Beethoven: The Tempest | Sonata No.17 in D minor, Op.31 No.2 | Boris Giltburg | Beethoven 32 project
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- Опубликовано: 10 дек 2020
- ‘Just read The Tempest!’ Beethoven allegedly told his sometime secretary Anton Schindler, in reply to a request to provide the key to Sonata No. 17. This connection with one of Shakespeare’s last plays was the source of the Sonata’s nickname. But the problem with this story is twofold: first, in Schindler’s account, Beethoven’s reply applied to both Sonata No. 17 and
Sonata No. 23. The latter, by the time of the story’s publication, already had a nickname - ‘Appassionata’ - and so the ‘Tempest’ nickname only stuck to the sonata that was still unnamed. Secondly, today we know that Schindler was a forger and a fabricator - many of his entries in the written conversation books with Beethoven were inserted by him long after Beethoven’s death (as shown by research in the 1970s and ’80s), and thus it is impossible to say whether any reply which he had attributed to Beethoven was true or falsified.
In the end, perhaps it doesn’t matter. The nickname wouldn’t have held, had listeners and performers not felt it reflected some true part of the music’s core. Whether or not we link it to the play, the opening of the Sonata is breathtakingly strong. With one simple broken chord, Beethoven creates so much atmosphere and promises so much magic that the music transports us elsewhere right away. This is also Beethoven’s own magic: to take something as commonplace as a chord used to signal the beginning of a recitativo in opera all throughout the 18th century, and to transform it into a work of art simply by slowing it down and bringing its dynamic down to pianissimo.
As always with Beethoven, once a motif has been introduced - and the broken chord is very much a motif - he will explore its full potential. The stormy main theme derives directly from it, as does the entire development section and the opening of the second movement. But the broken chords themselves recur multiple times inside the movement: in the repeat of the exposition, later on at the demarcation line between the exposition and the development, and most remarkably between the development and the reprise. There, their recitativo-opening origin is finally acknowledged - and in what a way! Beethoven writes two doleful recitativo lines, both pianissimo, bathed in a single continuous pedal, allowing harmonies to cloud over - it’s an otherworldly sound, haunted and haunting (5:52).
Two other elements are in play: a hyperventilating motif made of short two-quaver groups, and a tremolo of triplets. From these blocks, Beethoven constructs a movement unified in mood and colour - everything is dark and tense. Dynamics vary wildly, from the pianissimo of the broken chords to the stormy rage of the fortissimo tremolos in the development. The short coda - or rather afterword - is gloomy and subdued, a pause in the story rather than a full stop.
The second movement (8:41) allows us to breathe, its major key a respite from the preceding darkness. But the shadow doesn’t fully pass: later on in the movement Beethoven introduces a motif reminiscent of distant drums, bringing back coiled energy and tension (9:46). Harmonically, the movement is extremely stable, repeatedly coming back to the home key. This, together with the slow elegance of the music, creates a curious effect: it is as if we were in a stasis, safe for the moment, but inevitably feeling that if the story is to continue, we would need to leave this B flat major shelter.
Once this happens, the finale starts gently (15:11) - a spinning wheel of a perpetuum mobile, with a caressing dynamic and light tempo. Until, without warning, the world explodes about us (15:39), launching the music (and us) into narrative and emotional turmoil. From that point on, it is all relentless, unremitting tension, in one wave after another, almost through to the end. The softer sections return a few times, and it is that music, like a framing device, that brings the movement to a close. Viewing it from a 21st-century perspective, I can’t help but imagine it as a cinematographic effect - the soft sections are the tale being told from afar, while in the stormy ones we are put into the thick of action. It’s a harrowing movement, picking up the storyline from the end of the first movement to complete an arch of great emotional and dramatic impact.
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Beethoven 32 - Over the course of 2020, I have learned and filmed all 32 Beethoven sonatas. Subscribe to this channel to follow the project, and visit beethoven32.com for blog posts and listening guides to each sonata.
Boris Giltburg, piano
Filmed by Stewart French
© 2020 Fly On The Wall, London (fotw.london)
@FazioliPianos 
Видеоклипы
I admire everything about Giltburg's playing. Such an inspiration.
I. Largo - Allegro: 0:03
II. Adagio: 8:41
III. Allegretto: 15:11
Your interpretation of the third movement is just magical... the expressiveness at 19:45 (for instance) is unlike any other recording I have ever heard :O
Дорогой, любимый МАЭСТРО! Благодарю Вас! Лучше просто не может быть! Это СОВЕРШЕННО! И Бетховен бы сказал : -ДА! ЭТО ТАК! 🌿❤🌿
Today you are going to perform in Maastricht, the Netherlands. I am so excited to go see you perform today! 😊
Best Christmas present ever! I've been waiting for this since your series started. Thank you so much for your commitment to this whole series and especially for the extra work in providing the history along with the piece! I love them all but this one is simply divine and your playing elevates it even more. Thank you!
I also want to thank you for the information about the pieces, I find them very interesting!
With pleasure!
Astonishing performance. It's not sure whether Beethoven really read the work of Shakespeare. Thank you Boris
Thank you for the incredible playing, all the excellent information and descriptions and also, for the project itself!
Thanks for the performance and the explanation! I'm currently learning this piece, I've already gotten the 1st and 2nd movement down, now onto the 3rd, although I won't come anywhere close to your level of performance. The context/explanation of this piece in the description was very nice, it will certainly help me with honing my interpretation.
Thank you for all your insightful descriptions and of course, the incredible playing, i wish you the best Boris!
Thank you so much!❤️
Masterful playing as always. This was the first Beethoven sonata I learned and for that I will always hold it in a special place in my heart. I really love your tonal control in the 2nd movement. I always found it easy for things to get out of hand in the second movement. Your balance is amazing. Thank you for these amazing videos and descriptions. I'm learning Hammerklavier now and am excited to see what you do with it
Thank you! The Hammerklavier is late February or early March 😀
@@BorisGiltburgPianoI am very excited!
Absolutely gorgeous music making. The clarity, precision of phrasing, articulation, pedaling and dynamics are near immaculate. And always the spirit of the master shines through luminously. Have you any experience on fortepianos? I am a recent confirmed advocate of the theory that every great Beethoven player should spend some time on the instrument as Beethoven knew it. It will inform everything you do on the modern piano. A dear friend and teacher of mine sat down at one of our instruments and performed Beethoven’s 32 variations. Check out Angie Zhang’s performance on RUclips. I still love Beethoven on our modern instruments but it is eye-opening to hear a transparency of sound that is not what we are used to but is certainly what Beethoven heard. Your approach is so refined and respectful I suspect that perhaps you have had some experience on fortepiano.
I will have yours as my guide to practice tempest. Thank you so much☆
If you have any specific questions, please feel very free to ask!
@@BorisGiltburgPiano Really?? wow i need to practice more~ first, i learn from your utube☺ bless u☆
it made me look for all Beethoven you play. exhilaratin as such a young player can penetrate and emit the right sounds, color, intensty and phrasing. thanks
Ah I was waiting for this Sonata! Thanks
Thanks very much Boris!
Your interpretation is a caress for my soul and yours hands reflect the beauty of your soul!!
The best for you!!
Eduardo Poblete de Chile, maravilloso, que belleza, estuvo acá en Santiago, en el Teatro Municipal, hace algún tiempo. Le tengo gran admiración por su técnica, su tempo, sus silencios, trata muy bien a Beethoven, considerando que nosotros en Chile tuvimos a uno de los mejores intérpretes del maestro de Bonn como fue el gran Arrau .... gracias Boris por tu bella interpretación de una las más hermosas sonatas....
Eduardo Poblete de Chile, eternas gracias, estimado Boris, por este medio he seguido las integrales de Beethoven, te admiro cada día más, espero que vuelvas pronto a nuestro querido Chile, al Teatro Municipal , por cierto, a interpretar a Beethoven , a Schumann, Chopin....te admiramos....eres grande ...un abrazo fraterno desde Chile...
Great performance ! Bravo
Great playing! In the description especially your view on the last movement is very interesting!
Thanks!
Просто прекрасно!
Bravo!!
This is amazing! Will not be my last time here.
Everything praiseworthy has already been said by the previous comments. Wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing!!! And would also like to mention the good sound. (Also have the incredibly good sounding NAXOS recording from you, (Pathetique, Waldstein...)) THANK YOU!
Thank you very much! The sound here is all thanks to Stewart French from Fly On The Wall.
@@BorisGiltburgPiano Thanx for your time and answer! And for the credit to the good soundman. Good sound here, but for me the top reference would be the incredible joyful sound of the formentioned NAXOS recording! (Concert Hall, Wyastone Leys, Monmouth UK) Soooo clear and rich in the deeper spectrum (besides the splendit playing ;)
So passionate ! I should be studying and this was supposed to be “background” but I paused everything else and watched this
I saw the movie of this "Tempest" by Shakespear that relates to this piece.
Wonderful! Thank you so much!
Happy Hanukkah!
With pleasure! Happy Hanukkah!
Вновь слушаю Бетховена Вашем исполнении 👏👏👏👏👏 с огромным
наслаждением ! Божественно звучит
Рояль ! Спасибо ! Kazakhstan.