Complete Cello Sonatas & Variations
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Beethoven Complete Cello Sonatas & Variations Marco Testori cello · Costantino Mastroprimiano fortepiano Ludwig van Beethoven 1770-1827 Complete Sonatas & Variations CD1 71’49 CD2 61’42 The collection of compositions for Piano-Forte and cello that Ludwig van Beethoven Cello Sonata in F Op.5 No.1 Cello Sonata in C Op.102 No.1 wrote during the whole course of his life reveal not only the evolution of tastes – 1. I. Adagio sostenuto 2’22 1. I. Andante 2’38 his own and that of his contemporaries – but also the progress made in instrument 2. II. Allegro 13’42 2. II. Allegro vivace 5’06 construction and in performance technique. 3. III. Rondo: Allegro vivace 6’43 3. III. Adagio – Tempo d’andante 2’09 When Beethoven moved from Bonn to Vienna, his presence brought a degree of 4. IV. Tempo d’andante 4’07 Cello Sonata in G minor Op.5 No.2 innovation to Viennese musical life, where the main points of reference were Haydn 4. I. Adagio sostenuto Cello Sonata in D Op.102 No.2 and Mozart, who had died a little earlier. ed espressivo 4’16 5. I. Allegro con brio 4’07 In his first keyboard works (Trios Op.1, Sonatas Op.2 and the Cello Sonatas Op.5), 5. II. Allegro molto, 6. II. Adagio con molto Beethoven’s unconventional, highly self-assured approach is particularly evident, not piu tosto presto 10’04 sentimento d’affetto 6’05 only in his singular use of musical language and accentuation, but also in the new 6. III. Rondò: Allegro 9’11 7. III. Allegro - Allegro fugato 6’15 approach to performance that he clearly embraced. For the Op.5 Sonatas as well as the other works mentioned above, his encounter with Cello Sonata in A Op.69 8. Variations on “See the the instruments built by Anton Walter considerably influenced the way he composed 7. I. Allegro ma non tanto 12’16 conque’ring hero comes” 12’03 for the keyboard because their mechanisms and sound allowed for greater boldness and 8. II. Scherzo. Allegro molto 5’09 from Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus impetus. With the increased precision of the keyboard, for instance, he could achieve 9. III. Adagio cantabile 1’15 Wo045 more brilliant, dramatic effects than was possible with the instruments built by Stein 10. IV. Allegro vivace 6’44 9. Variations on “Bei Männer, and Schantz. During the same period, Duport also introduced new features in cello welche Liebe fühlen” 8’57 technique, and this too contributed to Beethoven’s compositional freedom. from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte For the first time in the history of the cello repertoire, both instruments were Wo046 invested with equal importance, overcoming the strict hierarchy that had hitherto 10. Variations on “Ein Mädchen prevailed. In the accompanied sonata, for instance, one instrument was relegated to oder Weibchen” 10’03 the role of mere accompaniment, whereas here there was balance between the parts, from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte Op.66 which needed each other to complete the composition. The formal solutions adopted reflect this parity, to the extent that the parts could actually be inverted, freeing them of the stylistic traits associated with the individual instruments. Marco Testori cello · Costantino Mastroprimiano fortepaino The Op.5 Sonatas are intended to astound as well as to innovate. The way Cello: 1820, Panormo Family Piano: Anton Walter 1792 (Paul McNulty); Louis Dulcken 1815 (Mathias Kramer) Op.69; certain passages in the piano-forte echo others in the cello is an affirmation of the Conrad Graf 1819 (Paul McNulty) Op.102 effectiveness of exchanging parts to bring about change. It was thus that the cello came to be identified as a “chamber” instrument. The last two Op.102 sonatas fit in with the overall compositional context that This affirmative urge also led Beethoven to experiment with form. The Op.5 clearly began with the Sonata for Piano-Forte Op.101. By making greater use of the Sonatas both begin with a slow movement, which almost seems like a throwback to far ends of the keyboard, the contrasts in timbre as well as dynamics become more earlier usage in the accompanied sonatas. Yet their function is not just to introduce marked, not least because Beethoven was working on yet another instrument, a Graf, the allegros that follow, but rather to replace the slow movement that would once with its characteristic bass notes and the resonant transparency of the high notes. have followed the first. Form thus tends to reflect a sequence of movements that reconcile the structural The two allegros are structured differently. Noteworthy in this respect is the features adopted (for the allegro with the slow introduction) with the introduction introduction of a written cadenza in the first movement of Op.5 No.1, as in the first of ‘fugue’ elements in the last movements. This practically amounts to going beyond movement of the Piano Sonata Op.2 No.3. form and the rondo movement. With Op.69 the form develops from 2 to 4 movements, maintaining the slow first While the counterpoint code is covertly introduced in the last movement of Op.102 movement. No.1, in Op.102 No.2 it is explicit, though little else reveals obeisance to the canons Explicit analogies in the way this sonata is handled can be found in other and rules pertaining to fugues. Although in Sonata Op.106 the license is overt, here compositions of the same period (the Op.53 and Op.57 Sonatas, for example). the last movement is handled with complete autonomy: in the central part a figured During these years Beethoven was working on an Erard Piano-Forte, which differed theme different from that of the outset (a reference to the duality of sonata form?) is in sound and mechanism from the Viennese instruments, calling for disparate use of presented and made to interact with the elements of the earlier exposition. Ultimately the keyboard and compositional style. all this material flows into a harmonic affirmation of the movement, like a sort of One of the salient features of the sonata is certainly the way it begins with a solo catharsis. cello passage. Although this may seem unique for the Sonatas as such, Beethoven Variations on themes from operas and oratorios were a way of testing the actually chose to begin other compositions in a similar fashion during the same commercial and professional skills of composers and publishers alike. For the Piano- period: for instance, in the Op.47 Sonata or the outset of the Op.58 Concerto. Forte and cello repertoire sources for the melodies were Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus Those keen on numerology may seek to discover some rationale behind the interval and Mozart’s Zauberflöte. of 11 works that separates each of these compositions: 47-58-69. Since the Op.58 The themes presented embody the same timbre range they had in the original is a concerto and the Op.47 a Sonata Concertante, perhaps the Op.69 Cello Sonata context (the youths’ chorus for Handel or the duet for one of the Mozart arias). Each should also belong to the same category. cycle of Variations adheres to a relatively homogeneous framework (solo, minor, The second movement reveals a different way of handling the scherzo and trio coda), with the two instruments creating not only a fairly even chamber dialogue, but format, based on a keyboard pattern that has always unnerved performers. Granted, also various affects, typical of Variations of the period. there are numerous possible approaches to the piece, but this recording is based on © Costantino Mastroprimiano what Carlo Czerny made clear in the fourth part of the Op.500. Translation by Kate Singleton Il corpus delle composizioni per Piano-Forte e violoncello accompagna l’intera vita per affermare tali novità e ribadirne la validità proprio attraverso lo scambio delle di L. v. B., rivelando non solo l’evoluzione del gusto del compositore e dei suoi parti. Così facendo, il violoncello assume la definitiva connotazione di strumento contemporanei ma anche il progredimento nella costruzione degli strumenti e nella “cameristico”. tecnica di esecuzione. Questa voglia di affermazione porta Beethoven a giocare anche con la forma. Quando Beethoven arrivò a Vienna da Bonn, egli rappresentò un’apparizione Le sonate Op.5 sono precedute entrambe da un movimento lento, quasi a voler innovatrice nel panorama musicale Viennese che aveva soprattutto in Haydn e continuare l’antico uso delle sonate accompagnate. La loro funzione tuttavia non nell’appena scomparso Mozart i suoi punti di riferimento. è soltanto introduttiva degli allegri seguenti, ma nell’insieme della forma arriva a Le prime opere per tastiera (Trii Op.1, Sonate Op.2 e Sonate con violoncello sostituire il movimento lento che sarebbe di norma dovuto seguire al primo. Op.5) risentono più che altre dell’atteggiamento trasgressivo e volutamente Anche i due allegri sono costituiti da due diversi schemi. Non può sfuggire per affermativo del giovane compositore. Non soltanto un uso spregiudicato del lessico e esempio l’inserimento di una cadenza (scritta) nel primo movimento dell’Op.5 No.1, dell’accentuazione musicale, ma anche un totale schieramento a favore di un nuovo come già nel primo movimento della sonata per pianoforte Op.2 No.3. approccio esecutivo. Con l’Op.69 la forma passa da 2 a 4 movimenti, sempre con movimento lento Per le sonate Op.5 (come per le altre opere succitate) fondamentale per la scrittura iniziale. tastieristica fu l’incontro con gli strumenti di Anton Walter, che consentivano La scrittura di questa sonata contiene esplicite analogie con altre composizioni nuove arditezze sia meccaniche che sonore.