Sonata no 31 in A-flat major, opus 110, starts as if it were continuing the previous sonata. The sonata is much more one piece rather than three separate movements. The attention span runs from the first bars of the first movement to the final bars of the last movement. Beethoven didn’t say so, but the sonata could well be played without a break between the movements. At the same time though, Beethoven used very different historical composition techniques for every movement; classical for the first movement, folksy for the second and baroque for the third. Beethoven integrates the three different techniques through unity of themes and harmonization. The opening bars of the first movement become the subject of the fugues of the final movement. And the opening phrase of the scherzo transforms into the arioso of the final movement.

The first movement, Moderato cantabile molto espressivo, is in sonata form and refers to the early Beethoven. The character of this movement is lyrical, tender and beautiful. No dramas here. Yet Beethoven gives the last bars of the recapitulation a tragic touch through a lowered sixth in the penultimate dissonant chord. This leaves a somewhat charged and uncomfortable atmosphere, which is interrupted but not dissolved by the scherzo.

The second movement, Allegro molto, is a humorous and folksy scherzo. In fact, it’s the only humorous touch in the last three sonatas and based on two German folksongs. The first song is: ‘… Unsre Katz’ hat Kätzchen ‘habt…’. The second song: ‘…Ich bin lüderlich, du bist lüderlich, wir sind alle lüderlich…’. In such a spiritual, existential and personal sonata, it is quite interesting to see two folksongs in between.

In the last three sonatas spirituality and religion play an important role. In this sonata, the third movement, Adagio ma non troppo, refers to baroque passion musique and opens the way to a religious and transcendental world. Beethoven mapped out his own ailing health in this movement. It starts with a recitative. No dramatic recitative as in the Tempest sonata, but a melancholy monologue or a lamenting song. At the end of this ‘Arioso dolente’ you could say the words ‘es ist vollbracht’. The Arioso dolente is a straight quotation from the St John’s Passion aria ‘Es ist vollbracht’ from J.S. Bach. The bachian fugue that follows represents the healing process, even though the atmosphere remains depressed. Beethoven returns to the lamenting song. This time the stuttering melody, broken by rests and silence, depicts exhaustion. But then the clock strikes ten, followed by an inversion of the fugue. Beethoven writes ‘gradually coming back to life’. This second fugue expresses the revival, a triumphant return to life. The sonata ends in a jubilant mood. Counterpoint in this sonata is no longer a historical composition technique, but a form of expression of musical poetry.

Sonata No. 31 is sponsored by Bernard te Boekhorst