From April to October 1802, Beethoven stayed in the village of Heiligenstadt to calm his nerves and care for his hearing. Unfortunately, Beethoven’s hearing didn’t improve and he feared it would never get better. In October he wrote a letter, known as the Heiligenstadt Testament, to his brothers and the public. Beethoven was desperate, stating that only his art kept him from committing suicide. He focused on his music, looking for new, innovative forms of expression and, as it turned out, 1802 was one of his most prolific years. The ’Tempest’ sonata, opus 31 no 2 in D minor, epitomizes the new directions Beethoven was looking for with its complexity and emotional depth. This sonata and the 9^th symphony are the only works of Beethoven in the key of D minor. Maybe the key of D minor had a special, existential meaning for Beethoven, using it in periods of profound personal and artistic transformation. We call this sonata Tempest because Beethoven, being asked by his secretary Schindler what he thought of this sonata, supposedly suggested to read Shakespeare’s Tempest. The sonata is not program music though, but a work that reflects Beethoven’s 1802 feelings and compositional genius.

The first movement, Largo-Allegro, stands out for its restless energy and dramatic contrasts. The opening is ominous and contemplative, marked Largo. It serves as a calm before the storm of the agitated and dynamic Allegro that follows. The presentation of the main theme, which has the atmospheric intensity of a tempestuous storm, is postponed. To start a sonata in such a manner was unprecedented at the time. A new direction indeed, that of 19^th century Romanticism. The Largo returns twice, at the beginning of the development and recapitulation, each time adding new layers of complexity and intensity. They show Beethoven’s compositional genius, but also his desperate state of mind.

All three movements of this sonata are in sonata form, but the second movement, Adagio, is without a development section. This wonderful, serene adagio places the arpeggiated chords, the dotted rhythms and mood changes of the first movement in a warm, humane light.  Although the harmonies are daring, with huge dissonances, this movement is a resting place between two storms.

The extraordinary third movement, Allegretto, has something melancholic, dramatic and tempestuous about it. It combines elements of the first two movements, blending the restless energy of the Allegro with the lyrical qualities of the Adagio. The development is reminiscent of a Bach invention or fugue. The figuration does not change much, the drama happens in the harmony. The whole movement is a perpetuum mobile, with minor interruptions. Beethoven ends this sonata as unorthodox as the beginning. The effect of the third exclamation followed by a chromatic scale is still very dramatic, but then Beethoven ends this movement, just like the first and second movement, piano. Beethoven often preferred delicate endings to prolong the atmosphere beyond the final chords.

The mixture of drama, lyricism and compositional genius make the Tempest sonata a timeless masterpiece and an example of the transformative power of music.

Sonata is sponsored by Jeroen & Margreet van Zwieteren-Volker