Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2 (“Tempest”) (1802)
Nikolai Lugansky, 2021
From Mariinsky Theatre
I.
[0:00] Exposition - Theme 1 (Largo - Allegro)
[1:15] Exposition - Theme 2
[2:17] Exposition - Repeat
[4:31] Dev.
[6:16] Recap. - Theme 1 (con espressione e semplice)
[8:06] Recap. - Theme 2
II.
[9:29] Expos. - Theme 1 (Adagio)
[11:53] Expos. - Theme 2 (dolce)
[12:52] Recap. - Theme 1
[15:12] Recap. - Theme 2
[16:31] Coda
III.
[18:00] Expos. - Theme 1 (Allegretto)
[18:40] Expos. - Theme 2 (perpetuum mobile)
[19:26] Expos. - Repeat
[20:53] Dev.
[22:44] Recap. - Theme 1
[23:36] Expos. - Theme 2
[24:19] Coda
“ […] The final movement, allowing for no such let-up of forward thrust, moves inexorably in perpetual-motion fashion, gathering intensity from its oft-repeated opening motif (an austere three-shorts-and-a-long), and finally dissolving in tranquil, clear-eyed resignation. This is Beethoven’s only piano sonata in the key of D minor (the key of his Ninth Symphony), and the troubling ending in minor might be a confirmation of the composer’s frame of mind. In 1802, when he wrote the D-minor Sonata, awareness of his progressive and incurable deafness had sent him to the depths of despair, an abyss from which only his vast moral courage rescued him. Clearly, however, he was functioning on two distinct levels of consciousness, for if the Sonata was an expression of personal anguish, the sunny Second Symphony of that same year (in D major) found the composer in the throes of musical exhilaration of the highest order. What an incredible psyche this man had!
The Sonata’s middle movement is, in its orchestral nature only, prophetic of the late sonatas. Its wide-spaced opening theme would be a perfect foil for a woodwind setting, and simulated timpani beats punctuate an idea tailor-made for horns. But, unlike the difficulties set up in the later works, here Beethoven’s keyboard orchestration, even with all of the ornamentation, falls easily under the pianist’s hands, and the movement forms a serene bridge between the Sonata’s implacable outer sections.”
- Orrin Howard, Los Angeles Philharmonic