Piano Sonata No. 18 (Beethoven)
- Piano Sonata No. 18 (Beethoven)
The Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major, op. 31, no. 3, is a sonata for solo piano by Ludwig van Beethoven, the third and last of his Op. 31 piano sonatas. The work dates from 1802. A playful jocularity is maintained throughout the piece, earning it the occasional nickname of "The Hunt", although like many of Beethoven's early works, the 'jocular' style can be heard as a facade, concealing profound ideas and depths of emotion.
Roger Kamien has performed a Schenkerian analysis of facets of chords of the sonata. [cite journal | url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0277-9269(199822)16%3A3%3C379%3ANSOTPT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-D | last=Kamien | first=Roger | title=Non-Tonic Settings of the Primary Tone in Beethoven Piano Sonatas | journal=The Journal of Musicology | volume=16 | issue=3 | pages=379–393 | date=Summer 1998 | accessdate=2008-03-16 | doi=10.1525/jm.1998.16.3.03a00060 | month=Oct | year=1998]
The sonata consists of four movements:
#"Allegro": Beethoven's progressive harmonic language is apparent from the very first chord of the piece - ii 6/5 (F minor 7 in 1st inversion), the stability of a tonic chord in root position delayed until bar 7. The expressive harmonic colour, coupled with the changes of tempi in the introduction (1-18), creates an evocative opening, reminiscent of the improvisatory style of C. P. E. Bach's piano sonatas. This opening cell is repeated extensively throughout the movement - at the start of the development (89), in the recapitulation (137), and also during the coda (transposed into the subdominant (220), and then at its original pitch (237)). The codetta (33-45) explores this opening chord in a minor variation (with a C flat, implying ii7 of Eb minor), even appearing in bar 36 in the exact spacing (albeit with different spelling) of the 'Tristan chord', written by Richard Wagner some 55 years later.
#"Scherzo. Allegretto vivace": This scherzo is different from regular scherzos, as it is written in 2/4 time as opposed to 3/4, and because it is in sonata form. However, its still contains many characteristics of a scherzo, including unexpected pauses and a playful nature. The theme is in the right hand while the left-hand contains staccato accompaniment.
#"Menuetto. Moderato e grazioso": It is surprisingly the most serious of the minuet movements, with a sweet and tender nature presented in the piece, with both the minuet and the trio presented in E flat major.
#"Presto con fuoco": A very vigorous and rolling piece, suspended by continuous, rollicking eighth notes in the bass.The form of the sonata is unusual because it does not have a slow movement, which is instead replaced with a scherzo and followed by a minuet, before launching into the spirited finale.
References
External links
* For a public domain recording of this sonata visit [http://musopen.com Musopen]
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