Dénes Várjon Photo: Adam Chamber Music Festival
This is number 32 of 32 piano sonatas by Beethoven. The first movement centres around an ominous three-note motif that makes the journey through eras of music right before our ears, from the contrapuntal writing of the Baroque to the elegant melody and accompaniment of the Classical, and interruptions of the impending Romanticism to come.
Something about this juxtaposition of style increases the scope of the work, as if to encompass the whole of humanity, past, present and future. The trajectory of the work as a whole is popularly compared to that of the struggles and suffering of life to the transcendence and peace of death, and the victory of the human spirit over adversity.
Recorded in Nelson Centre of Musical Arts by RNZ
Sound engineer: Darryl Stack
