Death in Beethoven's Piano Sonatas: an Analysis of Op. 26 and Op
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Death in Beethoven‘s Piano Sonatas: An Analysis of Op. 26 and Op. 110 Tiantian Liang Statement of Purpose While the subject of death appears in several of Beethoven‘s compositions, a dearth of information exists that answers how and why Beethoven explored this subject throughout his compositional output. In the piano sonata the clue lies in his choice with the unusual key of A♭, which many 18th-century theorists considered to be the key of the ―grave.‖1 Beethoven‘s choice of keys fit within the theories of key characteristics of the time. However, when it came to expressing death as a theme, Beethoven chose keys in an unconventional manner. Although Beethoven wrote several movements of piano sonatas in the key of A♭, Op. 26 and Op. 110 are the only two piano sonatas where A♭ is the main key for the work. Moreover, these are the only sonatas that feature both parallel keys of A♭ major and A♭ minor in a single work. Finally, both of these sonatas have a programmatic meaning attached to them: the third movement of Op. 26 is in A♭ minor with the title ―Funeral March, relating to the death of a hero.‖ Op. 110 quotes Bach‘s aria in the third movement, ―It is finished,‖ from the St. John Passion, which Beethoven chose to set in A♭ minor rather than Bach‘s original key of B minor. Coupling the choice of unusual keys and the programmatic content of these sonatas shows that these works make a significant statement about death. Beethoven‘s careful choice of keys reflects the Romantic aesthetic linking key characteristics to affect.2 As performers, scholars, and listeners, 1 Rita Steblin, A History of Key Characteristics in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Research Press, 1983). Steblin provides a comprehensive discussion on the history of key characteristics and musical affect. 2 Steblin, A History of Key Characteristics, 115. Liang-2 understanding how key choice in the compositional process is imperative to our conception and interpretation of these works. I will focus on these two sonatas as primary examples of how Beethoven expresses the subject of death. Additionally, I will include other pieces from his compositional work that also reference death. Background The idea that key and emotional affect were related was an idea that went back to the Greeks.3 During the 18th and 19th centuries, theorists including Johann Mattheson and Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg hypothesized that specific major and minor keys contained specific affects.4 Beethoven was familiar with the link between key and affect, and he most likely used it in crafting his compositions.5 To many theorists, the key of A♭ major expressed the ―meaning of the grave, death, putrefaction, [and] judgement.‖6 Beethoven wrote 32 piano sonatas spanning mostly his early and middle periods. Of the 32, only two sonatas are set in the key of A♭. Beethoven wrote the Piano Sonata in A♭ Major, Op. 26 in 1800 during what scholars consider an experimental period (from 1798 to 1802) in which his style was undergoing a transition from that of the ―first maturity‖ into that of the ―heroic decade.‖ Here, Beethoven used the piano as a ―laboratory of experimentation‖ to test new compositional techniques before using them in more public genres like the symphony.7 3 Steblin, 14. 4 See Chapter 4 for Steblin‘s chapter on Mattheson and Chapter 6 for her discussion on Marpurg. 5 Barry Cooper, Beethoven and the Creative Process (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990). 6 Rita Steblin, A History of Key Characteristics in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries, ed. George Buelow, Studies in Musicology, No. 67 (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Research Press, 1983). 7 Lewis Lockwood, Beethoven: The Music and the Life (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003). 136 Liang-3 Eleven piano sonatas (Opp. 13–28 and Opus 31) come from this experimental period.8 Most importantly, Beethoven began to expand the idea of what the piano sonata could become or even express through its content—not only through his alterations to the formal and structural elements but also to the character and affect. As mentioned above, the third movement of Op. 26 has a descriptive title (in lieu of the more common tempo marking) and is set in the rarely used9 and lamenting10 key of A♭ minor. This pairing of A♭ and the subject of death mark the work as a significant step in the evolution of the piano sonata. Additionally, this movement is the first funeral march written by Beethoven. He would later use this form in the second movement of the ‗Eroica‘ Symphony. Program music becomes a part of Beethoven‘s later compositions. In addition, Beethoven tests new boundaries with the formal structure of the 18th-century sonata. His piano sonatas from 1800 to 1803 show a pattern of using unconventional movement plans.11 Although not Beethoven‘s first piano sonata with four movements,12 Op. 26 begins to break with the conventional 18th-century three-movement piano sonata. Most significantly, none of the movements are in sonata-allegro form. For the first movement, Beethoven opts to begin with a theme and variations form with a slower and more lyrical theme. Also, Beethoven changes the expected fast-slow-fast-fast pattern of the sonata by placing the quicker scherzo as the second movement. The late piano sonatas (Opp. 109–111) were composed between 1820 to 1822. The Piano Sonata in A♭ Major, Op. 110 (1821) is the middle work of the trio. Beethoven composed these three sonatas simultaneously. Although these were not Beethoven‘s final compositions, they were the last major works he composed for the piano—an instrument that played a significant 8 Lockwood, The Music and the Life, 136. 9 Steblin, History of Key Characteristics, 111. 10 Steblin, 123. 11 Lewis Lockwood, Beethoven: Studies in the Creative Process (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992), 148. 12 The Piano Sonata in B♭ Major, Op. 22 has four movements. Liang-4 role throughout his life as a composer and performer. As with the sonatas of 1798 to 1803, Beethoven experiments with the structure within the established three-movement sonata in Op. 110. The first movement is in sonata-allegro form while the second movement is a scherzo. However, what is most significant is Beethoven‘s use of forms found in Bach and earlier composers. In Op. 110, Beethoven quotes Bach, who‘s pieces served as inspiration during Beethoven‘s younger years. The third movement of Op. 110, marked ―Adagio, ma non troppo,‖ is the most unusual movement out of the sonata in structure. Starting with a recitative, an aria follows with a melody that unmistakably references Johann Sebastian Bach‘s “Es ist vollbracht” from St. John Passion. Instead of setting this quotation in Bach‘s original key of B minor, Beethoven opts instead to use the wailing key of A♭ minor,13 which further enhances the connection to death. Example 1. Piano Sonata in A♭ Major, Op. 110: III. Adagio ma non troppo, mm. 9–10. 13 Steblin, 123. Liang-5 Example 2. ―Es ist vollbracht‖ from St. John Passion, m. 1. Marked Arioso dolente, the Klagender Gesang (tearful song) quotation references the moment when Jesus Christ says, ―It is finished.‖ This is one of the last words he says before giving up his spirit on the cross. The alto aria reflects on these words, which were part of the last seven words Christ says on the cross. Op. 110 represents Beethoven‘s interest in music of the past, and his key choice links the piece to death. For the aria, Beethoven purposefully uses only six flats in the key signature—this is the case even though seven would be required for the set key of A♭ minor. Instead of using seven flats, Beethoven opts to write the necessary F♭ as accidentals into the score. Example 3. ―Adagio ma non troppo‖ from Sonata in A♭ major, Op. 110, mm. 23–24. He took this practice from the Baroque period where composers omitted the last flat or sharp in the key signature. This is Beethoven‘s subtle nod to music of the past. This is especially notable because Beethoven writes out the full seven flats into the key signature in Op. 26 (which is the only other movement in A♭ minor). Liang-6 Example 4. ―Marcia funebre‖ from Sonata in A♭ major, Op. 26, mm. 1–4. Several scholars have already noted Beethoven‘s interest in music of the past and counterpoint in the late works.14 Beethoven also explores Baroque forms in other late works (Grosse Fugue, Symphony in D Minor, and Missa Solemnis). Beethoven sought to incorporate these forms into the sonata. Following the first Aria, it is fugue in A♭ major. Example 5. ―Allegro ma non troppo‖ from Sonata in A-flat Major, Op. 110, mm. 27–30. Key relationship is a crucial part of this movement. The music returns to the second Aria in G minor through a descending G minor arpeggio. 14 Martin Cooper, Beethoven: The Last Decade (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985), 416; Lewis Lockwood, Beethoven: The Music and the Life (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003), 366. Liang-7 Example 6. ―Allegro ma non troppo‖ from Sonata in A-flat Major, Op. 110, mm. 111–118. Afterward, the second aria leads into a fugue in G major through an ascending G major arpeggio. Christian Schubart theorized that the key of G minor expressed ―discontent, uneasiness, [and] worry…‖ while G major meant ―everything rustic, idyllic and lyrical…[and] tender gratitude.‖15 This change in key changes the affect in the fugue subject.