my fav at the time of writing this comment is the opus 28 in D Major. Supremely balanced, it radiates a sense of pastoral resplendence and an _undisturbed_ peace somewhat rare in Beethoven.
@@Johnwilkinsonofficial thank you John. I haven’t analysed every Beethoven sonata in such depth, but hopefully I will eventually :) Yes, I know the recording. I will listen to it again!
I am 67 years old and coming from a family that didn't listen to classical music. So it wasn't part of my universe until the end of the 70s when I discovered it. Since then I have listened to a lot of it and hardly listen to the rest anymore. Beethoven is my favorite composer and my favorite work is the sonata op 111. I also really like, of course, this sonata op 110. I watched the video because I like reading or listening to analyzes of musical works. Your analysis is the most interesting of all those I have read or heard on this work and I learned a lot. The work is sufficient in itself of course. There is no need to know everything you explain to appreciate it but your analysis brings a big plus. You say the video is long. I can tell you that we don't feel the time passing. It's exciting. I loved parts 1 and 2 but to be honest, I couldn't follow part 3. It was too fast and a bit complicated for me. I'm going to let it rest for a bit and I'm going to come back and watch it again, probably taking breaks to see clearly. Well done. for your great work and above all a big thank you.
thank you very much for your comment! it made me really happy and i truly appreciate you watching my video. i hope that you get around to the third part because i think it’s the most exciting one!
Great job, bravo!! I am also a huge fan of this sonata and you explained it so well. What I find extraordinary is the fact, that Beethoven composed all the late sonatas in complete deafness. What a miracle. What a man he was, to transcend all the suffering into such a beautiful music! He was truly a master
Dear Mattia, I am really very impressed with your fantastic analysis of this so complex and genial Sonata! It's a great pleasure to follow you in such a discovery trip throw the deep Creation world of Beethoven, who is by the way my most beloved composer. Your work in this Video is very fascinating and I think that he would be very happy about it. Bravissimo.
I am an amateur musician and just started appreciating Beethoven genius. thank you so much for this blessing. I love philosophical analysis of music, trying to find the very deep understanding of humanity behind the notes. thank you please do more and more of this. we need this
Im so glad you like this sonata. Usually the 32nd is the crowd favorite, but the 31st has always been at the very top of my list because of its perfect welding of musical form and dramaturgic function.
@@sgwinenoob2115 Well, it was intended as a three movement work that Beethoven ultimately decided was complete as a two movement work. Instead of an organically interconnected work, it’s more like two equally weighted but completely individual character pieces presented side by side.
I literally had never heard about the person who posted the video and i still was almost sure he'd choose the 31st before even opening the video. It's almost everyone's favourite
I love how humble this sonata is. It really feels like a sonata you really experience more than listen. Probably his most philosophical, introspective work. The third movement it feels as if time ceases to exist.
@@mattia.a_p as in humble I mean more subtle. Perhaps it was the wrong word choice, but compared to other Beethoven works it is very quiet and introverted, even for late Beethoven. That is why I love it!
Thank you for this impressive analysis on what must be one of the most profound compositions in all of piano literature. I love all of Beethoven's late piano works, but Op. 110 has a special place for its beautiful and lyrical sonority, and the enormous range of emotions it creates, from the jewel like beauty of the Moderato cantabile, to the stormy passion of the Allegro molto, to the heartbreaking lament of the Arioso, to the overwhelming outpouring of joy in the final Fugue. The Arioso reminds me of the Cavatina in the Op. 130 quartet - there is a similar fragmentation of the melody when it returns a second time, almost as if we have reached the limits of what music can express, before Beethoven takes us back from the abyss with the logic and order of the fugue (similarly Op. 130 was originally designed to end with the grosse fuge).
In Beethoven's world, favorite sonate: op111 (even though, I would put the 4 last sonatas together), favorite slow movement: op106. Favorite sonate form piece(s) Gaspard de la nuit. Favorite sonate called sonate: Liszt's. Favorite quasi-sonata: Schumann's Fantaisie. Favorite sonate (not as form) slow movement: Rachmaninoff's piano+cello sonate.
One small but very admirable detail: in the opening, the figure after the trill is constructed from material before the trill, sort of like a diminution. 32nd C-Db-Eb from the first notes of the first three bars, etc.
Erstaunlicher Beitrag, unterhaltsam und informativ wie immer. Sehr wohl strukturierte und detaillierte Analyse. Obwohl ich das Werk ziemlich gut kenne, kann ich immer noch viel lernen. Bravo Mattia. Ich kann nur wünschen dass Du alle 32 machen könntest.
Vielen Dank! Ich würde so gerne alle 32 machen! Einige werde ich auf jeden Fall noch machen. Kennen wir uns eigentlich? Deinen Namen kann ich ja leider hier nicht sehen :)
@@mattia.a_p Wir kennen uns in dem Sinne dass ich ein paar Kommentare in Deinen vorherigen Videos hinterlassen habe. Vielen Dank nochmal für Deine Arbeit. Ich freue mich sehr auf MEHR!
Thank you. This is also my favorite, though I lack the technique to play any but a few parts of it. In my naive thoughts about the last movement, I thought about the two fugues. The first one is written in a strict style. You could think that such a fugue could have been written by Bach, and that Beethoven is saying, "Herr Bach, I can write a fugue that would honor you." And the second is a fugue that only someone at the end of the Classical tradition, a Romantic even, could have written. Here Beethoven seems to be saying, "Herr Bach, I now honor you by surpassing you, writing something you never could have conceived."
Thank you so much for this deep and insightful analysis of this great work I am currently learning to play. Your musical, spiritual and philosophical thoughts are clearly communicated and backed up by detailed reference to the musical and structural components of the work, as they transcend the individual movements to create a dramatic arch spanning the entire piece. Your effort in showing all this is deeply appreciated!
I think no.31 is the best sonata ever written honestly. Liszt B Minor is up there, and obviously so are Beethoven’s others (7, 23, 30, 32, depending who you ask), and I have other personal faves (Chopin 3, Rach 2, Scriabin 5, Prokofiev 7, Berg op.1, Ives Concord, Carter sonata), but op.110 will always be the greatest in my mind.
This may or may not be his BEST sonata. However, my assessment is this: His GREATEST sonata: No. 29, the Hammerklavier. My FAVORITE sonata: No. 18 (Op. 31 #3).
@@mattia.a_p no slow movement (the minuet takes its place). The opening theme of the first movement (lyrical and questing, progressing toward the tonic, rather than a bold statement in it). Who can resist that duple-meter sonata-form scherzo, or the tarantella-tempo finale?
@@DeflatingAtheism it's HARD. All those staccato notes in the left hand require a deft touch, and the exchanges of legato and staccato between the hands give not only the fingers but the corpus callosum a workout.
One of the big mysteries in the Op.110 is why the last movement's first arioso, which is in the key of Ab minor, has a key signature of only six flats, instead of seven. The F-flats are written in as accidentals instead of being in the key signature. Beethoven had used this unusual key in his earlier op.26 sonata, but there he uses the expected key signature of seven flats...
I think this practice goes back to Baroque era music which raised the sixth degree of the minor scale. Therefore, composers would eliminate a flat in the key signature to avoid having to write an accidental. However, that doesn't explain why Beethoven only wrote six flats in the Arioso since the section never uses a raised sixth note (F natural) anywhere in the score, so your guess is as good as mine.
According to Christian Schubart’s famous classification (likely known to Beethoven,) the key of Ab Major was the “key of the grave.” The fact that an interior movement of Beethoven’s “Funeral sonata” was notated in the parallel key of Ab minor, rather than G# minor, was probably for programmatic reasons.
Really... great video! I'm always searching for good alaysis videos and this surpassed every expectation that i had, i'm happy to discover your channel! This is my second favourite beethoven's sonata (only below the hammerklavier hehe). Will you do other videos like this on other beethoven's sonata (like the op. 106)?
Great video. Im always switching my personal opinion on which sonata is the best one. Nowadays is definitely no.31 but I'm always changing with no. 32 😂. My personal Top 10: 1. No.31 2. No.32 3. No. 30 4. No. 28 5. No.4 6. No.13 7. No. 15 8. No. 18 9. No. 7 10. No. 24
@@mattia.a_p definitely a major piece no. 17 is. I just got tired of it...the same happened to me with no. 21 and 23. P.S.: I didn't notice no. 26 is not in my list! Don't know why but definitely should be in.
@@mattia.a_p well for Beethoven I like Schiff, Arrau, Gilels, Barenboim, Ax, Brendel, Pollini...it depends on which sonata. I even like to hear sometimes more extreme interpreters like Pogorelich or Sokolov. And yours?
@@mattia.a_p 1. Sonata 30 2. Sonata 32 3. Sonata 28 4. Sonata 31 5. Sonata 8 28 and 31 are very close for me. I find 28 to be more sophisticated and layered, and I don’t like the second movement from 31 much, but they could be switched here. 8 is easy to overlook because it’s so popular, but it has wide appeal and three excellent movements that work well together. It edges out Sonatas 29 and 14 on my list. 32 is miraculous and a step above these, but I take issue with the first movement exposition repeat (formulaic and doesn’t flow naturally), the first chords of the exposition, and a couple of other minor things. By contrast, 30 is perfect, dense, enigmatic, deep, and intensely personal. I could write about it for an hour and still feel I had not explained it. I believe it is the greatest solo piano piece, with the only serious competitor being Chopin’s Fm Ballade. What are your top 5?
Interesting! I’m pretty much the same. I’d say 32, 31, 30, 28. Their order I don’t know…and then I really like 17 or 7. I think 7 is really underrated. The second movement is amazing. I hope I’ll find the time to do more videos about Beethoven sonatas one day!
I'm not saying that you don't need your own opinion but it's actually the hammer klavier a master work of true human struggle and human spirit most beautiful and complex sonata ever written especially the fuge wich he brings all of his morality and immorality human power you probably never heard of it but you should it will make you cry like none other before.
What’s your favourite piano sonata at the moment?
my fav at the time of writing this comment is the opus 28 in D Major. Supremely balanced, it radiates a sense of pastoral resplendence and an _undisturbed_ peace somewhat rare in Beethoven.
@@Johnwilkinsonofficial that’s interesting! I don’t know that sonata very well, I will give it a listen.
@@Johnwilkinsonofficial thank you John. I haven’t analysed every Beethoven sonata in such depth, but hopefully I will eventually :)
Yes, I know the recording. I will listen to it again!
Pathetique (learning at the moment)
@@militaryandemergencyservic3286 great!
The best sonata ever written. I love it
I am 67 years old and coming from a family that didn't listen to classical music. So it wasn't part of my universe until the end of the 70s when I discovered it. Since then I have listened to a lot of it and hardly listen to the rest anymore. Beethoven is my favorite composer and my favorite work is the sonata op 111.
I also really like, of course, this sonata op 110. I watched the video because I like reading or listening to analyzes of musical works.
Your analysis is the most interesting of all those I have read or heard on this work and I learned a lot. The work is sufficient in itself of course. There is no need to know everything you explain to appreciate it but your analysis brings a big plus. You say the video is long. I can tell you that we don't feel the time passing. It's exciting.
I loved parts 1 and 2 but to be honest, I couldn't follow part 3. It was too fast and a bit complicated for me. I'm going to let it rest for a bit and I'm going to come back and watch it again, probably taking breaks to see clearly.
Well done. for your great work and above all a big thank you.
thank you very much for your comment! it made me really happy and i truly appreciate you watching my video. i hope that you get around to the third part because i think it’s the most exciting one!
This is one of my favored sonatas of Beethoven. There are a few that as yet have not reached my realm of desire, but I’m only 80; I’m evolving.
Great and detailed analyses of art are rarer and more precious than gold. I would gladly sit though this whole video a third time, and probably will.
Thanks Jordan. Are you working on a new video?
@@mattia.a_p Coming out in less than a month, a video project got cancelled hence the delay but a new one will be out soon.
Great job, bravo!! I am also a huge fan of this sonata and you explained it so well.
What I find extraordinary is the fact, that Beethoven composed all the late sonatas in complete deafness. What a miracle. What a man he was, to transcend all the suffering into such a beautiful music!
He was truly a master
Thank you! I think nowadays it’s not clear wether he was completely deaf or very very hard of hearing, but in both cases, yes, it’s impressive!
I can see how much effort you put in this video and that‘s really special. Thank you very much!
Dear Mattia, I am really very impressed with your fantastic analysis of this so complex and genial Sonata! It's a great pleasure to follow you in such a discovery trip throw the deep Creation world of Beethoven, who is by the way my most beloved composer. Your work in this Video is very fascinating and I think that he would be very happy about it. Bravissimo.
I am an amateur musician and just started appreciating Beethoven genius. thank you so much for this blessing. I love philosophical analysis of music, trying to find the very deep understanding of humanity behind the notes. thank you please do more and more of this. we need this
Thank you for your nice comment! I'm working on more videos :)
Im so glad you like this sonata. Usually the 32nd is the crowd favorite, but the 31st has always been at the very top of my list because of its perfect welding of musical form and dramaturgic function.
I’m glad you like it too! I also love the 32nd and hope to do a video on it as well.
@@mattia.a_p please do. I have always thought of that one as a less tautly constructed sonata than the others. So id love to hear your insights
@@sgwinenoob2115 Well, it was intended as a three movement work that Beethoven ultimately decided was complete as a two movement work. Instead of an organically interconnected work, it’s more like two equally weighted but completely individual character pieces presented side by side.
I literally had never heard about the person who posted the video and i still was almost sure he'd choose the 31st before even opening the video. It's almost everyone's favourite
I love how humble this sonata is. It really feels like a sonata you really experience more than listen. Probably his most philosophical, introspective work. The third movement it feels as if time ceases to exist.
hm interesting, i never would’ve called this sonata humble.
@@mattia.a_p as in humble I mean more subtle. Perhaps it was the wrong word choice, but compared to other Beethoven works it is very quiet and introverted, even for late Beethoven. That is why I love it!
i wouldn’t say subtle either :D i think it’s quite extravagant and direct tbh…
but we agree on the loving part!
Thanks for making this video. It has made me appreciate this sonata even more than I already did.
That’s great, thanks for watching
I have watched this video probably five times by now and I admire you more for it each time. also you make me love the sonata
Thank you very much! I’m really happy about that
Your explanations and pacing are excellent. This was a very enjoyable video.
Thank you!
Absolutely wonderful! An invaluable resource to lovers of Op.110 - which I agree is his greatest sonata. Thank you so much Mattia!
Thank you very much!
No it's not, it's the hammer klavier sonata
@@stormlong2629 greatest meant in my opinion - Hammerklavier of course is a larger work..
Thank you for this impressive analysis on what must be one of the most profound compositions in all of piano literature. I love all of Beethoven's late piano works, but Op. 110 has a special place for its beautiful and lyrical sonority, and the enormous range of emotions it creates, from the jewel like beauty of the Moderato cantabile, to the stormy passion of the Allegro molto, to the heartbreaking lament of the Arioso, to the overwhelming outpouring of joy in the final Fugue. The Arioso reminds me of the Cavatina in the Op. 130 quartet - there is a similar fragmentation of the melody when it returns a second time, almost as if we have reached the limits of what music can express, before Beethoven takes us back from the abyss with the logic and order of the fugue (similarly Op. 130 was originally designed to end with the grosse fuge).
Thanks for your comment! I hope to cover more Beethoven pieces in the future :)
In Beethoven's world, favorite sonate: op111 (even though, I would put the 4 last sonatas together), favorite slow movement: op106. Favorite sonate form piece(s) Gaspard de la nuit. Favorite sonate called sonate: Liszt's. Favorite quasi-sonata: Schumann's Fantaisie. Favorite sonate (not as form) slow movement: Rachmaninoff's piano+cello sonate.
i don‘t know the rachmaninov piece but other than that very good choices ;)
One small but very admirable detail: in the opening, the figure after the trill is constructed from material before the trill, sort of like a diminution. 32nd C-Db-Eb from the first notes of the first three bars, etc.
That's nice! Never noticed it..
Thank you Mattia for this amazing and enlightening analysis of this sonata, which, I am sure, will now become a favorite of mine too.
That’s the best that could happen!
Erstaunlicher Beitrag, unterhaltsam und informativ wie immer. Sehr wohl strukturierte und detaillierte Analyse. Obwohl ich das Werk ziemlich gut kenne, kann ich immer noch viel lernen. Bravo Mattia. Ich kann nur wünschen dass Du alle 32 machen könntest.
Vielen Dank! Ich würde so gerne alle 32 machen! Einige werde ich auf jeden Fall noch machen.
Kennen wir uns eigentlich? Deinen Namen kann ich ja leider hier nicht sehen :)
@@mattia.a_p Wir kennen uns in dem Sinne dass ich ein paar Kommentare in Deinen vorherigen Videos hinterlassen habe.
Vielen Dank nochmal für Deine Arbeit. Ich freue mich sehr auf MEHR!
Thank you. This is also my favorite, though I lack the technique to play any but a few parts of it.
In my naive thoughts about the last movement, I thought about the two fugues. The first one is written in a strict style. You could think that such a fugue could have been written by Bach, and that Beethoven is saying, "Herr Bach, I can write a fugue that would honor you." And the second is a fugue that only someone at the end of the Classical tradition, a Romantic even, could have written. Here Beethoven seems to be saying, "Herr Bach, I now honor you by surpassing you, writing something you never could have conceived."
Thanks for sharing Brian!
Thank you so much for this deep and insightful analysis of this great work I am currently learning to play. Your musical, spiritual and philosophical thoughts are clearly communicated and backed up by detailed reference to the musical and structural components of the work, as they transcend the individual movements to create a dramatic arch spanning the entire piece. Your effort in showing all this is deeply appreciated!
thank you very much! great that you're learning this sonata!
Excellent video. I have no words to describe how well I feel you made this video. Very rich insight into this piece.
Thanks a lot!
Wow. Your videos are like free conservatory lessons. Thank you so much for this altruistic dedication!
Haha thanks! You’re very welcome
I think no.31 is the best sonata ever written honestly. Liszt B Minor is up there, and obviously so are Beethoven’s others (7, 23, 30, 32, depending who you ask), and I have other personal faves (Chopin 3, Rach 2, Scriabin 5, Prokofiev 7, Berg op.1, Ives Concord, Carter sonata), but op.110 will always be the greatest in my mind.
Great choices! I love Berg’s op.1. I’m currently playing it.
@@mattia.a_pDo you plan to do a video on Berg’s sonata as well at some point? Great content!
@@drewlitton3843 thanks! I hope to do so one day, it's one of my favorite pieces for piano!
Schitterend - geweldig - zo fantastisch goed toegelicht door deze man, deze kanjer ! ... DUIZEND KEER BEDANKT, DEAR YOU TUBE, FOR POSTING ‼‼‼‼
thank you!
This may or may not be his BEST sonata. However, my assessment is this:
His GREATEST sonata: No. 29, the Hammerklavier.
My FAVORITE sonata: No. 18 (Op. 31 #3).
Oh No. 18! Interesting choice. What makes it your favourite one?
@@mattia.a_p no slow movement (the minuet takes its place).
The opening theme of the first movement (lyrical and questing, progressing toward the tonic, rather than a bold statement in it).
Who can resist that duple-meter sonata-form scherzo, or the tarantella-tempo finale?
@@JAMESLEVEE None of the professional recordings I’ve heard of the scherzo make it as fun and funky as it seems it should be.
@@DeflatingAtheism it's HARD. All those staccato notes in the left hand require a deft touch, and the exchanges of legato and staccato between the hands give not only the fingers but the corpus callosum a workout.
One of the big mysteries in the Op.110 is why the last movement's first arioso, which is in the key of Ab minor, has a key signature of only six flats, instead of seven. The F-flats are written in as accidentals instead of being in the key signature.
Beethoven had used this unusual key in his earlier op.26 sonata, but there he uses the expected key signature of seven flats...
I think this practice goes back to Baroque era music which raised the sixth degree of the minor scale. Therefore, composers would eliminate a flat in the key signature to avoid having to write an accidental. However, that doesn't explain why Beethoven only wrote six flats in the Arioso since the section never uses a raised sixth note (F natural) anywhere in the score, so your guess is as good as mine.
According to Christian Schubart’s famous classification (likely known to Beethoven,) the key of Ab Major was the “key of the grave.” The fact that an interior movement of Beethoven’s “Funeral sonata” was notated in the parallel key of Ab minor, rather than G# minor, was probably for programmatic reasons.
Really... great video! I'm always searching for good alaysis videos and this surpassed every expectation that i had, i'm happy to discover your channel! This is my second favourite beethoven's sonata (only below the hammerklavier hehe). Will you do other videos like this on other beethoven's sonata (like the op. 106)?
Thank you!
I hope that I will do another Beethoven video one day but there are so many pieces on my list…we will see!
this is wonderful, thank you.
No wonder it’s your favorite sonata. The last three are my favorites too!
The last 5 are amazing
Great video. Im always switching my personal opinion on which sonata is the best one. Nowadays is definitely no.31 but I'm always changing with no. 32 😂.
My personal Top 10:
1. No.31
2. No.32
3. No. 30
4. No. 28
5. No.4
6. No.13
7. No. 15
8. No. 18
9. No. 7
10. No. 24
Thanks. We have the same (rotating) top 4! And nice choices although I would put 17 in my top 10
@@mattia.a_p definitely a major piece no. 17 is. I just got tired of it...the same happened to me with no. 21 and 23.
P.S.: I didn't notice no. 26 is not in my list! Don't know why but definitely should be in.
Yeah I get that. And who’s your go to pianist?
@@mattia.a_p well for Beethoven I like Schiff, Arrau, Gilels, Barenboim, Ax, Brendel, Pollini...it depends on which sonata. I even like to hear sometimes more extreme interpreters like Pogorelich or Sokolov. And yours?
@@juanmanueldiz764 at the moment I like Michael Korstick and Paul Lewis (it‘s his recording in my video)
Excellent!
Thanks!
that’s also my favorite as well
great explanation thank u so much
You’re welcome! Thanks
I believe very strongly that the Opus 109 is Beethoven’s greatest sonata, but Opus 110 is near the top.
What’s your top 5?
@@mattia.a_p 1. Sonata 30
2. Sonata 32
3. Sonata 28
4. Sonata 31
5. Sonata 8
28 and 31 are very close for me. I find 28 to be more sophisticated and layered, and I don’t like the second movement from 31 much, but they could be switched here. 8 is easy to overlook because it’s so popular, but it has wide appeal and three excellent movements that work well together. It edges out Sonatas 29 and 14 on my list. 32 is miraculous and a step above these, but I take issue with the first movement exposition repeat (formulaic and doesn’t flow naturally), the first chords of the exposition, and a couple of other minor things. By contrast, 30 is perfect, dense, enigmatic, deep, and intensely personal. I could write about it for an hour and still feel I had not explained it. I believe it is the greatest solo piano piece, with the only serious competitor being Chopin’s Fm Ballade. What are your top 5?
Interesting! I’m pretty much the same.
I’d say 32, 31, 30, 28. Their order I don’t know…and then I really like 17 or 7. I think 7 is really underrated. The second movement is amazing.
I hope I’ll find the time to do more videos about Beethoven sonatas one day!
@@BRNRDNCK 14??? The 14th is objectively one of His worst Sonatas.
@@ultimateconstruction Justify that
Is that your own performance? Excellent!
Unfortunately not haha
It’s Paul Lewis, look down in the description :)
Danke
Hammerklavier à jamais et même plus longtemps ❤❤❤
Thank you for this! I am learning this sonata, you can check on my yt. Your analysis is very helpful.
I’m glad I can help!
Schön!
good gemakelt im stolz of you
I'm not saying that you don't need your own opinion but it's actually the hammer klavier a master work of true human struggle and human spirit most beautiful and complex sonata ever written especially the fuge wich he brings all of his morality and immorality human power you probably never heard of it but you should it will make you cry like none other before.
The hammerklavier sonata is great! Why would you assume I’ve never heard of it? :D