Beethoven: The Complete Violin Sonatas, Vol. 2 (1996)

Beethoven's Middle And Late Violin Sonatas

This is the second two-CD set of Beethoven's ten sonatas for piano and violin performed by violinist Henryk Szeryng and pianist Ingrid Haebler. It includes Beethoven's final five works in this form, including the three sonatas of opus 30, the opus 47 sonata, and the opus 96 sonata.

The best-known work on this CD is Beethoven's ninth sonata in A, opus 47, the "Kreutzer" sonata. Beethoven dedicated this sonata, written in 1803, to a famous violinist, Rudolphe Kreutzer, who never played it. (Originally Beethoven dedicated the work to a violinist named Bridgetower who premiered the work with the composer at the piano. Beethoven withdrew the dedication after he and Bridgetower quarreled over a woman.) The Kreutzer is a flamboyant, virtuosic work of Beethoven's middle period. It features a lengthy opening movement full of double stops on the violin, challenging duels between the instruments and sweeping arpeggios on the piano. The middle movement is a contrasting and florid set of variations and the finale is a sweeping tarantella that Beethoven originally composed for the first of the opus 30 violin sonatas. Some people hear this work as a musical recreation of the war between the sexes. Indeed, Tolstoy wrote a famous story, "The Kreutzer Sonata" on this theme. This is powerful, passionate music beautifully performed by Szeryng and Haebler and will undoubtedly lead many listeners to this set.

But there is much more to this collection than the Kreutzer. The remaining four sonatas on this collection are less well-known than is the Kreutzer but provide equally splendid, if different musical experiences. The listener will enjoy exploring these lesser-known compositions.

I was particularly impressed with Beethoven's final sonata for violin and piano, no. 10, in G. major opus 96. This four-movement work dates from 1812 and Beethoven dedicated it to a French violinist named Pierre Rode. The work lies on the border between Beethoven's second and third compositional periods. Unlike the Kreutzer, this is a subdued, quiet work, but one of great beauty and depth. The work opens with a short melodic phrase in the violin which is developed exquisitely in the movement between the two instruments. There is a lovely passage in thirds in the piano followed by a long, lyrical melody in the violin. The second movement opens with a long, chorale-like singing theme in the piano followed by a beautiful duet between the instruments. The third movement is a short minor-key scherzo and the fourth movement is a set of variations on a simple comic-opera like theme. Listeners who fall in love with this music may want to read Maynard Solomon's essay, "Pastoral Rhetoric, Structure: the Violin Sonata in G op. 96" in his book "Late Beethoven: Music, Thought and Imagination" (2003). Much as I love the Kreutzer, the opus 96 is probably the finest of Beethoven's ten sonatas for piano and violin.

The three violin and piano sonatas, opus 30, date from 1802 and invite comparison with the three contemporaneous piano sonatas of opus 31 (which include the "Tempest" sonata). Each of these three sonatas has its own character and the listener will enjoy hearing all of them. The first of the set is a three-movement work in A major. This is quiet, lyrical music. The "tarantella" that Beethoven initially wrote to conclude this work would not fit well with the prior two movements. One can understand Beethoven using it as the finale for the Kreutzer and substituting a quieter concluding movement.

The second sonata in C-minor, in four movements, is the best known of the opus 30 set. Again, it opens with a short four-note piano figure which is developed into a movement of great force. There is much lyricism in this movement together with the passion attendant upon the C-minor key. The second movement is a long, slow theme first stated by the piano. There is a brief scherzo with a bubbly trio followed by a concluding rondo in the minor. The work ends on a fiery note.
The third opus 30 sonata is in G and is short and lively. It opens with a growling, swirling figure in the piano that again forms the basis for lengthy development and interplay between the instruments. The second movement is a simple, flowing minuet while the brief finale is fast and humorous -- almost foot-stomping in character. This too is a work that bears getting to know. One contemporary admirer of this sonata, Nigel Fortune, wrote: "There is no Beethoven sonata remotely like it, and it is one of his wittiest and most delightful works." (In "A Beethoven Companion", 1971, at 217)

Szeryng and Haebler collaborate beautifully on this CD and on their earlier CD which includes the first five Beethoven sonatas for piano and violin.
This is an outstanding disc that includes the great "Kreutzer" sonata as well as Beethoven's less well-known works for the piano and violin. The opus 96 sonata in particular is outstanding. The listener will greatly enjoy exploring using this collection to explore Beethoven's ten sonatas for these instruments.

Robin Friedman