Listening Guide 2 - Beethoven Op 2. No. 1

Beethoven Op 2. No. 1 in F Minor -

Ludvig Von Beethoven was baptized on December 17th, 1770, which is the date we use as the beginning of Beethoven's life. Beethoven's father, Johannes Beethoven, wanted Ludvig to be like Mozart, a child prodigy. Because of his father's motivation and Beethoven's great skill, had his first known performance in Cologne, at the young age of 7 ½.

Beethoven also did not waste any time becoming a great composer. In 1782, before the age of 12, Beethoven published his first work, 9 variations, in C Minor, for Piano, on a march by Ernst Christoph Dressler. Later, Beethoven went to Vienna in 1787 to meet Mozart, who evidently approved saying, “Don't forget his name - you will hear it spoken often.” The death of Beethoven's mother struck a devastating loss to the family, forcing him back to home to help take care of the family, as his father in his alcoholism did not suffice as a family head.

In 1792 Beethoven returns to Vienna to further his education by Haydn, then with Albrechtsberger and Salieri. Here, Haydn becomes an extremely important teacher and style-basis for Beethovens compositions. Tragically, in 1801, Beethoven admits his concern for becoming deaf, something that acted as a grave source of depression. Admirably, this great, driven musician continued to compose, conduct, and perform although completely deaf by the time his career ended. He died March 26th 1827.

Beethoven is a composer who fits between the Classical composers like Mozart and Haydn, and Romantic Composers like Schubert and Mendelssohn. He is known as a transitional composer between these two eras.

Op 2. No. 1, Sonata fur Pianoforte, or Sonata for Piano, was written in 1795. It is dedicated to Franz Joseph Haydn, one of his teachers in Vienna, whose style he adopted for quite some time. Beethoven is known to have been a revolutionary of the “Third relation” technique, where in the tonal plan of the form, one modulates to a key region a third away (i-III-i), rather than the usual I-V-I, which is evident throughout the piece.

Beethoven is said to have three main writing styles. The first, before 1805 where, as mentioned before, sees heavy influence by Haydn and Mozart. Two famous examples are Moonlight Sonata (1801), and Pathétique(1797). It is in this first style that this piece, Op 2. No. 1 Sonata for Piano is written. The second of Beethoven's styles, 1805 – 1816 represents an entirely different section of his life. His deafness starts to significantly sink in. Beethoven becomes noticibly more political. A famous example of this is Eroica(originally for Napoleon) which he later scratched out, and rededicated to Prince Ferdinand Lobkowitz, once Napoleon was no longer a hero of his. Two other extrordinary works of this period are the outstanding Coriolan(1807), and Fur Elise(1810). Finally, Beethoven's final style, After 1816 comes into play. Elsewhere in the world, the Conference of Vienna 1815 (downfall of Napoleon) was taking place in world news. This revolutionary event set the stage for Beethoven's final, most intense, and dramatic stage. Trials of conflict within the family, ends his cycle of ‘Lieders' or songs, and leads to his elaborate and passionate, Ninth Symphony in D Minor, finally finished after seven years in 1824.

You may follow along in the following section as you listen to this great work. To see direct musical examples from the score better, click them to enlarge the excerpt.

The piece opens with the first movement in the spirit of Haydn, with an “ascending rocket” as its principal theme, and the second theme, in the relative major (III) consists of a more lyrical passage, accompanied by eighth notes. This movement has the form of a Sonatina as follows:

First Theme:

Second Theme:


The second movement Adagio calls for that singing style of performance for which Beethoven is well known, as the principal theme, starting in F Major, is elaborated and embellished. This Adagio is adapted from the slow movement of a piano quartet from 1785, one of Beethoven’s first compositions.
Second Movement Principal Theme:

The Third movement, called the Minuet in F minor, with his contrasting F major Trio, presages later Scherzo movements, meaning what would be the normal trio section instead being a little faster and more fierce, but still in 3/4 time. Beethoven also does something special here, going from F Minor to F Major, called using parallel keys, where you use two different key signatures, but with the same tonic, in this case, F.
Minuet theme:

Trio (Scherzo) theme:

The final Prestissimo, in F Major, brings a touch of fire to the slower, tamer other three movements. The eighth-note triplets drive the piece as a rhythmic ostinato, leading to a more peaceful, but still ‘agitato’ section in the minor-five relation, C Minor. Next, a new idea occurs in Ab Major (again, a third relation), while developing the rhythm of the first theme as well as the driven eighth-note triplets from the first theme. After an extended retransition back to the original key, F Minor, Beethoven Recapitulates the first in F Minor to conclude the piece.
First Theme:

Second Theme:

Development:

First theme Recapitulated in F Minor:


Works Cited For Further Research:

Prevot, Dominique. "Biography: Beethoven's life - Ludwig van Beethoven's website - Dominique PR." Ludwig van Beethoven : le site - Ludwig van Beethoven's Website - Ludwig van Beethoven in immagini ed in musica. Dominique PREVOT. Dec. 2001. Web. 08 Feb. 2010. ..

"Work Information." Naxos Music Library. Web. 08 Feb. 2010. . .