The last piano works by a deaf composer
When Beethoven wrote his last three sonatas, his deafness was total and irremissible. The only means of communication was his now famous "conversation notebooks", in which those who accompanied him had to write down what they wanted to say to the maestro, to which Beethoven replied verbally or in writing, depending on his mood. His temperament, already suspicious and intolerant, became irritable and bellicose. It is also the time when he struggles for the affection of his nephew Karl, whose legal custody he has gained after the death of his brother Kaspar in 1815.
When Beethoven wrote his last three sonatas, his deafness was total and irremissible. The only means of communication was his now famous "conversation notebooks", in which those who accompanied him had to write down what they wanted to say to the maestro, to which Beethoven replied verbally or in writing, depending on his mood. His temperament, already suspicious and intolerant, became irritable and bellicose. It is also the time when he struggles for the affection of his nephew Karl, whose legal custody he has gained after the death of his brother Kaspar in 1815.
Nevertheless, in 1818 he was able to successfully tackle the enormous challenge of the Hammerklavier Sonata. And in 1820 – a period in which his poor health led him to a state of almost prostration, writing long letters to his friends telling them about the loss of his creative abilities – he will begin, however, the composition of his final triptych in the sonata genre. In 1820, 1821, and 1822 he tackled, consecutively, the composition of the sonatas opus 109, 110, and 111, the last ones.
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| Beethoven (1770 - 1827) in 1823 |
"Feeling a new life..."
Beethoven alternated all this work with the composition of the Missa Solemnis and the resolution of the finale of the Ninth Symphony. The work bore fruit. At the dawn of the year 1821, when he began the composition of the Sonata opus 110, the central work of the triptych, he announced to his friends he was "feeling a new life", although his nephew Karl, who lived next to him, continued to be miserly in his affection. His financial situation was no better; there is no letter from those years in which money problems are not mentioned, in one way or another.
Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, op. 110
Although somewhat overshadowed by the mighty Hammerklavier and the last, the sonata opus 111, it is as grand and imposing as those two, especially the finale fugue, second only to the Grosse Fuge of 1825-26. It is constructed in four movements (although some scholars consider the adagio and fugue a single movement). The finished autograph score bears the date December 25, 1821. For this sonata, the publishers paid Beethoven 30 ducats in January 1822.
Movements:
00:00 Moderato cantabile molto espressivo - An intimate and spiritual beginning.
07:31 Allegro molto - Brief and jovial section.
09:52 Adagio, ma non troppo - Very somber, almost funereal. Perhaps a reflection of the maestro's moods, for the moment.
13:55 Fugue: Allegro, ma non tropo / L'istesso tempo di arioso / Fugue - Begins without pause after the Adagio. It is a serene and expressive theme, perhaps the composer's acceptance of fate.
The performance is by Daniel Barenboim.
