Beethoven, Piano Sonata No 30, Op 109

 
In addition to his total and irreversible deafness, the last ten years of Ludwig van Beethoven's life were marked by family problems derived from the dispute over the guardianship of his nephew Karl, son of his brother Kaspar, who died in 1815. His temper became irritable to an extreme degree, making it even more difficult for him to interact with his peers. These were the years of the conversation notebooks, when his interlocutor had to write down what he wanted to say to Beethoven and the latter, depending on his mood, would respond with a verbal reply or write in the same notebook.

Domestic life

Of course, his domestic life also became complicated. Although they may seem slightly comical today, the letters he sent in 1817 to the landlady who provided him with some services are a reflection of a real tragedy:

"I thank you for your interest in me. Matters are already better — meanwhile I have endured much today from N., but have thrown half a dozen books at her head as a New Year's gift. 

"...N. has quite changed since I threw half a dozen books at her head. Probably something of it has settled in her brain or bad heart; at any rate, we have a buxom deceiver.

"Yesterday the infernal tricks recommenced. I made short work of it, and threw at her my heavy chair which stands by the bed; for that I was at peace the whole day. "

Beethoven (1770 - 1827)
Painting by K.J. Stieler, 1820

A diminished and intimate oeuvre
During those years, his creative capacity became considerably diminished. Between 1815 and 1820, that is, when Beethoven's life was between 45 and 50 years old – a stage of life that today we would consider highly productive – he only wrote six works: two sonatas for cello and piano, the songs To the distant beloved, and the piano sonatas opus 101, 106 (Hammerklavier) and 109. 

It is a period in which his music shows little connection with worldly events, producing an intimate work in which grief and despondency are the predominant feelings. However, he is getting ready to compose the Ninth Symphony, in which he will sing, in spite of everything, of human joy and fellowship, in 1823.

Sonata No. 30, opus 109

Composed in 1820, published in 1821, and dedicated to Maximiliane Brentano, an advantaged disciple daughter of a friend, it is the first of the epic trilogy of his last piano sonatas. Due to the untraditional arrangement and length of its movements, to this day scholars disagree on the number of them, whether two or three. Assuming there are three, let us say that the first lasts just over four minutes, the second (where the slow movement would traditionally be) is marked prestissimo and lasts less than three, and the last is a theme with variations of sublime beauty that surpasses in length the previous two movements taken together.

The performance is by the Chilean maestro Claudio Arrau.

[Listening guide, following the video] 

Brief listening guide:

00  Vivace ma non troppo - Adagio espressivo   Written in sonata form, after the first theme's exposition in a scant eight bars, it immediately takes on the character of adagio, which it will sustain for no more than seven bars before returning to tempo primo.

4:26  Prestissimo   It is linked to the first by sustaining its last chord with the pedal. Hence, perhaps, the controversy over the number of movements. Its scant two-odd minutes suffice, however, to sustain the allegro sonata structure typical of the first movement but not of the second. It's Beethoven.

6:55  Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo   The tempo indication (which Beethoven took care to point out also in German) is prescribed for the theme, whose melodic beauty announces the proximity of Romanticism, which rehearses its first steps. It is followed by six variations: 

Var I: 9:28 / Var II: 11:41 / Var III: 13:18 / Var IV: 13:46 / Var V: 16:55 / Var VI: 17:55. 

The piece concludes with the original theme, taken up softly and serenely.

Alexandr Scriabin, Etude op 8 No 12

A visionary guy according to some, or an exquisitely maniacal according to others, the mystical Russian composer Alexandr Scriabin undertook at a mature stage of his life the task of creating a monumental multimedia work, "a grandiose religious synthesis of all the arts that would herald the birth of a new world." With this in mind, he wrote in his diary at some point in 1914, that he needed to live "as long as possible". Unfortunately, the ambitious project, called "Mystery", never came to fruition as Scriabin died the following year from septicemia caused by the bite of a miserable mosquito.

Alexandr Scriabin (1872 - 1915)

A composer with no diploma
Twenty years earlier, in 1892, after finishing his studies at the Moscow Conservatory, Alexander Nicolaievich Scriabin had shown signs of rebelliousness and independence by leaving the Conservatory without receiving his diploma due to a disagreement with his tutor, Anton Arenski, despite having obtained a gold medal at the graduation recital for his interpretation of Beethoven's sonata opus 109, an undeniable feat considering that the young pianist experienced difficulties in reaching more than an octave at the keyboard due to his small hands.

The Twelve Etudes of Opus 8
Not much later, in 1898, the Conservatory offered him a position as a piano teacher, a position Scriabin held until 1903. In the meantime, he decided to pursue a career as a concert pianist. To this end, he devoted himself to the creation of his own repertoire, and in a very short time, he produced the two impromptus of opus 7, from 1892, and the twelve Etudes of opus 8, from 1894. Although in the vein of similar works by Chopin and Liszt, the Etudes of Opus 8 show a high sophistication, foreshadowing the individual genius that the composer would later display in his later compositions.

In the rendition by the great Russian master Vladimir Horowitz, we present here the last and most popular of the series, Etude No. 12, which despite its short duration does not lag behind the most demanding of the aforementioned romantics.

Ravel, Daphnis et Chloé - Suite N° 2

The Ballets Russes, the famous ballet company created by the Russian impresario Sergéi Diaghilev in 1907, celebrated its first official season in Paris from May to June 1909, with music by Chopin and by the Russians Borodin, Tcherepnin, and Arenski. The company made a sensation with its vitality and lavish set, which far surpassed the ballet being produced in France in those years. They would have to return year after year. Diaghilev, who was not lacking in instinct, thought it convenient to leave the Russian composers at home for the time being, and the same year of his irruption on the French scene he commissioned Maurice Ravel to compose a ballet.

The ballet
The work, Daphnis et Chloé, described by Ravel as a "choreographic symphony", about an hour-long, suffered numerous production problems, to which were added modest trifles between egos, to which Ravel, who did not share at all Diaghilev's opinion that the choreography should have prominence over the music, was no stranger.

Because of all this, it was not premiered until 1912, though with a lukewarm reception. But it was fully reversed in its re-release the following year. Today it is considered one of Ravel's most brilliant works, if not his masterpiece.

Ravel (1875 - 1937) at the piano, in 1912

The work, in one act divided into three scenes, is based on a Greek poem of the second century and tells the eventful love story between two children: a goatherd, Daphnis, and a shepherdess, Chloé, which ends happily for both of them.

The suites
The work requires a huge orchestra including about fifteen percussion instruments and a "mute" (wordless) choir on and off stage. The complexity of this production led Ravel, a year before its premiere, to extract from the scores an orchestral suite with the first scenes. The same year of the premiere, Ravel extracted a second part, Suite N° 2, taken from the three final scenes and which has become the most demanded on the world's stages, and with it, the most popular.

The rendition is by the Radio Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Australian maestro Daniel Smith.

Rachmaninoff, Moment Musical No 4

Sergéi Rachmaninoff had just turned 19 when fame started knocking on his door. His opera Aleko, with which he had graduated with honors in 1892, gold medal included, was being performed for the first time in St. Petersburg, to great acclaim from the public and critics.
As if this were not enough, a professor at the Conservatory, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, dazzled by the talent shown by the young composer, encouraged him to undertake a concert tour of the main Russian cities, which was, by the way, a great success.

At the Conservatory
But since, today as yesterday, it is better to count on a stable income to solve life, the following year he accepted a professorship at the Conservatory. He held this position for years despite the meager 50 rubles that the position provided him, with which he barely managed to travel around Russia as an itinerant concert pianist.

Financial difficulties
On the other hand, his publishers, enthusiastic since his famous Prelude in C minor were published in 1892, did not respond with the same eagerness to pay royalties. In Russia, they did not exist. Only a negotiated sum was paid to the author on a one-time basis. Despite the recognition he received, by the middle of 1896 Sergéi Rachmaninoff was facing serious financial difficulties.
It was necessary to make some money.

Sergei Rachmaninoff, c. 1909.
(1873 - 1943)

Moments Musicaux, Opus 16
Composed between October and December 1896, Moments Musicaux are a series of six piano pieces of diverse form, ranging from a nocturne, a song without words, a barcarolle, an etude, to a theme with variations. They were composed in imitation of Schubert's Moments Musicaux of 1828, although they distance themselves from the intense lyricism of the latter, for it is not by chance that almost seventy years have passed.

Moment Musical N° 4 in E minor
The enormous technical demands of Musical Moment No. 4, marked presto, shed light on the astonishing virtuosity that Rachmaninoff displayed in his performances, very well paid by the way, especially in the USA, when his cache did not go below 3,000 dollars per recital.
Some scholars have seen some similarities with Chopin's "Revolutionary" Etude, with some reason. Others, also with the Prelude in G major, with some less. Both opinions are based on the titanic left hand and the scarce melody that the three works share.

The outstanding rendition is by the pianist born in Beijing in 1987, Yuja Wang.

Chopin, Nocturne op. 48 No. 1

During the eighteen years that Chopin lived in Paris, he was treated by twenty-five doctors who, in turn, diagnosed him with pulmonary tuberculosis, chronic laryngitis, tenacious anemia, muscular weakness, scleroderma, intestinal fragility, and psychasthenia. His lover George Sand was right, then, when she described her Chip, her Chop, her Chopinski, as a being "desperate in intimacy". By 1847, when the relationship had died, or was in its death throes, Sand would confess to a friend that "I have been living like a virgin for seven years, with him and with the others. I have grown old before my time...".

The family, in Paris

But in 1840 there were still ardors if ever there were. Returning from a summer spent at Nohant, madame Sand and her two sons settled that autumn at 16 Rue Pigalle, consisting of two pavilions, joined by a small garden.

Chopin, provisionally lodged in Rue Tronchet, soon joined them, and the following month he was installed there, together with his "family", the only one he had in Paris: Chopin and Maurice in one pavilion, Sand and Solange, in the other. Appearances had to be kept up.

George Sand (Aurore Dupin)
(1804 - 1876)

Working at home
George Sand produced day after day –though at odd hours– a river of words that she turned into novels.
Chopin gave piano lessons, 30 francs an hour, values suggested by Sand. In Paris he did not compose, or composed very little – the long-term works were left for the summer, in Nohant.

He would perhaps correct some short, intimate piece on which he was working, and which he would perhaps unveil that very day in the gloom of the aristocratic salon where the couple had been invited and where Chopin, at least, was received like a prince.

Nocturne op. 48 No. 1

The year 1841 marks the beginning of a fruitful period in Chopin's output. That year saw the appearance of several of his notable works, including the two Nocturnes of Opus 48. Published that same year in Paris, they are dedicated to Laure Duperré, one of his outstanding pupils. The first of these, in C minor, is considered one of Chopin's greatest piano accomplishments in achieving an enrapturing emotionality. Three sections are distinguished in it, amalgamating melancholy, majesty and beauty in just over six minutes of music:

00 Largo / 2:45 Poco piú lento / 5:04 Doppio movimento (twice as fast as the preceding).

The piece experiences stormy passages. Nevertheless, it ends in absolute tranquility.

The rendition is by the fine Chinese pianist, Yundi Li.