Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Cello Sonata no. 3, in A major, op. 69 (1808)
Among his extensive chamber music catalogue, Beethoven wrote five cello sonatas. Two of them, published as his opus 5, were early works and the last two, opus 102, date from about a dozen years before his death. The Sonata no. 3 in A major, though, comes from the extraordinary decade which is sometimes referred to as Beethoven’s “Heroic” Period (roughly 1803 to 1812). Indeed, the A major Sonata was written in 1808, right alongside the “Ghost” and “Archduke” Piano Trios, the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, and the Choral Fantasy (it’s opus number places it exactly between the Sixth and the piano trios).
Though not as well known as the piano or violin sonatas, Beethoven’s cello sonatas – particularly op. 69 – form what Lewis Lockwood calls “the foundation for the nineteenth-century cello sonata repertoire as it emerged in works by Mendelssohn, Brahms, and others.” And it’s easy to see why: much as he had done in the violin sonatas, Beethoven created a remarkably egalitarian relationship between cello and piano – the Sonata no. 3 is a showpiece for both instruments, not one accompanying the other.
The A-major Sonata is cast in the traditional three movement form but one of its most obvious quirks is the fact that it doesn’t have a slow movement: the adagio introduction to the finale is the only spacious tempo in the whole piece.
The opening of the first movement presents yet another of the work’s gripping idiosyncrasies: rather than beginning with a bold gesture from the piano or the duo, Beethoven opted to open with a solo cello line played softly – the effect is one of a piece being brought to life through improvisation. Gradually the piano joins, both instruments exchange short cadenzas, and the movement picks up speed. The remainder of the first movement is formally straightforward and strongly symphonic in character.
The second movement is a manic scherzo in A minor. The principle motivic ideas of the movement nervously outline the tonic triad and a scalar figure; the somewhat more relaxed trio features double stops in the cello over a two-note pedal point in the piano.
The finale opens with a short, slow introduction that recalls the beginning of the first movement and sets the stage for the lyricism that will follow. When the movement begins in earnest, it is with a cello figure that outlines an A-major triad over an insistent eighth-note pulse in the piano. The second theme alternates short phrases in the cello echoed by yet more percussive eighth notes in the piano. After a wild development, the movement makes its way to an emphatically triumphant conclusion, one that foreshadows the close of the great A-major Seventh Symphony.
© Jonathan Blumhofer
Reproduction Rights: This program note may be reproduced free of charge in concert programs with a credit to the author.