Luogo e data di registrazione		-
	Original Editions		Telefunken | 6.35490 FK - Vol.2 | 3 LPs | LC 0366 | durata: 53' 24" · 41' 14" · 49' 53" | (p) 1981 | ANA | stereo | (Nr. 1, 2) Telefunken | 6.35472 FK - Vol.1 | 3 LPs | LC 0366 | durata: 46' 29" · 43' 17" · 46' 12" | (p) 1981 | ANA | stereo | (Nr. 3)
	Edizione CD		Teldec | 8.43415 ZK | 1 CD | LC 3706 | durata: 62' 00" | (c) 1986 | DDD/DMM | stereo
	Executive Producer		-
	Recording Engineer		-
	Cover design		Holger Matthies
	Note		-

THE 32 PIANO SONATAS (10 CDs DMM)		Piano Sonatas Nr. 1 f-moll, Op. 2 Nr. 1 The first compositions that Beethoven published in Vienna, where he had moved from Bonn in 1792, were the three Piano Trios op. l. These were soon followed by the three Piano Sonatas op. 2 dedicated to his teacher Joseph Haydn. (Actually the lessons were very sporadic and the rapport between the pupil and his older “master,” then at the height of his fame throughout Europe was evidently none too easy.) The sonatas were written in 1795, based on earlier material, and printed in the following year. Not only are they entirely different from one another, but they constitute in themselves an ascending sequence. While No. 3 is a completely free, highly individual work, No. 1 a still comparatively conventional, and no doubt intentionally so. The first movement is extremely terse, the exposition occupying a mean 48 bars. Compactness is the order of the day, there is no unnecessary loquacity there are no flourishes. This concentration, which is also particularly apparent in the third movement, is in itself a homage to Haydn. Beethoven opens the first of his sonatas to be accepted in the canon with a commonplace: the ascending broken minor triad at the beginning of the piece, known in the profession as the “Mannheim rocket,” was in general use at the time; one a constantly reminded of the similarity to the opening of the last movement of Mozart’s G minor Symphony, K. 550. But what Beethoven does with this motif is by no means commonplace; the very first sequence omits the anacrusis, any thereafter only the turn which concludes the opening phrase is elaboratetd. Thus Beethoven proves within a mere eight bars what he can do with that very ordinary tag, and that what matters is not the basic idea, but its musical exploitation. "Development" is not confined to the development section of the sonata form, but is to be found everywhere, in every little detail. Beethoven’s principle of continuous thematic work, of composition as a process - a notion which stems primarily from Haydn - is revealed even in this tiny aspect of his first piano sonata. Piano Sonatas Nr. 2 A-dur, Op. 2 Nr. 2 In contrast to the concisely stern, rather sombre sonata in F minor, the final of which Czerny described as being stormy, almost dramatic, like the description of some serious event, in the second sonata of op. 2, in Beethoven’ usually bright and optimistic key of A, a wayward, charmingly playful note predominates. The theme of the last movement is quite delightful: a graceful cap across 3 1/2 octaves up to E in Alt, the highest note in the whole movement, which occurs within the context of this theme, and down again in an almost exaggerated slide. One might almost believe that Beethoven chose the rondo form in order to re-use this little treasure: it occurs 5 times in all, and the break is attained in a different manner on every occasion. The beginning of the Scherzo almost anticipates the Rondo opening: here again there is a scurrying figure, the broken A major triad ending, surely not by chance, on exactly te same note, E in Alt. The first movement is on a very large scale indeed, in comparison with that of op. 2, No. 1, which is not even half as long, contrasts, surprises and internal relationships abound and, unlike the uncomplicated first sonata of the set, it is s as taxing as it is appealing to the virtuoso. Both subjects are wayward and inexpected: the first which, like the opening of some Haydn symphonies, is full of contrasts, begins with two terse, contrary motifs, played piano (but note the different dynamics in the recapitulation). The second subject is introduced not in the customary dominant major, but in the gentle minor; inceasing, unexpected modulations, always introduced by a dissonant note emphasised by a sforzato, transform it into a variant of the first subject with abrupt dynamic contrasts. The strongest possible antithesis is provided by the largo appassionato with its almost orchestral writing and fascinating display of different registers, which Czerny described as being of a religious nature: the sustained, broadly sweeping tune is contrasted with the generous palette of the accompaniment, extending from the dry staccato of the bassoon to the cantilena of the strings. Piano Sonatas Nr. 3 C-dur, Op. 2 Nr. 3 Even the first compositions produced by Beethoven in Vienna were fully mature works: the three Piano Trios of op. 1, written in 1793/4 and dedicated to his most eminent patron, Prince Carl Lichnowsky, of whom he was to say in 1805: ”He is truly one of my most faithful friends and the promoter of my art - something fairly unusual in that class,” and the three Piano Sonatas of op. 2, dedicated to Joseph Haydn. When Beethoven moved to Vienna from Bonn in the autumn of 1792 - temporarily, as he thought - he became Haydn’s pupil for about a year. Not merely does the dedication express the customary gratitude shown to a teacher, but the three sonatas represent what the young composer, whom Haydn had as early as 1795 described, in a diary entry, as a genius, had learnt from his teacher’s style rather than from his lessons. In this context it is worth recalling the prophetic words with which Count Waldstein concluded his entry in Beethoven’s album on the eve of his departure from Bonn: “By unremitting diligence you will receive the spirit of Mozart from the hands of Haydn." In 1795 Beethoven wrote the three sonatas of op. 2, incorporating in them some previously composed material, and they were published a year later. The richness and inventiveness which they display is divorced from any kind of formalism. No. 3 in C, one of Beethoven's most frequently played sonatas, is conceived on the largest scale and contains elements of orchestral sonorities, as opposed to the "chamber music” scale of  No. 1 and the pianistic virtuosity cf No. 2. The first movement of this sonata is sometimes described as a piano concerto in disguise, because of the interesting changes in the tone colour and figuration, and particularly on account of the strange free cadenza which is interpolated between the end of the recapitulation and the coda. However, Beethoven’s music is particularly characterised by the fact that traditional types of style, such as ”chamber music,” “pianistic” etc. are constantly reshaped, discarded, indeed stripped of their traditional, typical effect. As far as the A flat major cadenza in the first movement is concerned, it is reminiscent neither in its placing nor in its internal form of a true concerto cadenza; this passage is free improvisatory soliloquising, and a last product of the surprise element in this movement, which is derived from constantly changing confrontations with and digressions from the terse opening motif, which, taken by itself, would have led one to expect the movement to take an entirely different course. The second movement, an Adagio in the third-related key of E which moves through manifold ranges of expression as though in a dream, appears to be just one vast elaboration of the improvisation at the end of the first movement. In 1842 Beethoven’s pupil Carl Czerny stated in his notes on the interpretation of the sonatas that this adagio already displayed a romantic tendency that later enabled Beethoven to create a type of composition which raised instrumental music to the level of painting and poetry. Particularly strange is the sudden eruption in the second half, fortissimo, in the contrasting key of C, an isolated variant of the two bars of the first subject - but it turns out to be merely an obvious harking back to the beginning of the first movement; material that has already been encountered is treated as though it were entirely new. Details such as these indicate what Beethoven put into his compositions. In the Scherzo, strangely enough, the violence does not flare up until the Trio is reached and the triplets create the illusion of increased speed. The motivic element of the movement centres, in essence, on the contrast between the major and minor seconds in the two versions of the first motif. At the very end of the coda, which flits from mighty octave leaps to a pianissimo, the interval is reversed and the second rises from B to C. A reworking of the material down to its smallest components, typical of Beethoven’s writing from then on, is one of his finest legacies from Haydn.
1 CD - 8.42761 ZK - (c) 1984 1 CD - 8.43027 ZK - (c) 1984 1 CD - 8.43206 ZK - (p) 1985 1 CD - 8.43415 ZK - (p) 1986 1 CD - 8.43477 ZK - (p) 1987	1 CD - 8.42913 ZK - (c) 1983 1 CD - 8.43111 ZK - (p) 1985 1 CD - 8.43334 ZK - (p) 1986 1 CD - 8.43476 ZK - (p) 1987 1 CD - 8.43478 ZK - (p) 1987