is compact,
without any wasted space, and it’s as dangerous and
combustible as a ticking time bomb.

NOTES

© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 34 of 43

1st Mvt.: Musical Economy and Beethoven's
Resourcefulness
Beethoven is not just more resourceful with his materials
than we would be, he is more resourceful than we can
even imagine being. And that keeps this music infinitely
interesting.
NOTES

1st Mvt.: Unprecedented Intensity, and Delayed

Resolution
The passage leading up to the recapitulation is, unless I’m
overlooking something, the most shattering climax in the
piano repertoire up until this point. Remarkably, it’s going
to be topped at least twice more in this piece.

This pedal, the incessantly repeated C in the bass, makes

the recapitulation a return only of the thematic material: it
is not an arrival back to a firm, proper tonic. This
completely reshapes the piece, leaving it open-ended and
unresolved in a way that is highly atypical, and it
necessitates the coda that is to come shortly—there are
questions still to be answered.

Most of the way through the coda of the movement, does

this idée fixe finally get the response it has so obviously
needed. Its 5 must resolve to 1. Only after we’ve heard to
we realize how desperately we’ve been waiting for it.

NOTES

2nd Mvt.: A Fragile Serenity Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57

The second movement of the “Appassionata” is a set of II. Andante con moto
four variations.

This feeling of reaching is very important: in contrast to

the first half of the theme, which conveys a quiet
contentment, this second half wants something. This
reaching, this want, will be felt more and more intensely
© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 35 of 43
as the movement goes on.

The first three variations are all about increasing the rate
of motion. Between the velocity, the dynamic, and the
register, an enormous evolution has taken place from the
theme until variation three.

While the surfaces may be very similar, the fourth

variation of the theme is actually substantively different.
There are two new elements here: a traveling bass line,
which moves around the keyboard, commenting on the
theme, and most significantly, these shifts of register that
occur every two bars. These register shifts make the theme
suddenly more unsettled; the serenity that seemed so
absolute at the beginning has now been revealed to be a
fragile one.

Ever so slightly bland on the surface, at least at the outset,

the second movement is actually perfectly poised between
solemnity and ecstasy and, finally, horror.

NOTES

3rd Mvt.: Relentless Intensity, on a Leash… Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57

The third movement takes about seven minutes to play, III. Allegro ma non troppo - Presto
and with the exception of one ghostly passage about
midway through, until the coda, every single sixteenth
note is played. That is an absolutely enormous amount of
nonstop motion, which creates a kind of paradox. On the
one hand, this music is clearly driven. But at the same
time, it’s marked “Allegro ma non troppo”—fast, but not
too fast. There can be no doubt of this movement’s
intensity, but it stays at a low boil for an extremely long
time.

What’s remarkable about this theme is the fact that again,

our first harmonic excursion is to the Neapolitan. This sort
of explicit link is new. Even if we aren’t consciously
aware of it, when we hear that Neapolitan, we remember
the events of the first movement, and thus we feel the
noose tightening.

© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 36 of 43

NOTES

3rd Mvt.: …and Unleashed

The Neapolitan’s incessant presence here acts as a kind of
shorthand for the instability and anxiety that are such
defining features of the piece as a whole.

Op. 57's third movement is the only sonata movement

Beethoven ever wrote in which the first part is not
repeated and the second is. And Beethoven really means
it. We soon learn why this repeat was such a life-and-
death matter for Beethoven. By repeating the development
and recapitulation, he delays, for several more minutes,
the coda, and this last bit of delay makes the final blow all
the more terrible.

This coda doesn’t resolve, or even particularly address,

any of the piece’s central issues—the Neapolitan fixation,
the appoggiatura on V, any of it. What it does is bring the
mood, the sound of the piece, to its logical, terrible
conclusion, as whatever tiny bit of caution, of moderation,
had existed, is now gone.

Beethoven’s sonatas are truly comprehensive in their

exploration of humanity: in the “Appassionata,” its darkest
corners are explored.

NOTES

© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 37 of 43

LECTURE 8: OP. 101 SONATA INFORMATION
Towards a Late Style Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101
Op. 101 has many characteristics that truly herald the I. Etwas lebhaft, und mit der innigsten
arrival of the late period: Empfindung. Allegretto, ma non troppo
 an absolute fixation with counterpoint II. Lebhaft. Marschmäßig. Vivace alla
 a willingness to be harmonically vague at times marcia
 a form that grows weightier, rather than lighter, as III. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll. Adagio, ma
the sonata moves towards its conclusion. non troppo, con affetto
IV. Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr und mit
Op. 90, the previous sonata, is one of a series of great, Entschlossenheit. Allegro
boldly experimental works, each of which is distinctive,
and each of which seems to suggest a possible road to the Note: Jonathan Biss considers movements III
future. and IV to be one movement.
Average duration: 22 minutes
While they share certain preoccupations, Beethoven's last Composition Year(s): 1815-16
five sonatas are all deeply dissimilar, from their overall
architecture down to their smallest details. The will to
invent, and to create a unique work of art, can be heard in
their every phrase. This new level of individuality in the
sonata begins with Op. 101.

To a greater extent than is true of any earlier sonata, much

of Op. 101 feels like a private, internal monologue. This is
one of the first works to which Beethoven gave
performance directions not only in Italian, but in his native
German. With Op. 101, Beethoven was thinking, and
addressing the listener, in his native language, not a foreign
one. It is likely not a coincidence that this change occurred
in a work that moved away from the rhetorical, and toward
a more personal expression.

NOTES

1st Mvt.: Beginning in Mid-thought Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101

The sonata Op. 101 is a forward and back piece. Its brief I. Etwas lebhaft, und mit der innigsten
slow movement, much like Op. 110’s, sounds very much Empfindung. Allegretto, ma non troppo
like a baroque arioso dolente, and there is a fully fleshed-
out fugue in the finale. But this was also one of
Beethoven’s most influential pieces, and Mendelssohn and
Schumann, in their very different ways, both paid homage
to it.

© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 38 of 43

While in the 1st symphony, harmonic stability is quickly
achieved, and then maintained, in the first movement of
Op. 101, it proves hugely elusive.

Beethoven used the word “reveries” in describing the Op.

101 sonata.

The main cause of our feeling that we are joining the work
when it is already in progress is Beethoven’s refusal to land
firmly in A major. The key is defined not by its presence,
but by its absence, and we spend the whole movement in
search of it.

NOTES

1st Mvt.: Harmonic Instability as a Source of Character

Nearly every phrase in the opening movement of Op. 101
poses a question.

Beginning on the tonic is rule number 1, and in Op. 101,

Beethoven doesn’t just bend it, he ignores it entirely.

At the end of the second theme area, virtually at the end of

the exposition, we finally do land on the dominant (5).
What’s so fantastic about this “answer,” though, is that
because it is our first arrival and that it takes place on the
dominant, not the tonic, it only adds to the ambiguity of the
piece. It is a point of rest, but it isn’t home.

Musical structure is so critical, above all in the sonata,

above all in Beethoven, because our emotional experience
of every event in the music is so deeply connected to what
has already happened in the music.

The recapitulation is nearly concluded, the body of the

movement is in its final seconds, and only now for the first
time do we hit home, the tonic of A major.

The refusal to be firm, harmonically—at the start and the

finish—is by no means arbitrary. It is a brilliant example of
harmonic language being used to enhance the character of
the music—the character, in this case, being vulnerability.

© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 39 of 43

NOTES

2nd Mvt.: March! Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101

Schumann’s tribute to Beethoven is both literal— II. Lebhaft. Marschmäßig. Vivace alla
borrowing his theme—and not—taking Op. 101’s marcia
harmonic plan and refashioning it into something totally
original. It is profound, sophisticated, and moving. This is a
slightly extreme example, which I hope illustrates the
extent to which the romantic composers were in
Beethoven’s debt, and often in his shadow.

The inclusion of a brand new type of movement—a

march—is a further demonstration of Op. 101’s unique
shape. The march fills the same role that a menuet or a
scherzo might have.

The march is a fair bit longer than the first movement. This
is strong, assertive music. With this movement, the scope
of the piece begins to expand.

The heavily accented A in the middle of the march is less

about what the moment means in the context of the
movement, and more about what it means in the context of
the work at large: it may be in the wrong movement, but
this is the sonata’s first real affirmation of its home key, A
major.

However moving and inventive the first movement of Op.

101 is, it’s as if the piece finds its essence only gradually.

NOTES

2nd Mvt.: Painting in Primary and Secondary Colors

From F major, Beethoven travels to remote D-flat major,
and at the point at which he reaches it, he instructs the
pianist to hold the pedal down. This is one of Beethoven’s
classic pedal markings, blurring several harmonies together
and creating a fantastic haze that eliminates all the hard
edges.
© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 40 of 43
The D-flat major moment recalls the opening movement in
a way that absolutely nothing else in the march does. They
are harmonically opposed, but linked by a sense of
dislocation, of doubt.

Nearly the whole trio unfolds in strict two-part canon,

which means that one line is playing a precise imitation of
the other.

NOTES

3rd Mvt.: Creating a Cyclical Form Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101
When the march comes to a close, the work of unifying the III. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll. Adagio, ma
piece into a coherent whole remains ahead of us. This non troppo, con affetto
happens in emphatic, revolutionary fashion with the last
movement. This titanic movement is, in fact, two
movements joined into one extraordinary whole: a brief
slow movement, an interlude, and a proper finale. All this
is played without a pause.

Despite the remarkable character of the first movement, the

emotional heart and the goal point of the work lie in the
finale: yet another sense in which the sonata so clearly
belongs to the late period.

The content of this slow movement is really without

precedent: one of the most remarkable evocations of
aloneness in music.

Just as with the first movement, Beethoven refuses to “lay

down” the tonality—to establish it straight off the bat.
Wandering is an essential part of the makeup of this music.

Even though the character of this music—“con afetto,”

“sehnsuchtvoll”—anticipates romantic period music, the
counterpoint gives it a rather Bachian sonority.

Cyclical form became incredibly important in the romantic

generation—Schumann, in particular, used it again and
again—but Op. 101 is the first instrumental work of any
consequence to feature the return of an earlier movement.

The whole point of cyclical writing is that when the

material makes its reappearance, its emotional nature has
© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 41 of 43
been changed by what came in between.

The cyclical return features a strong element of surprise:

the feeling that opening material is now being presented
out of context. We see that very strongly in the case of Op.
101. At the outset of the piece, the opening theme is less
confident than one might have expected from a “sonata
allegro.” But when it returns, coming out of the deep
despair of the slow movement, it almost sounds optimistic.

And finally, finally the answer! An affirmation: A 5-1

cadence that answers the question implicit in the opening
of the piece, which we have just reheard. When we had this
material the first time around—a whole movement of it—
we never got such an affirmation. Fourteen minutes into
the piece and we hadn’t had an affirmation of that kind,
ever, in the home key of A major. This is just the very
beginning—the first two notes!—of the last movement,
which, even counted separately from its introduction, is the
longest movement of the piece. But we understand
instantly that this movement exists to affirm, to answer and
resolve everything that has been in doubt for the entire
work thus far.

NOTES

3rd Mvt.: Delayed Resolution, Delayed Gratification…

Only after the piece reaches its lowest moment in the third
movement introduction, a point of real darkness, do we
move fully into the light. And then, when we do, we do.
All of the material in the exposition is, in one way or
another, ecstatic. Throughout, we have the feeling that
something that has been held in for the whole piece, thus
far, is now being released.

The other way in which this last movement represents a

fulfillment is in its obsession with counterpoint: in the
development, 15 minutes into a work that has been more-
or-less constantly interested in the interplay of the voices,
we finally get what seems inevitable: a fugue.

© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 42 of 43

NOTES

3rd Mvt.: …and Ultimate Triumph

It’s as if Beethoven knows that a movement of this
exuberance demands a hugely emphatic conclusion, but he
can’t find his way to one.

This is a cadence, but a half-hearted one: it is frustrating,

unfulfilled, and that creates anticipation. The anticipation is
heightened when Beethoven repeats it. And again. And
then, finally: the seven repeated A major chords that end
the sonata so triumphantly. This is absolutely vintage
Beethoven: when he finally gives us resolution, it’s on an
epic scale. The most famous example of this is the 5th
Symphony, which ends with nothing short of 29 measures
of uninterrupted C major. What happens in the sonata is
obviously less extreme, but the hammering home of those
seven chords not only provides the inconclusive last two
phrases with an answer, but also puts the cap on a work
whose trajectory is, rather than the far more common
darkness-to-light, doubt to certainty. This is a profound
demonstration not only of the way Beethoven’s late period
works build all the way to their conclusion, but also of the
way in which they have a message.

The Op. 101 sonata—one of his most mysterious

instrumental works—is also among his most profoundly
satisfying.

NOTES

© 2015 Jonathan Biss Updated: 05/31/2015 Page 43 of 43