Day 229: Violin Sonatas IV

BeethovenCD34What a terrific way to start a day!

Movement I (“Adagio sostenuto – Presto”) from Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Op. 47 “Kreutzer” is a corker. Brisk, expressive, and dynamic; it’s everything a Beethoven composition should be.

The performers are the same as they’ve been for the past few Violin Sonata CDs:

Kristof Barati violin
Klara Wurtz piano

But there’s something especially magical about this sonata, a fun melody that alternates between the violin and the piano as it expresses itself. It has that ask-and-answer quality that I like where one instrument will play a short passage and then the other will repeat it, back and forth.

This movement almost has a kind of Hungarian feel to it.

And pizzicato! Yes, pizzicato, my old friend. Toward the end of Movement I, as things are really syncopated and dynamic, the violin plays a bit of pizzicato as the counterpoint to the piano’s dynamics. It’s particularly arresting. It happens around the 10:45 mark in the piece.

I have to say, this movement, from this Piano Sonata, could very well be one of my favorite pieces from Beethoven. This is tremendously compelling music.

The above YouTube clip is not from this morning’s listening. Featured on that clip are violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy. The recording on the YouTube clip is from 1973. It’s a fine recording, and they are fine musicians. But, truth be told, I prefer the dynamics of Kristof and Klara for this piece.

By the way, in the YouTube clip, my favorite part comes around the 9:25 mark.

It’s time to let my fingers do the walking into Google Land for a moment. I need to find out more about Piano Sonata No. 9 in A Op. 47 “Kreutzer.”

Ahh, and so I discover what this sonata is all about. According to its entry on Wikipedia,

The Violin Sonata No. 9 of Ludwig van Beethoven, commonly known as the Kreutzer Sonata, was published as Beethoven’s Opus 47. It is known for its demanding violin part, unusual length (a typical performance lasts slightly less than 40 minutes), and emotional scope — while the first movement is predominantly furious, the second is meditative and the third joyous and exuberant.

Yes, yes, yes.

The Kreutzer Sonata is all of that – furious, meditative, and joyous.

More from its entry on Wiki:

The sonata was originally dedicated to the violinist George Bridgetower (1778–1860), who performed it with Beethoven at the premiere on 24 May 1803 at the Augarten Theatre at a concert that started at the unusually early hour of 8:00 am. Bridgetower sight-read the sonata; he had never seen the work before, and there had been no time for any rehearsal. However, research indicates that after the performance, while the two were drinking, Bridgetower insulted the morals of a woman whom Beethoven cherished. Enraged, Beethoven removed the dedication of the piece, dedicating it instead to Rodolphe Kreutzer, who was considered the finest violinist of the day. However, Kreutzer never performed it, considering it “outrageously unintelligible”. He did not particularly care for any of Beethoven’s music, and they only ever met once, briefly.

There’s more to this interesting (and sad) story on the ClassicFM web site:

At [George] Bridgetower’s urging, Beethoven agreed to compose a new Violin Sonata, to be performed by the two of them at one of the celebrated morning concerts in the Augarten pavilion, run by Ignaz Schuppanzigh.

Bridgetower was tall and good-looking, with an eye for the ladies. He was a mulatto – his mother Polish, his father West Indian.

Recognised as being of exceptional talent, he had performed for King George III at Windsor Castle, the Prince Regent at the newly built Brighton Pavilion, the Pump Rooms at Bath and across southern England.

For the new sonata, Beethoven took the final movement from an earlier sonata (which he replaced) and composed a new first and second movement. The first movement was huge, opening with solo double-stopping across all four strings for the violinist. He delivered the new movements to Bridgetower only the day before the performance!

A glittering audience assembled for the premiere of the new piece – including the British ambassador, Archduke Rudolph, Prince Lichnowsky, Prince Lobkowitz , and other patrons of the arts.

The performance began. In bar 35 of the first movement Beethoven had written a huge run just for piano, spanning several octaves. It comes in a passage marked ‘to be repeated’. In the repeat, after Beethoven executed the run, Bridgetower imitated it on the violin.

Beethoven looked up from the piano in astonishment, ran across the stage, embraced Bridgetower, ran back to the piano and continued playing.

The performance was a triumph

Alas, Bridgetower’s star quickly fell.

Later, the two men were drinking, when Bridgetower made an off-colour remark about a lady Beethoven knew. Beethoven was outraged. He demanded that Bridgetower return the manuscript of the sonata, and informed him he was withdrawing the dedication. He would dedicate it instead, he told Bridgetower, to Europe’s greatest violin virtuoso, who was resident in Paris.

Bridgetower pleaded with Beethoven to change his mind, but Beethoven was adamant. The rift between the two men was not healed…

The masterpiece violin sonata, demanding for the violinist, stunning for the listener, should have been called “Bridgetower.” But, because of a bitter falling out (or just another of Beethoven’s outbursts of anger), the violinist’s name was removed and it became known as the Kreutzer Sonata.

Bridgetower died nearly broke and alone, his name forgotten. All because of Beethoven’s anger.

Bewethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata inspired Leo Tolstoy to write his novella The Kreutzer Sonata published in 1889. The story of that work is also a fascinating one.

This music so moved me that I completely forgot to post this entry. Truth be told, today is May 20, not May 18. I was so taken by this music and the story of George Bridgetower that I forgot to post it.

Truly, this is one of my favorite pieces of music from Beethoven…which is becoming nearly impossible to write because most of what I’ve listened to from Beethoven has become a favorite. The man was astonishingly gifted.

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