Ludwig van Beethoven admired leaders of free men, and despised despots. I believe Beethoven would admire Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his brave fight against the Russian incursion, and despise Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin.
When Beethoven got the news that Napoleon Bonaparte had crowned himself emperor, the composer did not take the news well. Legend has it that Beethoven tore up the title page of his Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, which was going to be dedicated to Napoleon, according to legend.
The symphony was renamed “Eroica,” in honor of heroism in general, rather than any specific man whom Beethoven might admire today but be disappointed by tomorrow.
That heroic symphony by Beethoven was prefigured by a few of his earlier works. One of those is the Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat major, Opus 26. Both the symphony and the sonata include funeral marches.
The sonata begins not with a sonata allegro but with a theme and variations. Beethoven presents an original theme and five variations on that theme. The theme is calm and stately.
The second variation is at a slightly faster tempo. Then the third variation returns to the initial tempo but switches the key signature to A-flat minor. That’s a key we’ll come across again in this sonata. The fourth variation restores A-flat major.
The variations are to be followed with no pause whatsoever by a scherzo that reminds me a little of what I read once about Bruckner’s scherzos: that they’re dances, not of people, but of gods. At least that’s the feeling I get from some interpreters.
The trio in D-flat major is deceptively simple. I look at it on paper and I think, yeah, I can play that. If I actually tried to play it, I might be in for a rude awakening.
There needs to be a good, long pause between the scherzo and the funeral march. Like, more than a couple of seconds.
Then we’re back in A-flat minor for the funeral march.
In Alfredo Casella’s edition for Ricordi, the A-flat minor key signature for the bass clef is written with F-flat on the F line instead of the F space. I’ve seen that in other old editions of other music in A-flat minor. I personally much prefer the modern version of this key signature, as it’s more like the one for the treble clef. The funeral march in the Third Symphony is in the all-around more manageable C minor, but the rhythm is very similar.
A central section in A-flat major evokes drumrolls and bugle calls.
The funeral march is quite cathartic, as it is followed by that sort of sweet, pure joy that Beethoven so often expresses in A-flat major.
Sorry I forgot to put in the proper quarter rest for the pick-up measure in the notation program, so I had to put it in the image editing program.
For this sonata, I’m going with Daniel Baremboim. The only thing I can fault Daniel Baremboim with is launching too quickly into the funeral march.
Actually, I think I he went a tad too slow on the finale.
The funeral march of this sonata is said to be the only solo piano sonata music Beethoven himself orchestrated, but I have not been able to corroborate that. However, I can tell you for sure that that orchestral version does exist.
The open thread question: What is your favorite interpretation of this Beethoven sonata?
