Beethoven: Sonata in C major, Op. 53 (“Waldstein“) | Boris Giltburg | Beethoven 32 project

From two of Beethoven’s lesser sonatas (Nos. 19-20) to one of his greatest – Sonata No. 21, Op. 53, known as ‘Waldstein’, after its dedicatee, Count von Waldstein, a close friend and early patron of Beethoven. It is very tempting to talk of watershed moments – perhaps only visible to us in hindsight – but the Waldstein, its every note radiant with inspiration, is surely a landmark in Beethoven’s development, as well as in the development of the sonata genre in Beethoven’s hands. The Sonata falls into two distinct parts: the energetic, taut as a wound spring Allegro con brio on one hand, and the expansive, poetic, highly imaginative finale with its slow introduction on the other. The very beginning of the first movement is pulsation made melodic, brimming with barely contained energy – the long row of repeated notes seemingly straining against the imposed metre, only content once they arrive at the short melodic figure in bar three. It is immediately repeated higher up, forming a micro-dialogue before t