Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58: The First & Second Movements revisited

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 23, 2020)

Each of Beethoven's five virtuoso piano concerti represents a landmark. What does the term “virtuoso” implies? Is it simply showing off one's skills and speed? For many 19th century virtuosi, unfortunately, that was the case, and the term "empty virtuosity" came to personify their concerts.

However, the term “virtuoso”, comes from the word “virtue”, implying higher moral qualities of an individual as exemplified by their skill and mastery of their art. In Beethoven’s time, society had advanced a long way from feudalism, but it was still the case that artists were considered inferior to the aristocracy. Beethoven led the way in changing that.

What is a Beethoven piano concerto? Beethoven was both the best pianist, and the best composer of his time. Both in service of virtue, and in demonstrating what a single individual can accomplish, he set a new standard. In the piano concerto, we are not only hearing a great composition, we are hearing the composer improvising, soaring, spreading his wings, and forging his way through a new discovery founded upon the highest ideals. Beethoven's wealthy patrons were in awe and wanted to experience more of such elevation of the human spirit, as opposed to the stiffness of their daily courtly life.

The Fourth Piano Concerto was the last concerto that Beethoven introduced to the public with himself as pianist. He had asked others to play it (his hearing was already bad), but they found reasons not to. Small wonder.

On June 21st, we identified the second movement as an incredible dialogue derived from the story of Orpheus and Euridice. Does the rest of the concerto relate to that story? Though the concerto was first performed in 1808, it was composed a couple of years earlier around the same time as his Piano Sonata Op. 57, the Appassionata. They bear some similarities. The piano sonata starts out with a juxtaposition. The theme is stated in F minor. It is immediately repeated in Gb major. The tones, Db to C, on the rhythm of the Fifth Symphony, play with this ambiguity of key.

As soon as we hear the opening tones of the Fourth Concerto, we know that something different is about to occur. Never before has a piano concerto opened with the piano. You always have an instrumental exposition. In the Fifth Concerto, Beethoven would take that much further, and open the work with a piano cadenza. Why? It has to do with virtue. The soloist is like the protagonist in a play, and should set the tone from the get-go. In both the 4th and 5th concerti, the piano, after making its mark, steps back, and lets the orchestra establish the major themes to be addressed.

This short opening phrase by the piano is answered by a repetition of the same phrase by the orchestra. BUT, there is a huge difference. The piano sings in G major, with B as the opening melodic tone. The orchestra answers with the same phrase, but situates it in in B Major, a key so far removed that we have to consider it a juxtaposition, or an antiphonal response. In that way it does relate to the antiphony between the strings (Furies) and piano (Orpheus) in the second movement.

We provide a short audio file makes for clarity:

https://soundcloud.com/user-216951281/beethoven-piano-concerto-number-4-op-58

We also present here a recording of the complete concerto, performed by Hélène Grimaud and Cristoph Eschenbach.

At 2:30 in this recording, we hear a quote from the Appassionata sonata.

At 4:20, the piano enters in a style that reminds us of an improvisation.

The cadenza is the place where the soloist reveals both his technical virtuosity, and his understanding of the movement. We hear echoes of the Appassionata throughout the cadenza (15:42-19:04).

The Second Movement:

There are scholars who deny any connection of this movement to the Orpheus story, but there are also many who acknowledge it. The movement is so different from anything else and is so dramatic, that it does not fit any musical form.

One respected scholar, the late Owen Jander, wrote:

“Any reader who has made a close study of the second movement of this concerto is aware that to try to relate this work to any of the recurring forms of slow movements of Classical concertos is futile. My own conviction is that any attempt to analyze the form of this movement without constant reference to its Orphic program is equally futile…In my opinion, to analyze this work without program misses the point of the form.”

Jander pointed out the resonances between Beethoven and Gluck (covered yesterday), and that Beethoven's friend, Friedrich August Kanne, had written an opera on the subject. Jander identified several points at which the text of Kanne's opera matched Beethoven's phrases. The strings, representing the Furies, enter with "Ha! Who dares approach this place?" They sing in octaves, and in harsh declamatory terms.

The piano represents Orpheus with his lyre, and sings beautifully in 4-voiced harmony, but “una corda” (using only one string per note, which gives it a very gentle and warm singing tone). He sings that he gladly enters this realm-for love.

As the movement progresses, we hear the voices of the furies softening, relenting.

Suddenly a terrifying trill erupts. We have heard it foreshadowed in the first movement at 10:34. Beethoven shifts from “una corda” to “due corda” and “tre corde”. Should we still seek literary comparisons? If not, how do we account for it? Jander suggests it represents:

1. Orpheus violating the conditionality that he not look at Eurydice until they are safely back on earth

2. Eurydice falling back

3. Her last Farewell.

https://youtu.be/QRQaViIjFHk

How will Beethoven end this mighty work?

Beethoven Rarity: Beethoven and the Aristocracy

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 22, 2020)

Beethoven had many admirers among the aristocracy. Some were musicians, and others were even amateur composers. Among them were Count Lichnovsky, Count Zmeskall, Count Rasumovsky, Count Lobkowitz, Baroness Therese Malfatti, Prince Galitzin, and Archduke Rudolph.

In the past, such blue-bloods often treated composers as mere hired help and not the innovators that they actually were. Mozart was made to sit with the kitchen staff at a banquet, and some of Beethoven's patrons, like Count Esterhazy, treated him just as badly.

However, for those who truly admired the genius of Beethoven, they had to accept who was the master of musical matters. It was not always easy for such people to give up their accustomed identity of class superiority, and sometimes, Beethoven had to address this head on. Beethoven broke at one point with Count Lichnovsky, who was a major supporter, saying:

"Prince, what you are, you are by accident of birth; what I am, I am of myself. There are and will be thousands of princes, but there is

only one Beethoven."

Lichnovsky loved Beethoven's music so much however, that after this, he would sneak up to Beethoven's apartment, and sit outside the door, listening.

Count Zmeskall, another supporter, was an amateur composer. Beethoven wrote this musical joke for him. The words are:

Graf Graf Graf Graf!

Graf Graf Graf Graf!

Liebster Graf, leibster Schaf.

Besrer Graf. Bestes Schaf,

Schaf Schaf.

Count count count Count!

Count count count Count!

Beloved count Beloved Sheep.

The Best of Counts. The Best of Sheep,

Sheep Sheep.

Here it is: https://youtu.be/wCrEgC5yVh0

Is this an insult, or is it loving? Folks had thicker skins back in those days, and anyone worth his salt knew that you cannot criticize others without being able to make fun of yourself. Crusty aristocrats probably needed it more than anyone. We count this as a loving intervention. Apparently it quotes one of Count Zmeskall’s works.

Does "best of sheep", mean that the count was unoriginal and stuck to the norm, or does it mean that he paid close attention to the Shepard, who might be Beethoven? The count became ill in 1820, and could no longer meet with Beethoven. Nevertheless, in 1825, he managed to attend the world premier of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Beethoven and the Ancient Poets: The Second movement of the Fourth Piano Concerto

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 21, 2020)

Beethoven studied the ancient Greek and Latin poets. He read Plutach's “Lives”, which was one of his main sources for the “Coriolanus”. He therefore knows well, the story of Orpheus, who was famed by the Greeks as the greatest musician of all. When Orpheus’ wife, Eurydice died, Orpheus broke all the rules and entered Hades, in the hopes of bringing her back from death. Such a thing had never been done. The Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, gave him a lyre to take with him. If death could be reversed, only music could do so! Orpheus' lyre put the ferocious dog guarding Hades, Cerberus, to sleep.

Erebus was both an ancient God who represented the very soul of darkness, and the lowest place in Hades. According to the ancient poet, Virgil, Orpheus' song moved even the depth of Erebus:

“The insubstantial shadows, and the phantoms of those without light, came from the lowest depths of Erebus, startled by his song”

Shakespeare must have been aware of this, when he wrote, in his " Merchant of Venice”:

"Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast...

The man that hath no music in himself,

Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,

Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils;

The motions of his spirit are dull as night,

And his affections dark as Erebus.

Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music."

According to the other ancient poet, Ovid, Orpheus sings:

“Love conquers. This god is well known in the upper world;...

But nevertheless, I sense that he also is here,

I beg by these places full of despair

by this huge Chaos and the silence of this desolate kingdom,

unweave the premature death of Eurydice!”

Orpheus has to conquer the hearts of the Erinyes, presided over by the Furies—ancient Goddesses who knew neither mercy, nor love, only the fixed code of revenge. Aeschylus dealt with them best, in his magnificent Orestes Trilogy.

Virgil captures the enormous rage of the Furies:

“Not for nothing does divine anger harass you:

you atone for a heavy crime: it is you,

Orpheus, wretched man,

who brings this punishment on yourself...”

The condition laid upon Orpheus was that he not look upon Eurydice until they were back on Terra Firma. He failed the test, and Eurydice was drawn back to Hades. However, we are drawn to the miracle of the first person allowed to escape death, through the power of music.

That music has the power to escape death must be a fascinating idea to composers. Gluck wrote a wonderful representation of Orpheus' encounter with the Furies in the following composition:

According to Beethoven's first biographer A.B. Marx (whom both Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn saw as the man who helped them comprehend the late Beethoven), the second movement of the the Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, was based on the story of Orpheus’s journey to Hades. Certainly, the second movement suggests that this could be true!

We present here a version conducted by Furtwangler in 1943. The Nazis were in power at the time in Germany. Furtwangler said in an interview that he stayed to defend beautiful German culture against these thugs who took over his homeland. History showed that he had the courage to have shouting matches with Hitler over the right to have Jewish musicians in his orchestra. His fight for the soul of Germany is in some ways, like Orpheus’s fight in Hades to win back his beloved Eurydice. We submit that this performance would have left the Nazis in the audience, in a state of extreme discomfort.

We will soon address the rest of this magnificent concerto.

Beethoven and Shakespeare

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 20, 2020)

We already discussed the deep influence that the poet, Friedrich Schiller, had on Beethoven. This was not limited to the Beethoven’s composition of the Ninth Symphony.

Beethoven and Schiller shared a common love of Shakespeare. Schiller wrote a poem called “Shakespeare's Ghost”, and many of his plays addressed Shakespeare's themes. As a boy, Beethoven was privileged to see several Shakespearean plays presented at the National Theater in Bonn. The Elector Max Franz had made it a public theater, and the theater director Gustav Grossman presented many works by Schiller and Shakespeare, as well as operas that Grossman co-wrote with Beethoven's piano teacher Neefe. Shakespeare's genius was regarded as universal. The Jewish philosopher, Moses Mendelssohn (grandfather of Felix Mendelssohn), translated “Hamlet” into German:

Sein, oder nicht sein

Das, ist die Frage!

Beethoven owned a 12 volume translation of Shakespeare by Eschenburg, and later acquired what he found to be a better translation by Schlegel, which he later offered to his friend Countess Malfatti.

References to Shakespeare pepper Beethoven's correspondences. He especially liked to invoke the notion of Sir John Falstaff, Shakespeare's overweight, over-sensuous comedic knight. Notice Shakespeare’s pun on Falstaff's name: The prophet Isaiah refers to bread as the "staff of life." But if you over-consume in whatever the sensuous delight, you are basing your life on a "False Staff." Beethoven made fun of his own overweight string quartet leader Schuppanzigh, in this hilarious canon, “Falstafferel”:

We have already identified Shakespeare's role in the "Ghost Trio"(May 5th post), and in the "Coriolan Overture" (May 29th post).

Other references to Skakespeare include the Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2 (composed 1801-2). When Schindler asked Beethoven what this new sonata was about, Beethoven replied, " Read Shakespeare's Tempest." It has since been known as "The Tempest" sonata.

ROMEO AND JULIET: In his sketches for his String Quartet Op. 18, No. 1, 2nd movement, Beethoven invoked Shakespeare's scene where Romeo enters Juliet's tomb. When his friend Karl Amenda, after hearing it remarked that it reminded him of two lovers parting, Beethoven responded: "Good, I was thinking of the burial vault scene of Juliet."

Shakespeare's play was already over 200 years old when Beethoven was born. Yet, composers of the time lived and breathed poetic ideas. It is as if they could read each other's minds! Near the end of the second movement, Beethoven clearly elicited the death scene. Over his sketches, towards the end of the movement, he wrote, in French:

“il prend le tombeau,” (he enters the tomb) “despoir,” (despair) “il se tue,” ( he kills himself),

and “les dernier soupirs,” (the last sighs)

You can hear how that idea dramatically changes the movement beginning at 7:17, without disrupting it. It has been prepared. Beethoven did not enter those words into the final score. He was wary of the type of literal representation that would soon arise. Yet, the reference is unmistakable.

On June 15th, we posted a little known gem. Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10, No. 3. Although we have no direct reference, the slow movement also strikes us as a work that must have such a dramatic scene from great literature as its origin. We post that single movement again. Tell us if you hear the drama in this context.

https://youtu.be/cVtproooi8w

Concluding the Fourth Symphony:

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 19, 2020)

Dear friends, we hope that we’ve revealed for you, the many riches of the Fourth Symphony.

In conclusion, we leave you with three different versions of the symphony by three very different conductors, for your enjoyment and contemplation.

1. Wilhelm Furtwangler

2. John Eliot Gardiner

3. In 4 parts, Pablo Casals

Beethoven's Fourth Symphony-4th movement: The Descent into the Maelstrom

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 18, 2020)

Listening to the Fourth movement of this symphony is a bit like riding a tornado. (Ft 1)

In Edgar Allen Poe's short story, "The Descent into the Maelstrom", two brothers are caught in a small boat in a huge whirlpool that sucks everything down. How does one survive? Does one employ time-tested methods, or does a new situation require a new approach?

One brother chooses the time-tested method by grabbing on to the most solid part of the boat. The other brother discerns that the boat is going down, willy-nilly, and notices that a barrel is circling around, but always at the same level. He finds the courage to leap off ship, and grab on to the barrel. You can guess who survived.

This is an excellent metaphor for what Beethoven demands of us in this work. Coming back to composer Carla Maria von Weber's lament:

"to end all a furious finale, in which the only requisite is that there should be no ideas for the hearer to make out, but plenty of transitions from one key to another – on to the new note at once! never mind modulating! – above all things, throw rules to the winds, for they only hamper a genius."

What was Weber talking about? Bear in mind how revolutionary this movement sounded back then and put yourself back in time to when it was new and shocking!

Weber is a bit like the brother who grabbed on to what he thought was solid. The universe has changed. Beethoven is communicating geometric discoveries here, and one has to follow them geometrically, in order to not be left behind! Rather than describe the entire movement, we provide a 5 minute audio guide to the entire work, and leave you free to make your own discoveries.

https://soundcloud.com/user-216951281/beethovens-fourth-symphony-4th-movement-the-descent-into-the-maelstrom

Ft 1: This description far better fits the Grosse Fuge. If you wish, please read the story by Poe, and review the postings from June 2 to June 9.

Beethoven's Fourth Symphony Third Movement: From the Stately Minuet to the Rollicking Scherzo: Or, how Beethoven Made a Revolution

DAILY DOSE OF BEETHOVEN (June 17, 2020)

How important is the musical form? Leave aside sonata form for the moment. Though precedents exist in the writings of Anton Reicha and A.B. Marx, it was largely the invention of a scoundrel, Carl Czerny, long after Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert were dead. They had never heard of it!

Other forms, such as the Rondo, and dances like the Minuet had been around for a while. In 17th century music, particularly in France where L'Academie Francaise applied very strict rules in music, dance, and theater (a play had to be limited to a vocabulary of 500 words, and take place within a time period of two days. These rules of drama stemmed from Aristotle, who only allowed one day. No wonder one can read a play by Moliere in first-year French.)

A 17th-century Minuet was meant to be danced to, and a strict form was usually obeyed. The Minuet contains an A section of 8 measures which repeats, followed by a B section which also repeats and sometimes returns to A, and can last 12 measures. The middle section is called "the trio, with a C and D section of the same proportions. It was called a "trio" because it was played by three instruments. We then return to the Minuet, we hear A and B again, but without the repeats.

This "Minuet" by Boccherini, who came a century later, still adheres to the dance form and is fairly predictable:

https://youtu.be/xjps5RUKCeM

-The 8 measure A begins at 0:17.

-It repeats at 0:30.

-The 12 measure B, which returns to A, begins at 0:43.

-It repeats at 1:03.

-The Trio begins at 1:23 with an 8 measure C, which repeats at 1:37.

-A 16 measure D begins at 1:49 and repeats at 2:14.

-The Minuet's A section returns at 2:49 but does not repeat.

It is lovely, but it is meant for dancing and is very predictable.

Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven increasingly made loving fun of these forms. They did not throw them away but introduce contrapuntal and metrical ironies. Is a "Minuet" by Haydn totally danceable, totally undanceable, or somewhere in between, where those ironies will cause the dance partners to trip over each other? Watch this hilarious video for the results (when it says Minuet digression and Trio digression, it is equivalent to what we labeled the B and D parts):

https://youtu.be/8wDTGCxZIJA

The music must no longer be a mere servant of " The Dance."

The "Scherzo" has also been around for a long time. The word derives from the Italian for "joke." It was Haydn who first substituted it for the "Minuet" (as in his Op. 33 Quartets). But it was Beethoven who made it a revolution. It is generally faster than the Minuet, and even more playful. It examines what is behind the form, what generates it, without abandoning it. Beethoven still labeled the middle section as "a Trio", and still pared the instruments down for the Trio.

Today, we will merely identify the sections, but soon we will integrate it into the entire symphony. Today, we use Pablo Casals rendition, because he captures the metrical ironies so well.

-The A section is 20 measures long. It begins at 0:01 and repeats at 0:12.

-The B section, which returns to A, is a full 70 measures log: 32 measures on a new idea, and 38 on a repeat of A. It begins at 0:24, and repeats at 1:05. That's 140 measures for the opening "Minuet" section.

-The Trio, which is slower, and more tender, begins at 1:45. It should be of equal proportion to the Minuet, but it is only 88 measures long. Here, you can hear Beethoven playing with the form and extending resolutions.

-We return to A at 3:04. It does not repeat and proceeds straight to B at 3:16. Back to A at 3:35.

But wait a minute! Casals version lasts for another 2 minutes. Shouldn't we be done?

At 3:57 we suddenly hear the Trio again. Why is it back? It lasts longer than it did the first time. Maybe it is getting its full due. At 5:15, our, by now, old friend A is back and closes the movement.

You may have heard things that remind you of especially the first movement. We will tie them all together in the next post!

https://youtu.be/PI5-5dq8QiE

The famous "Appassionata" Sonata--Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57

DAILY DOSE OF BEETHOVEN (June 16, 2020)

Ludwig van Beethoven exemplifies what is called the “Promethean” outlook in art—the triumph over adversity in the service of a higher purpose--in this case, music. Reared by an abusive father, financially insecure all his life, and increasingly deaf from the age of 26, Beethoven refused to capitulate to any of these circumstances. In the last years of his life, while totally deaf, he not only perfected the string quartet and symphony, he explored and advanced Bach’s compositional methods, including in the fugal and double-fugal form, as seen in his "Große Fuge" (see June 2-9 posts about the Große Fuge), the conclusion of his string quartet in B-flat major, Op. 130. Beethoven thus proved that music was not primarily auditory, but spiritual, limited only by the capacity of the heart of the composer.

This piano sonata is part of a musical dialog among composers, starting with Bach. Like the Mozart "Fantasy in C minor", Beethoven’s "Appassionata" sonata is set in a minor key. Also, as in Mozart, it begins with double octaves and an ominous question played over four measures. The question preliminarily “resolves” into what momentarily appears to be the key of C major—the inversion of F minor. Unlike the Mozart, the opening sequence is repeated a halftone higher, not a halftone lower, thus beginning on G-flat and placing the piece in a new “mode”--sometimes called the “Neapolitan mode.” It also appears to resolve to D-flat major--also an inversion. The question comes a third time, but only over two measures and twice as fast, adding something new—four notes in a rhythmic bass line, a D-flat repeated three times, followed by a C. The rhythm is like that of the Fifth Symphony’s famous opening, and with much the same dramatic effect.

The fourth “question,” played over two measures, is shifted yet again, into another mode—the Lydian mode also earlier encountered in the "Fantasy". A fifth, Lydian posing of the question is the length of a single measure, followed by a broken arpeggiated figure in the Lydian mode. A new, never before seen method of sonata composition is then placed before the world, developing over the course of the entire first movement. There are no repeats in the movement, as was normal in most sonatas and normal also for Beethoven. He doesn’t want the listener to get comfortable. He demands the undivided attention for a single idea developed over a greater length than had been attempted by any other classical composer. With the piano sonata, he did what he had done with the symphony in his revolutionary "Eroica", the second movement, a theme with four variations, concludes with a Lydian arpeggiated chord that throws the listener immediately, without a break, into the last movement of the piece, a “perpetual motion” movement that continuously accelerates, not so much in tempo, but as in the density of ideas. The final "presto" section of the sonata accents this.

Beethoven re-wrote the “compositional rule-book” for piano sonata composition with his "Appassionata" and its investigation of new ways to utilize Johann Sebastian Bach’s methods of inversion, combined with revolutionary uses of the Lydian and other modalities.

There are many wonderful renditions of this piano sonata. We share with you here, an exhilarating live recording by Sviatoslav Richter in 1960. Please share with us your favorite!

https://youtu.be/ZS1fyFFCRRw

I. Allegro assai 0:00

II. Andante con moto 10:14

III. Allegro, ma non troppo - Presto 16:19

Hidden Gem—Piano Sonata No. 7, Op. 10, No. 3

DAILY DOSE OF BEETHOVEN (June 15, 2020)

At the beginning of his October 1802 Heiligenstadt testament, Beethoven stated:

"O you men who think or say that I am malevolent, stubborn, or misanthropic, how greatly do you wrong me. You do not know the secret cause which makes me seem that way to you. From childhood on, my heart and soul have been full of the tender feeling of goodwill, and I was even inclined to accomplish great things. But, think that for six years now I have been hopelessly afflicted, made worse by senseless physicians, from year to year deceived with hopes of improvement, finally compelled to face the prospect of a lasting malady (whose cure will take years or, perhaps, be impossible). Though born with a fiery, active temperament, even susceptible to the diversions of society, I was soon compelled to isolate myself, to live life alone…"

The composer, then 31 years old, had been advised to go to the town of Heiligenstadt by his doctor and surgeon Johan Adam Schmidt, in May of 1802. Schmidt treated Beethoven from 1801–1809, until Dr. Schmidt's death. Beethoven dedicated his Op. 38 piano/violin/cello trio to Schmidt. It was a form of “last will and testament”--a most intimate look into the inner life of the composer.

Our interest here is to note that the sonata No. 7, Op. 10, No. 3 in D major, written in 1798, occurred in the period when Beethoven began to experience acute hearing loss. A much overlooked work, it is one of his greatest sonatas. It is part of a set of three works that represents another distinct step in the development of Beethoven’s approach to the sonata form. The first two movements—the first in D major, and the second in D minor—could not be more contrasting.

From the opening of the first movement, we are introduced to its four-note motive, which we will hear throughout (measures 1–4). The interested listener can compare Beethoven’s approach here to the opening of his first Piano Sonata in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1. The first four measures, played staccato, are followed by a legato passage of six measures, in direct contrast to what has been stated at the outset. Irony—though not necessarily mere humor—weaves through the first 20 measures; the opening notes are all played in unison, like a fanfare, and then the exact same notes are played (measures 16–20) in a rhythmically broken pattern, with a sudden return to unison in loud double octaves (measures 21–22). The first “idea” is then halted in its tracks.

A new “theme” is introduced in the key of B minor, with a four-note figure in the bass echoing the use of the four tones at the beginning of the piece. There is a modulation to the “dominant key” of A major and to a theme often played wrong on many recordings and by many artists, as pointed out by pianist Andras Schiff (measures 53–65). Wrongly played, the four-note section, involving a grace-note, quarter note, and two eighth notes, is played (exactly like the beginning) four-part figure—which misses the entire point, and indicates a lack of clear thinking on the part of the player.

The second movement in D minor prefigures the emotional exploration that we will see explode in Beethoven’s very next Sonata No. 8 in C minor, the Pathetique, a study of Bach’s Musical Offering and Mozart’s 'Fantasy in C minor', as well as the “funeral march” section of Sonata No. 12 in A-flat major, Op. 26.

The fourth movement, with its opening question (measures 1–2, repeated in measures 4–6) and its “enigmatic” ending, adumbrate the world of investigation that the Op. 10, No. 3 was intended to open for Beethoven’s most devoted listeners, a new compositional method that would advance the musical dialogue of classical music to a new level entirely.

Beethoven’s compositional experiments in this regard were not only NOT diminished in the face of his horrifying realization of his impending deafness. He, in fact, became ever more productive and ever more committed to rendering the very meaning of his life as synonymous with his daily musical creativity. Toward the end of the Heiligenstadt Testament, Beethoven stated:

"Perhaps I shall get better, perhaps not; I am ready. Forced to become a philosopher already in my 28th year, oh it is not easy, and for the artist much more difficult than for anyone else. Divine One, thou seest my inmost soul, thou knowest that therein dwells the love of mankind and the desire to do good."

Due to content restrictions, we can not share Andras Schiff’s version. Instead, we share with you a recording that was made on May 18, 2013, when our foundation present at a concert at Carnegie Hall, featuring concert pianist Tian Jiang, who performed an exemplary version of this piece. The concert was titled: “Properly Tuned Masterpieces”. Here are the tracks:

1st movement: https://soundcloud.com/user-385773006/beethoven-piano-sonata-no-7-op-10-no-3-in-d-major-1st-movement

2nd movement: https://soundcloud.com/user-216951281/beethoven-piano-sonata-no-7-op-10-no-3-in-d-major-2nd-movement

3rd movement: https://soundcloud.com/user-216951281/beethoven-piano-sonata-no-7-op-10-no-3-in-d-major-3rd-movement

4th movement: https://soundcloud.com/user-216951281/beethoven-piano-sonata-no-7-op-10-no-3-in-d-major-4th-movement

Beethoven's Fourth: The "Heartfelt" Second Movement

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 14, 2020)

Beethoven wrote on the score of his Missa Solemnis, " From the Heart, It Must Return to the Heart." The same could be said of this movement.

In both Furtwangler and Casal's versions it starts out with a tempo that imitates a normal heartbeat. Many performances are to our minds, too fast, including those by the original instruments advocates, who missed the most important original instrument of all, the human heart. We provide the following audio that makes several comparisons.

https://soundcloud.com/user-385773006/beethovens-fourth-the-heartfelt-second-movement

Beethoven's Fourth Symphony: The Delightful First Movement

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 13, 2020)

Beethoven's Fourth Symphony is his least known, yet one of his best. Although the first movement is in the so-called sonata form, we find that trying to follow it this way to be a distraction, rather than a help. So, let us rather follow his discoveries.

The times given are for the Furtwangler recording: https://youtu.be/8Ch3EmPjeNw

Yesterday, we played different versions of the Adagio opening. The work is in Bb major, but the opening plays around with all kinds of keys, including Bb minor. Without getting too technical, Beethoven utilizes ambiguity and uncertainty. He keeps you guessing. He's searching for an idea. When he finally arrives at a discovery, he wants to make sure you don't miss it. It's like coming home one day and finding an Elm tree in your living room. You can't miss it.

Starting at 3:15 in this recording, he keeps repeating a single note in anticipation, first softly, then with drum rolls. At 3:38 we hear an upward rush of quick notes, ABbC, repeated: badada, badada, badada, badada badada etc. Can such a simple motif actually be "the discovery" ? That might be too literal. We approached Beethoven's Fifth Symphony as a mystery, a detective story, and identified the short motifs not as ideas in and of themselves, but as clues, that lead us to discovering a process of change. There is no doubt of the importance Beethoven assigned to this quick musical gesture though. He returns to it constantly, and teases us with it for almost a minute, starting at 7:58. Sometimes, the most seemingly insignificant idea can be the key to change.

At 3:42 we arrive at what should be the main theme. Do you hear a theme, or a melody you can sing in the shower? We hear some short scale passages, and arpeggios which seem to derive from the introduction (compare the basson at 4:01 to the violins at 0:32). Small wonder that Carla Maria von Weber objected, saying that there are "no ideas for the hearer to make out."

Actually, it is full of ideas. The two men are speaking different languages. Weber is thinking about the formal requirements and structure of a symphony in his time; Beethoven is sharing the language of creativity and discovery with us. We sense that, and delight in hearing it!

Here is Pablo Casals' version for comparison: https://youtu.be/hWLh0UMQCtM

Beethoven's Fourth Symphony: How can a Creative Discovery be Replicated 200 Years Later, by a Professor?

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 12, 2020)

Today's performance practices are often informed by the HIP (Historically Informed Performances movement). While HIP has undoubtedly contributed many important musicological discoveries, it insists adherence to what they term "the composer's intent"—performance practices of the time—as the only valid method of performance. They have made many changes in performance practice, but often ignore the greatest fidelity one can express to the composer's intent: replicating his or her creative breakthroughs.

The great conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler, who is often vilified by the HIPsters, wrote about the problem:

“Literal rendering plays a major role in the practice and reception of music today. Fidelity to the letter as against fidelity to the sense, formalism as against life. everything that is dead, decayed,... is present in the concept of literal rendering.”

For Furtwangler, a great conductor is a creative person, who can replicate the improvisational nature of a discovery, and make it seems to the audience as though it is being discovered for the first time, right there, before their very eyes and ears. A true conductor has to think like the composer.

The introduction to the first movement of Beethoven's little-known Symphony No. 4 in B♭ major, Op. 60, is perfect for this reason. It is almost impossible to play it in a matter of fact, metronomical way. Yet, some conductors try very hard to do so. For them, polishing and waxing the finished product is the reality, not replicating the discoveries that went into it. In the audio, we present three very different renditions of this introduction. We hope they engender some impassioned commentary.

The introduction is designed to evoke the quality of discovering something totally new. When the discovery is made, it is elementary, but powerful. One can hardly miss it. Not everyone was a fan. The famous composer, Carla Maria von Weber wrote:

“First a slow movement full of short disjointed unconnected ideas, at the rate of three or four notes per quarter of an hour; then a mysterious roll of the drum and passage of the violas, seasoned with the proper quantity of pauses and ritardandos; and to end all a furious finale, in which the only requisite is that there should be no ideas for the hearer to make out, but plenty of transitions from one key to another – on to the new note at once! never mind modulating – above all things, throw rules to the winds, for they only hamper a genius.”

Weber was not a bad composer. Many of his works survive today. Beethoven thought well of him. Yet, how many observed the 200th anniversary of his death in 1986? Many other talented composers thought the same way as Weber. Their problem? Europe was retreating into an increasing police state, and they, as mere musicians, became, at least in part, crowd-pleasers. Beethoven was a crowd-challenger, and he made them uncomfortable.

Our audio begins with a HIP performer—the famous John Eliot Gardner—who employs period instruments, but to our minds, plays metronomically and misses the discovery.

The second version is by one of the great creative personalities of the 20th century—Pablo Casals. Here, we feel as though we have just set foot on to a new planet, with no even ground. Casals was anything but a professor. When he revived the long-forgotten Cello Suites of J.S. Bach, some professors objected to his animated and spirited performances. They felt that the Suites were abstract exercises in counterpoint and not even meant to be played. Casals cajoled: "They wanted to turn Bach into a professor!"

There is more than one way to do it correctly. The third version is by another great creative personality, the above-quoted Wilhelm Furtwangler. His focus on the breakthrough moment of discovery is astounding.

https://soundcloud.com/user-385773006/daily-dose-june-12th

PS: We have concentrated a lot on portions of a work per day, as we wish to never leave anyone new to classical music behind. However, classical music consists of multiple movements for a reason. Therefore, we will address entire works over several days!

Grosse Fuge in B-flat Major, Op. 133: Post Scriptum

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 11, 2020)

We thank our readers for journeying with us through the 8-Part discourse on the amazing Grosse Fuge. For those who are new to our Daily Dose, you can read them in the posts of June 2-9, 2020.

Before we move on, we share here all three audio recording of the complete Grosse Fugue that we admire the most. While we used Quartetto Italiano’s rendition as example throughout the discussions, we love all three! Please let us know who is your favorite!

Quartetto Italiano: https://youtu.be/HQb_locz2_U

Amadeus Quartet: https://youtu.be/6ys7cb7Iw5w

Furtwangler Orchestral: https://youtu.be/pSfcE3HH7dk

Beethoven Rarities: A Flute Duet

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 10, 2020)

Here’s a beautiful Serenade by Beethoven. It is the Allegro and Minuet in G Major for Two Flutes, WoO26, composed in 1792. Never published during Beethoven’s life, it was probably composed as a gift. The dedication reads: for friend Degenharth (a lawyer amongst Beethoven's close circle of friends).

If only casual music were as well composed today!

The Grosse Fuge and the Ninth Symphony: The Grand Finales

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 9, 2020)

In Part 7, we presented the key breakthrough of the Grosse Fuge in a combined musical/philosophical/poetical analysis. We also compared it to the analogous moment in the Finale of the Ninth Symphony.

Both works continue to a victorious conclusion in their own unique way. Both celebrate creative discovery.

In the Ninth, two themes—one associated with Joy most beautiful of Gods sparks-- and the other with "Be embraced, O ye millions", join in a great double fugue. After that double fugue, we hear variations of those two ideas, in playful succession.

After the breakthrough in the Grosse Fuge, we hear a strange section that just seems to rest on a series of isolated trills. Where does it come from? Closer examination reveals that it shows a new and unexplored potential in the intervals of the first subject. It is then followed by a repeat of what we called the “celebratory dance” in 6/8 time. Twice now, a breakthrough in the Grosse Fuge has been celebrated with the same idea.

After a playful extension of this dance, the music abruptly stops, and we hear something puzzling, though familiar. To our amazement, the opening Overtura is being repeated—except in the reverse order! Now instead of the overture moving backwards from the last variant of the main subject to the first 4 3 2 1, as a puzzle, it proceeds with those four transformations in the same order they occur in the piece, 1 2 3 4. All should be clear (although it may take us mere mortals a few listenings ).

The last theme in the work, is another short dance in 6/8 time, with both fugue subjects played in their entirety, and in perfect resolution and harmony, as they dance off the stage. Compare it to the exuberant last statement of the Ninth. (We provide the audio that makes this all clear in a way that words cannot capture.)

Audio: https://soundcloud.com/user-385773006/the-grosse-fuge-and-the-ninth-symphony-the-grand-finales

A private premiere of the original version of Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 13 in B♭ major, Op. 130, with the Grosse Fuge as the finale, was given by the Schuppanzigh Quartet. When Beethoven asked for the audience reaction, he was told that they requested encore performances of inner two movements, including the Cavatina (see April 29th post). When he inquired about the Grosse Fuge and was told that no repeats were requested, he exclaimed: "asses and cattle!" The audience as well as the players had great difficulties with the movement, finding it nearly incomprehensible.

But Beethoven’s comment is not a display of disdain on his part for the people—rather the opposite. His last works, including the Grosse Fuge (completed in 1826, the year before his death), far from showing any trace of decay or used-up ideas, continue to push the boundary of human imagination. He music constantly asks us to stretch the boundary of our reason and creativity, so that we are able to think clearly. Beethoven had said that if his music was understood, there would be no war. Today, where so many news outlets seek to manipulate emotional responses, learning to "Think like Beethoven", is even more necessary. So, we thank all the readers and listeners who have stuck with such a challenging but rewarding subject.

Before we sign off, we share with you the orchestral version of the Grosse Fuge, conducted by the inimitable Wilhelm Furtwangler:

The Grosse Fuge Part 7: The sublime moment

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 8, 2020)

Welcome to our continuation of a poetical and philosophical approach to comprehending the Grosse Fuge.

The famous composer, Igor Stravinsky, claimed to love the Grosse Fuge. But he called it pure interval music, which suggests a limited understanding on his part. To truly comprehend this composition, one has to move outside the realm of music, and into the realm of the poetical-philosophical. Therefore, we will attempt that here—rigorously.

The eerie dissonance that ended the Ab fugue, is succeeded by a sublime moment, also marked meno mosso e moderato (less motion and moderate), that comprises the very heart and soul of the Grosse Fuge. That moment was not accomplished by following the fugal logic of the intervals—Love intervened from outside of logic without ever losing science and rationality, and changed the outcome.

Now, both fugue subjects are present, but in a changed way. The loving relationship expressed, makes it more difficult to separate them, and Shakespeare's poem The Phoenix and the Turtle, which sees these lovers as representing Truth and Beauty, captures it well:

So they lov'd, as love in twain

Had the essence but in one;

Two distincts, division none:

Number there in love was slain.

Hearts remote, yet not asunder;

Distance and no space was seen

'Twixt this Turtle and his queen:

But in them it were a wonder.

So between them love did shine

That the Turtle saw his right

Flaming in the Phoenix' sight:

Either was the other's mine.

"Either was the other's mine" is one of the most beautiful puns ever made. We ask you, the readers to figure it out!

Next, imagine a divorce lawyer, trying to argue for party of the first, and party of the second:

Property was thus appalled

That the self was not the same;

Single nature's double name

Neither two nor one was called.

Then, substitute "logic" for Shakespeare's "reason", and you find the problem we identified:

Reason, in itself confounded,

Saw division grow together,

To themselves yet either-neither,

Simple were so well compounded;

Last comes the transcendent moment of breakthrough that should remind us of the same thing in the discovery of the choral double fugue, in the Ninth Symphony:

That it cried, "How true a twain

Seemeth this concordant one!

Love has reason, reason none,

If what parts can so remain."

We provide a 10-minute audio that addresses all of this, including how the beautiful transformation is lost, if you simply rush through it.

https://soundcloud.com/user-385773006/the-grosse-fuge-part-7-the-sublime-moment

Grosse Fuge Part 6: Can it get more chaotic?

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 7, 2020)

Our readers might notice that we’ve taken a subjective approach to the Grosse Fuge. This is because we feel that it is a composition that cannot be understood by musical logic alone. It demands a more philosophical approach! Beethoven insisted that his music was better than philosophy (this is not because he did not know philosophy). His boyhood music teacher, Gottfried Neefe, was the head of the Lesegesellschaft (reading society) in Bonn, and they studied the classical Romans and Greeks. Everyone may have their own preferred philosophical analogies, but this work is more than just music.

Today, we shall follow the second great fugue in Ab, to the point of near breakdown, and then into a surprising breakthrough: a sublime transformation.

Something has been missing for a while. The great Bb fugue that followed the overture was a double fugue, that gave both subjects equal weight, even though they were not in agreement. In the next three sections—which includes a beautiful slow part, the celebratory dance, and the great Ab fugue that we began to look at yesterday—the second subject was omitted. All three sections are based on just the first subject. That Ab fugue is not only based on just the first subject, but two different three-note derivations of it, including in diminution. It attempts to be autonomous, and it becomes like a hurricane, or a combat zone. There is something to be said for learning how to navigate through a hurricane, or survive in combat, but you don't want to live there.

We need the second subject. We need the dialogue. We don't need reason alone, we need love (which, rather than negating reason, compliments it).

At a certain point, this fugue almost threatens to self-destruct. We shall identify how at one point, the second subject seems to timidly raise its hand as if to say, " Don't forget about me." That at least puts a derailed train back on the track, though it is still a juggernaut. We will stop just before the sublime beautiful breakthrough, with an extreme, yet eerily moving dissonance. Fasten your seatbelts once again!

https://soundcloud.com/user-385773006/gfp6

Grosse Fuge: Part 5–The next Transition

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 6, 2020)

We have heard the amazing transition from the chaotic Bb double fugue to the beautiful Gb section, based on a transformation of the main theme from disruptive to beautiful.

As one might expect, this victorious moment is to be celebrated. A light-hearted dance follows. The Overtura is invokes again—this time in reverse order. The dance theme from variation no. 2 in the overture, now takes place as no. 3 in the piece (the audio makes it clear).

That dance is then ripped off, unceremoniously, with a new fugue in Ab. This time, the main theme is from variation no. 1 in the overture, but no. 4 in the piece. This fugue is different. It is comprised entirely of transformations of sections of the main theme (as explained in the audio).

It becomes enormously complex, yet demonstrates how logic, without love, threatens to self destruct.

https://soundcloud.com/user-385773006/grosse-fuge-part-5-can-it-get-more-chaotic-just-listen

The Grosse Fuge Part 4: Beast and the Beauty

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 5, 2020)

Yesterday we listened to a long double fugue, in Bb, that became more and more cacaphonous both tonally and metrically as it proceeded. We ended on a passage which we characterized as “Beethoven wrestling the beast to the ground”. We asked, what could possibly follow?

The answer is one of the most beautiful passages ever composed. And, it is the same theme—the main one. And, it is still fugal. Again, we provide an audio to help make it clear.

Again, we hear Beethoven learning from the poet, Friedrich Schiller. In his Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Mankind, Schiller insists that we should easily be able to—in the same work of art, even on the same theme—go from sorrow, to laughter, and back to sorrow again, without being destabilized by the process. Why? To develop ourselves morally and aesthetically. Because then, we have an integrity in our souls, and we meet both sorrow and laughter with the same developed mind, which is organized as a unity. Schiller loved Shakespeare, whose success in composing both tragedy and comedy is unparalleled (Socrates had insisted that they came from the same roots, almost 2,000 years earlier). Introducing humor, through the character of the fool, into King Lear, did not undermine the horror of the story, or make it less serious. Likewise, introducing serious matters into a comedy, should not "kill the vibe."

Before Beethoven, it was normal to end a movement based on one psychological state or emotion, and, after a pause, introduce a very different one. Beethoven, especially in his later works, literally wrenches us from one state to another. We have already heard the 6th movement of the 14th String Quartet in C# minor, Op. 131, expressing the incredible sadness of the Kol Nidre(May 19, 2020 post on Beethoven and the New Synagogue). Before addressing the Grosse Fuge, the audio will play the transition from the playful 5th movement, to the sixth movement of that work. It wrenches the listener into a shockingly different world.

However, in the Grosse Fuge, we have something both higher and deeper. The same theme is transformed from raucous and destabilizing, to gorgeous. This is establshed after Beethoven "wrestles the theme to the ground", in a section marked meno mosso e moderato (less motion, and moderate).

We find that most renditions are too fast. Meno mosso e moderato does not suggest a very slow tempo. One has to follow reason, as established in the music itself. The contrast between ugliness and beauty is key. If the slow section is played too fast, then the stark contrast is lost.

We present here the audio for your review. It begins with the end of the raucous Bb double fugue: https://soundcloud.com/user-385773006/the-grosse-fuge-part-4-beast

The Grosse Fuge is a difficult piece to listen to, and a great performance is necessary to help us comprehend it.The great conductor Wihelm Furtwangler did not consider that an orchestra could perform it better than a string quartet, but he had never heard a string quartet performance that he considered adequate, so he recorded it with orchestra in the 1950s. He set the gold standard.

The Amadeus Quartet was legendary, and recorded superb versions of many works, but the only recording we know of that successfully emulates Furtwangler's orchestral performance, is this one by the Quartetto Italiano. Some of our reasoning on the matter is given in today's audio.

Grosse Fuge: Part 3 - Going to the Brink

DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (June 4, 2020)

Daily dose of Beethoven RSS

In Part 1, We listened to how the overture juxtaposed 4 very different versions of the main theme, as if to say: How is it possible for the same theme to undergo that kind of change?

In Part 2, We listened to the opening of the double fugue where the two main subjects are presented together in a way that could hardly be more cacophonous.

Now, we shall expose how they become even more cacophonous—pushing peaceful relations to the brink! Both themes need to change, and to change each other, but they become more intransigent first!

So, fasten your seatbelt, grab onto Beethoven's coattails, hang on for dear life, and pray that he knows what he is doing (which he does .)

We provide an audio to identify the key changes: https://soundcloud.com/user-385773006/gfbflat

We also provide a complete performance of the Grosse Fugue by the Amadeus Quartet:

https://youtu.be/Irl5QQQX6bU