Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Sonata in A major for piano and cello Op. 69
Beethoven’s five cello sonatas were created between 1796 and 1815, when his work was undergoing changes that lead to his final, individual style. The fact of writing sonatas „for piano and cello” was an innovation: Beethoven meant to stress that, instead of treating the piano as mere accompaniment, the instrument is given rights equal to those of the cello. This road was later followed by Brahms; in his work, both instruments became typically Romantic conveyors of “the language of emotion.”
Sonata in A major for piano and cello was born in the years 1807-08, in a close proximity of Pastoral Symphony. It was dedicated to Baron Ignaz Freiherr von Gleichenstein, amateur cellist and friend of the composer. Beethoven used the experience of Joseph Haydn, whose ideal of chamber music consisted in a dazzling conversation of instruments, directed at a friendly exchange of thoughts and wholesome competition.
∙ Movement One, Allegro ma non tanto, begins with a solo song of the cello (dolce), from which the piano takes over the lyrical tone of the opening theme. However, according to the rules of Beethovenian dialectics, the music changes its image to a tempestuous one (A minor) to return to the mood of serene lyricism in the second theme (E major). The architecture of this movement has been inscribed into the traditional sonata model with the following components: exposition, development with short, singing theme, recapitulation and coda. This model also functions as the basis for the sonata’s finale.
∙ The dramaturgy of Scherza. Allegro molto works through an opposition of scale (major-minor) and character. The minor (A) was associated with the sharp (syncopated) profile of rhythm; the major (A) – with a quasi-folkloric (the piano’s bourdons and ostinatos) and quasi-hymnic expression (the melody in cello).
∙ The lyrical Adagio cantabile (encompassed in a graceful musical period) functions as an introduction to Allegro vivace and is a portent of Romanticism, the era of the Lied. Yet Beethoven abandons the lyrical sphere for musical action (the remarkable chromatisms in the development!), where the instruments find joy in their concert, sealing their agreement in a reckless coda.
Małgorzata Janicka-Słysz