András Schiff - Sonata No.11 in B♭, Op.22 - Beethoven Lecture-Recitals

András Schiff - Beethoven Lecture-Recitals
Wigmore Hall (London, UK), 2004-06
András Schiff last performed the complete Beethoven piano sonatas at Wigmore Hall from 2004-06 to overwhelming critical acclaim, with the editor of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, describing one particular performance as ‘a riveting mixture of erudition, analysis, passion, wit and memory’.
On the day before each of the eight recitals in the series, the world-renowned pianist, pedagogue and lecturer gave a lecture-recital in which he explored the works to be performed. Deeply engaging and insightful, these thought-provoking lecture-recitals, recorded live at the Hall, are available below as eight audio lecture-recitals.
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[@tinkerchel]

LECTURE NOTES:
----------1st movt: sonata--------------
1. starts with an upbeat: (4 tenuto),(12staccatos), 3, like a snare drum. It runs through the whole movement like a motif.
2. @4:02 Mannheim rocket
3. @5:03 revolutionary technique. No one before used figurations like that.
4. @5:36 extreme dynamics from pianissimo to fortissimo.
5. @6:13 2nd theme in unison.
6. A forestudy for "the Hammerklavier", Op.106, which is also in B flat major & built on 3rds.
@7:22 3rd interval, melody goes in 3rds.
7. @8:23 tremolo: like a timpani roll
8. @8:33 constant changes of major & minor, Neapolitan coloring of the F & G flat.
9. @ 9:04 the 3rds
10. @9:57 primitive theme, then ascending version in the bass & descending in the soprano.
11. @10:27 that starting snare drum motif
12. @11:14 follow how the bassline is descending more & more, getting increasingly mysterious
13. @12:27 17 bars of dominant
14. @12:34 the last time he closed on a fermata before recapitulation.
----------2nd movt: sonata--------------
15. 9/8 time. think in unites of 3: 123, 456, 789
16. @14:44 8 bar long legato slur
17. @15:15 Beethoven brought something new into music, gravity, the sheer weight of music.
18. @16:15 steady pulse + free expressive melody, perhaps what later Chopin & Liszt based their tempo rubato on, but also acknowledged by Mozart.
19. @17:13 sighing motifs: sospiro
20. @18:16 Beethoven is taking fragments from the main theme, then @19:05 taking even smaller fragments.
21. @19:56 Lydian
--------------3rd movt: minuet & trio--------------
22. Haydnesk
23. @20:47 the G flat, a little knife in the back😉
24. @20:59 new sound with the tremolo
25. @22:12 Hammerklavier's 3rds appear again
26. @22:52 Schumann stole this in Humoreske, Op.20
--------------4th movt: rondo--------------
27. @23:17 reminiscent of the last movement of the spring sonata, or the last movement of the Op.7 sonata.
28. @24:21 playing octaves in legato is very new to Beethoven
29. @24:35 inner voice~
30. @25:00 he inverts the counterpoint with the bass & the soprano line, then they change places.
31. @25:40 concertante
32. @26:00 imitating a fragment of the theme
33. @26:25 very Beethovenian: just using duplets, then triplets, then semiquavers
34. @27:12 a toccata
35. @27:39 Hungarian🤫
36. @27:53 a fake fugato because Beethoven doesn't follow it through
37. @29:20 a written-out trill, during which he smuggles into the theme without preparation
38. @29:47 he gives the theme to the viola & the cello, then the 1st violin takes over
39. @30:49 the coda echoes the trio

[@vittoriomarano8230]

A very special thanks Mr. Schiff for this exquisite serie of lecture-recitals. 🎹🎼👏

[@yunxie6984]

12:33 - 12:41 What about the first movement of Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 (Pastoral)

[@jianyingguo9761]

czcams.com/video/6INGqLLixzU/video.html a legato slur of eight bars long? However I don't think I see such long slur in the music of this Sonata.

[@michaelgoutman681]

Do not take it literally. There are, in fact, no other "touche" instructions but legato until bar 9, 3rd 8th note (that is staccato). Granted, it is not under a single slur, but you should be thinking of it as a single "breath" phrase. Which is what Sir Andras is mentioning. This whole movement is about "long breath"