‘I am now writing a sonata that will be my greatest’, Beethoven entrusted Czerny in 1817. Sonata no 29 in B-flat major, opus 106, is titled ‘Grosse Sonate für das Hammerklavier’ and became famous under the name ‘Hammerklavier’, Beethoven’s translation of ‘pianoforte’. The sonata is as illustrious as it is weird and titanic. It lasts for about forty-five minutes. Length and prescribed tempi are extreme. Needless to say that Hammerklavier is very demanding for pianists. Beethoven predicted that Hammerklavier would keep generations of pianists busy. It’s considered to be one of Beethoven’s most profound compositions. It’s not beautiful, except for the Adagio. It’s a work to be admired. An explosion of energy and an exercise in willpower. An act of violence and a radical change in style. Strangely enough, Beethoven abandoned the experimental principles of, for example, Appassionata or sonata no 28 (opus 101). He did not attempt to revive the oldfashioned style, but to rethink and transform it. Not just the classical style, but also the principles of counterpoint. Classical design and unprecedented harmonic freedom go hand in hand. For a large part, Hammerklavier is about harmonic friction; the struggle between the keys of B-flat major and B (minor). Rising and falling thirds form the other motif that marks the main theme of each movement. Even more than, for example, in Appassionata, Beethoven tries to unify all the movements of Hammerklavier.

Hammerklavier is dedicated to Archduke Rudolph. The first movement, Allegro, starts with chordal fanfares on which you can sing ‘Vivat, vivat Rudolphus’. It is determined by descending thirds and quite contrapuntal, which marks Beethoven’s late work. The development points ahead to the gigantic fugue of the finale. 

The second movement: Scherzo: Assai vivace, is lighter and not so eccentric. The opening theme, again, descends in thirds and there is a clash between B-flat major versus B minor. It is a humorous parody of the main theme of the first movement. The trio is softer and richer and followed by a second trio, the festive Presto, after which the Scherzo returns dolce.

The Adagio sostenuto. Appassionata e con molto sentimento in F-sharp minor is the longest slow movement Beethoven wrote. It is considered to be one of the greatest slow movements of all time, describing pain and despair. It is a sonata form without repeats. The development descends through a long chain of, again, thirds. Originally, Beethoven started this movement with an F-sharp minor chord, but afterwards he added the first bar to introduce the mood of this movement, using, again, a third. According to Edwin Fischer, this twenty-minute dialogue with the piano may well be the most beautiful gift ever to the instrument. 

After the pain and despair of the Adagio, Beethoven typically wrote a resurrection. The Largo part of the fourth movement, Largo-Allegro risoluto, is an introduction to the fugue of the Allegro risoluto, again marked by falling thirds. The grand fugue in the final movement is one of the most complex fugues ever. A combination of contrapuntal genius, fury and tradition. The brutal 390 bars of the fugue are a tour de force. Beethoven follows the rules of a traditional fugue -theme, inversion, augmentation, diminution, et cetera- but allows himself some freedom. And each stage is a third lower than the one before. The fugue is the terrifying end of this gigantic sonata.

                        Sonata No. 29 ‘Hammerklavier’ is sponsored by Jan Steinhauser.