Album Notes

Ludwig van Beethoven, by all accounts a prodigious pianist himself, wrote for the instrument throughout his life. Thus, the piano music can serve as a king of journal and history of Beethoven's creative development. The Sonata No. 7 D Major, Opus 10 No.3 (1798) is perhaps the best display of Beethoven's character among his early works. Within its logical classical form, it is overwhelmingly dramatic and romantic. An intense forceful Presto first movement is dazzling in its virtuosity but also playful in spirit. The Largo e mesto which follows is expansive, serious and one of Beethoven's most tragic movements---a powerful example of the extended slow movement that was one of Beethoven's singular contributions to the sonata’s evolution. A charming and elegant Menuetto third movement and a fourth movement Rondo filled with humor provides unexpected turns to the conclusion of the grand sonata. The Sonata in A Major, Opus 101 (1816), by contrast, represents Beethoven's compact and distilled, yet searching and philosophical late style. A probing, lyrical first movement is followed by an exhilarating march. The third movement Adagio compresses the depth and intensity of yearning emotion into one short page. The slow movement slips seamlessly into a brief recollection of the opening of the first movement and then quickly erupts into a vibrant trill that leads to a robust final movement complete with a fugal section, one of Beethoven's favorite devices in his later years. Between these two sonatas are the Bagatelles, Opus 126 (1823). Here is Beethoven at the height of his powers, already a master of large forms as well as the full forces of the orchestra, turning to the piano once again with simple and concise forms as a vehicle for both an intimacy and a boldness of personal statement.

Mana Tokuno