Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69

Introduction

Ludwig van Beethoven's Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69 was written in 1808, during his middle period. The sonata was composed in the same year as the Piano Trios Op. 70 and the Choral Fantasy, and the same year the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, which were begun earlier, premiered. It was first performed in March 1809 by cellist Nikolaus Kraft and pianist Dorothea von Ertmann, and dedicated to Baron Ignaz von Gleichenstein, who was a cellist himself.

In the course of his life Beethoven composed five sonatas for cello and piano. The Op. 69 was the first he had written since his Op. 5 over a decade earlier. Mark Kaplan writes: "In general, the writing in op. 69 is thinner than in the early cello sonatas ... greater compositional technique allowed Beethoven the possibility of using fewer notes with confidence." The contemporary cellist Steven Isserlis describes it as the first cello sonata in history to give the two instruments equal importance. This sonata is arguably the most prominent of the five cello sonatas Beethoven composed.

A typical performance takes about 25 minutes.

Form

The work is in three movements, with an 18-bar slow introduction before the third movement:

1. Allegro ma non tanto
2. Scherzo. Allegro molto (in A minor)
3. Adagio cantabile – Allegro vivace.

The first movement opens with an expansive melody in the cello alone, as follows:

The piano then plays a cadenza-like flourish, which leads into a repetition of the opening theme, this time played in octaves by the piano. A bridge passage follows, leading to a second theme, which is also repeated. The development gives greater emphasis to the first theme. The movement is in sonata form.

The scherzo which follows is in the tonic minor, A minor, and makes prominent use of off-beat accents. The trio is in the major and is heard twice.

The slow introduction to the finale is in ²
₄ time and the dominant key, E major. The finale is in sonata form and ends with an expressive coda.