Beethoven, Sonata No 17, "The Tempest"

The year 1802, Ludwig van Beethoven was not going through a good time. At 32, his deafness was an undeniable fact, and he decided to confess it to his brothers in the famous Testament of Heiligenstadt, a few rough pages where he asks in pain why this has happened to him, a musician, somehow justifying also the acrimony of his character. It is the year of the composition of the Sonata opus 31 N° 2, also known as "The Tempest".

According to a contemporary biographer, the umpteenth time Beethoven was asked why the sonata bore that name, he replied annoyed: "you should read Shakespeare's Tempest". The strong likelihood is that Ludwig has answered anything, annoyed by the repeated question, for the fact is that the Sonata opus 31 No. 2 has little or nothing to do with the homonymous work of the renowned bard.

Sonata Opus 31 N° 2 "The Tempest", in D minor
The Sonata is in three movements: Largo - Allegro / Adagio / Allegretto.
The beginning of the sonata presents two novelties: 1. It does not begin in the tonic but in the dominant key. 2. Instead of the traditional Allegro, the first chords show, in less than a minute, three different tempi: largo, allegro and adagio.

9:32  Adagio
The second movement, adagio, is the longest of the three movements that make up the sonata. A standard execution lasts about eight minutes, although the score has only four pages (versus ten in the third movement). It is also one of the longest slow movements written by Beethoven for all his piano sonatas. [In the version we are presenting here, at 10:52, BANG! a lightbulb exploded, hence the video title].

16:20 Allegretto

The third movement is an allegretto, that is, a less rapid tempo than allegro (fast) so that the movement must be attacked at a speed that I would dare to define as "fast but not so much." Like the first movement, it is constructed in an obvious "sonata form": theme - sub-theme - development - re-exposure. But in opposition to the first and second movements, there are no introductory arpeggios. The work, written in 3/8 (a little waltz), begins, let's say so, at once. And ends in complete calm, which usually surprises the audience, if you don't know the piece.

The rendition is by the Ukranian pianist Valentina Lisitsa, who besides her outstanding performance was able to manage brilliantly the bulb explosion, at 10:52.