Piano Sonata No. 27 (Beethoven)
Encyclopedia
The Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor
is Ludwig van Beethoven
's Op.
90. The work, written in the summer of 1814
in Beethoven's late Middle period, was dedicated to Count Moritz von Lichnowsky.
:
The first movement is written in a 3/4 tempo
, sounding mysteriously agitated and restless, described by Beethoven as 'a contest between the head and heart'. The second movement, a rondo
in the tonic major
, however, quiets down into a beautiful melody with a 2/4
rhythm. The two contrasting movements suggest an agitated situation calmed by restful contentness. Notably, Beethoven uses German tempo marks for both movements.
English composer Bramwell Tovey
characterized the movement as one 'full of passionate and lonely energy'. This contrasting gesticulation of emotion is especially evident in the piece's discernible dialogical form, where the head exposes an idea which is thereafter disputed by the heart.
E minor
E minor is a minor scale based on the note E. The E natural minor scale consists of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. The E harmonic minor scale contains the natural 7, D, rather than the flatted 7, D – to align with the major dominant chord, B7 .Its key signature has one sharp, F .Its...
is Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Op.
Opus number
An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
90. The work, written in the summer of 1814
1814 in music
- Events :* Invention of the metronome by Johann Nepomuk Mälzel*February 27: Première of Beethoven's Eighth Symphony in Vienna*November – Gypsy composer János Bihari plays to the court during the Congress of Vienna....
in Beethoven's late Middle period, was dedicated to Count Moritz von Lichnowsky.
Form
Unlike a typical sonata, this piece consists of two highly contrasting movementsMovement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
:
- Mit Lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck (With liveliness and with feeling and expression throughout)
- Nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar vorgetragen (Not too swiftly and conveyed in a singing manner) (cantabileCantabileCantabile is a musical term meaning literally "singable" or "songlike" . It has several meanings in different contexts. In instrumental music, it indicates a particular style of playing designed to imitate the human voice. For 18th century composers, the term is often used synonymously with...
)
The first movement is written in a 3/4 tempo
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
, sounding mysteriously agitated and restless, described by Beethoven as 'a contest between the head and heart'. The second movement, a rondo
Rondo
Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also to a character-type that is distinct from the form...
in the tonic major
E major
E major is a major scale based on E, with the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps .Its relative minor is C-sharp minor, and its parallel minor is E minor....
, however, quiets down into a beautiful melody with a 2/4
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
rhythm. The two contrasting movements suggest an agitated situation calmed by restful contentness. Notably, Beethoven uses German tempo marks for both movements.
English composer Bramwell Tovey
Bramwell Tovey
Bramwell Tovey, OM is an English-born Grammy Award winning conductor and composer. His musical roots are in The Salvation Army. He was educated at Ilford County High School, the Royal Academy of Music and the University of London. His formal music education was as a pianist and composer...
characterized the movement as one 'full of passionate and lonely energy'. This contrasting gesticulation of emotion is especially evident in the piece's discernible dialogical form, where the head exposes an idea which is thereafter disputed by the heart.
Head and heart
The entire piece entertains this form and elevates to noticeable climaxes, where one of the two aspects (i.e. head or heart) erupts into intimated expression that is subject to interpretation but is clearly pertinent to the composer's intention and perception of the sonata. The head, which opens the piece, can be viewed as the bold, firm, definite melody that sets the mood and key and is fortified by block chords and one that exudes impregnable resolution, whereas the lighter, more poignant ruminations echo the heart's desire to break free of cerebral constraint. The descending scalic passages are a mixture of the two aspects, though the dogma of head likely shines through in bars 45-54.Media
External links
- A lecture by András SchiffAndrás SchiffAndrás Schiff is a Hungarian-born British classical pianist, who has won a number of awards including the Grammy and made numerous recordings.- Biography :...
on Beethoven's piano sonata op. 90