Beethoven Sonata No 17 in D Minor "Tempest", Op 31 No 2 (written in 1802)
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- This is my first recording of the sonata's first movement. I have to admit its still in its preliminary stages (yeah..... there's some mistakes here and there).
I found this sonata to be fun to perform. The changing tempi, the dramatic tremolo sections (or rapid measured triplets if we're being politically correct here), and the jarring shifts in mood (from tranquility to angst) are what made me become so obsessed with it.
My piano teacher tells me that this movement conveys Beethoven himself trying to find a nonexistent "fifth corner" in the hypothetical square boxing ring with a fight against reality. Even at the end, you can still hear him seething with rage. This was because it was around this time from 1798-1802, he began to notice that he was losing his hearing.
In 1802, on the advice of a doctor, he went to a resort in Heiligenstadt, Vienna. There, he wrote a letter known as the Heiligenstadt Testament to his 2 brothers. The letter expressed his own suicidal thoughts, and how he is coming to terms with the reality of his hearing loss.
Though I am not saying that Beethoven for certain wrote this Sonata to reflect his life situation, but I think there is a correlation to some degree. As a piano student, the story that the composer is trying to tell is what I think about when I interpret a piece music. The "narrative" (whether if the music does have a story to it or not) aspect of music is I think what makes it humanizing and relatable. And as I improve, I hope to be able to better tell this story with more clarity and profundity.
Thank you for listening, and please like, subscribe and comment. I'm definitely open to any constructive criticism.