CCXL. BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van: Sonata for Violin and Piano #6 in A Major, Op. 30, No. 1

CCXL. BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van (1770-1827)

Sonata for Violin and Piano #6 in A Major, Op. 30, No. 1 (1801-02)
1. Allegro
2. Adagio molto espressivo
3. Allegretto con variazioni
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
Enrico Pace, piano
(24:18)

The three Opus 30 sonatas were dedicated to Tsar Alexander I.

Before the Eroica (see Post XXIX) dedication to Napoleon was obliterated, Beethoven thought highly of the man. Apparently so did the Tsar. The antagonism and war would come later. Perhaps he was a music lover, but it seems that the ruler never even acknowledged the dedication.

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First Movement

The interplay between instruments is gorgeous (second stave, for example) ... notice the E-Sharps, augmenting the first inversion tonic chord, which then moves to a subdominant D -- the E-Sharp making it minor before it slips into major. Very inventive stuff.

Second Movement

Moving to the subdominant, here's another great passionate slow movement theme; Beethoven never seemed to run out of them!

The flourishes in the piano eventually require some 128th-notes!

Third Movement

Theme and variations. A simple theme, giving Beethoven plenty of license to make increasingly complicated variations:

Variation IV, for example, where the violin plays triple- and quadruple-stops!

The final variation resembles the theme closely, but with lots of embellishment.