Sonata in A flat major, Op.110 (1821)

l’istesso tempo di arioso - l’istesso tempo della fuga

“Written,” according to the composer “in a single breath,” Beethoven’s last three sonatas occupied him for well over a year. They are all inspired, however, by the same vision of serenity, which in the Sonata in A flat major finds expression in a sublime fugal finale. Completed in 1821, it is an epic of an A flat major paradise lost, partly through the sinister influence of F minor, and with difficulty regained. The ideal is expressed in A flat major and con amabilità by the first theme of the first movement and there is nothing in the exposition to disturb the prevailing calm. In the development, however, there is.The brief and apparently unsensational appearance of the first subject in F minor proves in the long term to be a traumatic experience

The memory of the F minor experience haunts the Allegro molto scherzo, in spite of the intervention of the lovely D flat major middle section. Beginning in the strangely inimical key of B flat minor, by way of a recitative the Adagio ma non troppo breaks into what Beethoven describes as an arioso dolente - a lament in A flat minor and the direct antithesis of the serene opening of the sonata in spite of certain melodic similarities. The first of the two fugal episodes does not regain that ideal state, even though it begins in A flat major, since the arioso returns not only dolente this time but also perdende le forze (“losing strength”) and eventually falling apart in isolated chords. However, poi    a poi di nuovo vivente (“gradually returning to life”), the fugue resumes its search. By turning its subject upside down, by apparently slowing it down and by taking it through a variety of major and minor harmonies, the fugue eventually finds its way back to A flat major, transforming itself from quest to celebration as it approaches its end.

l’istesso tempo di arioso - l’istesso tempo della fuga

Beethoven is quoted as saying that his last three piano sonatas were “written in a single breath.” If he did say that he can only have meant that they were conceived at the same time – in 1820 in his summer retreat at Mödling – and in the same spirit. The actual writing process took well over a year but they are all inspired by the same vision of serenity, which in Op.109 and Op.111 finds expression in a last movement in variation form and in Op.110 in a sublime fugal finale. Completed in 1821, 18 months after the E major and three months before the C minor, the Sonata in A flat major is not so intimately and so securely in touch with serenity: it is a case of an A flat major paradise lost (partly through the sinister influence of F minor) and with difficulty regained.

The ideal is expressed in A flat major and con amabilità by the first theme of the first movement. Although it is immediately reshaped in a sort of inversion (a common form of melodic variant in this work) and though the inversion itself is reshaped to make a more excitable second subject, there is nothing in the exposition to disturb the prevailing calm. In the development, however, there is. The brief and apparently unsensational appearance of the first subject in F minor proves to be a traumatic experience – even though that melody quickly regains its original key to introduce a recapitulation heightened in its serenity by an episode in E major and confirmed in its stability by an A flat major coda.

The memory of the F minor experience haunts the Allegro molto scherzo (a term chosen for want of a better one). It is inevitable that the D flat major middle section should provide only brief relief, for it must soon be swept aside by the return of the F minor material from the beginning. But it is also ironic that, when the scherzo has quite unexpectedly and insecurely come to an and in F major, the Adagio ma non troppo should choose B flat minor (the relative minor of the lovely D flat major middle section of the Allegro molto) in which to voice its opening complaint.

From there, by way of a recitative, the last movement breaks into what Beethoven describes as an arioso dolente. It is a lament in A flat minor, the direct antithesis of the serene opening of the sonata in spite of certain melodic similarities. The first fugue does not regain that ideal state, even though it begins in A flat major, since the arioso returns in G minor and not only dolente this time but perdende le forze (“losing strength”) and eventually falling apart in isolated chords. However, poi a poi di nuovo vivente (“gradually returning to life” - in anticipation of a similar moment in the Quartet in A minor Op.132), the fugue resumes its search. It begins in G major, with the subject in inversion, and passes through G minor and C minor, with the subject in augmentation. By these enharmonic means it eventually finds its way back to A flat major, gradually transforming itself from fugue to celebration.

l’istesso tempo di arioso - l’istesso tempo della fuga

Beethoven’s last two sets of Bagatelles were both written after he had completed the last of his major piano works. It is as though, after thirty-two sonatas and the Diabelli Variations, he had exhausted the piano’s capacity for long-term thought and, turning now for sustained argument to the string quartet, he found it better equipped for cryptic little confidences like the Bagatelles.

Certainly, there is something conclusive about the last three Piano Sonatas which, although each one is shorter than the “Hammerklavier” that immediately precedes them, can be taken to add up to one vast work on the same philosophical theme. “Written,” according to Beethoven “in a single breath,” they actually occupied him for well over a year, but they are all inspired by the same vision of serenity - which in the Sonata in A flat major finds expression in a sublime fugal finale. Completed in 1821, a year after Op.109 in E major and a year before Op.111 in C minor, Op.110 is an epic of an A flat major paradise lost, partly through the sinister influence of F minor, and with difficulty regained.

The ideal is expressed in A flat major and con amabilità by the first theme of the first movement. Although it is immediately reshaped in a sort of inversion and although the inversion itself is reshaped to make a more excitable second subject, there is nothing in the exposition to disturb the prevailing calm. In the development, however, there is. The brief and apparently unsensational appearance of the first subject in F minor proves to be a traumatic experience - even though that melody quickly regains its original key to introduce a recapitulation heightened in its serenity by an episode in E major and confirmed in its stability by an A flat major coda.

The memory of the F minor experience haunts the Allegro molto scherzo. It is inevitable that the lovely D flat major middle section should provide only brief relief, for it must soon be swept aside by the return of the F minor material from the beginning. But it is also ironic that, when the scherzo has quite unexpectedly and insecurely come to an end in F major, the last movement should choose a key as inimical as B flat minor in which to voice its opening complaint.

From there, by way of a recitative, the Adagio ma non troppo breaks into what Beethoven describes as an arioso dolente. It is a lament in A flat minor, the direct antithesis of the serene opening of the sonata in spite of certain melodic similarities. The first of the two fugal episodes does not regain that ideal state, even though it begins in A flat major, since the arioso returns not only dolente this time but also perdende le forze (“losing strength”) and eventually falling apart in isolated chords. However, poi a poi di nuovo vivente (“gradually returning to life”), the fugue resumes its search. By turning its subject upside down, by apparently slowing it down and by taking it through a variety of major and minor harmonies, the fugue eventually finds its way back to A flat major, transforming itself from quest to celebration as it approaches its end.

l’istesso tempo di arioso - l’istesso tempo della fuga

Beethoven is quoted as saying that his last three piano sonatas were “written in a single breath.” If he did say that he can only have meant that they were conceived at the same time – in 1820 in his summer retreat at Mödling – and in the same spirit. The actual writing process took well over a year. They are all inspired, however, by the same vision of serenity, which in Op.109 and Op.111 finds expression in a last movement in variation form and in Op.110 in a sublime fugal finale. Completed in 1821, 18 months after the E major and three months before the C minor, the Sonata in A flat major is not so intimately and so securely in touch with serenity: it is an epic of an A flat major paradise lost (partly through the sinister influence of F minor) and with difficulty regained.

The ideal is expressed in A flat major and con amabilità by the first theme of the first movement. Although it is immediately reshaped in a sort of inversion (a common form of melodic variant in this work) and though the inversion itself is reshaped to make a more excitable second subject, there is nothing in the exposition to disturb the prevailing calm. In the development, however, there is. The brief and apparently unsensational appearance of the first subject in F minor proves to be a traumatic experience – even though that melody quickly regains its original key to introduce a recapitulation heightened in its serenity by an episode in E major and confirmed in its stability by an A flat major coda.

The memory of the F minor experience haunts the Allegro molto scherzo (a term chosen for want of a better one). It is inevitable that the D flat major middle section should provide only brief relief, for it must soon be swept aside by the return of the F minor material from the beginning. But it is also ironic that, when the scherzo has quite unexpectedly and insecurely come to an and in F major, the Adagio ma non troppo should choose B flat minor (the relative minor of the lovely D flat major middle section of the Allegro molto) in which to voice its opening complaint.

From there, by way of a recitative, the last movement breaks into what Beethoven describes as an arioso dolente. It is a lament in A flat minor, the direct antithesis of the serene opening of the sonata in spite of certain melodic similarities. The first fugue does not regain that ideal state, even though it begins in A flat major, since the arioso returns in G minor and not only dolente this time but perdende le forze (“losing strength”) and eventually falling apart in isolated chords. However, poi    a poi di nuovo vivente (“gradually returning to life”), the fugue resumes its search. It begins in G major, with the subject in inversion, and passes through G minor and C minor, with the subject in augmentation. By these enharmonic means it eventually finds its way back to A flat major, gradually transforming itself from fugue to celebration.