Sonata Op 106 'Hammerklavier' by Beethoven (1)
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Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 106, known as the Große Sonate für das Hammerklavier, or more simply as the Hammerklavier, is widely considered to be one of the most important works of the composer's third period and one of the great piano sonatas. It is considered Beethoven's single most difficult composition for the piano, with the possible exception of the Diabelli Variations, and it remains one of the most challenging solo works in the entire piano repertoire.
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Composition of the Sonata
The sonata was written primarily from the summer of 1817 to the late autumn of 1818, towards the end of a fallow period in Beethoven's compositional career, and represents the spectacular emergence of many of the themes that were to recur in Beethoven's late period: the reinvention of traditional forms, such as sonata form; a brusque humour; and a return to pre-classical compositional traditions, including an exploration of modal harmony and reinventions of the fugue (of U.S. 2) within classical forms.
The Hammerklavier also set precedents for the length of solo compositions (it runs for approximately 50 minutes); while orchestral works such as symphonies and concerti had often contained movements of 15 or even 20 minutes for many years, few single movements in solo literature had such a span before the Hammerklavier's Adagio sostenuto.
The sonata's name comes from Beethoven's later practice of using German rather than Italian words for musical terminology (Hammerklavier literally means "hammer-keyboard" while pianoforte means "soft-loud") . It comes from the title page of the work, which says "Große Sonate für das Hammerklavier", i.e. "Grand sonata for piano". The more sedate Sonata No. 28 in A, Op. 101 has the same description, but the epithet has come to apply to the Sonata No. 29 only.
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9 сен 2024
