Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.9, Op.14 No.1

Introduction

The Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major, Op. 14, No. 1, is an early-period work by Ludwig van Beethoven, dedicated to Baroness Josefa von Braun. It was composed in 1798 and arranged – not transcribed – for string quartet by the composer in 1801 (Hess 34), the result containing more quartet-like passagework and in the more comfortable key of F major.

Form

The sonata is in three movements:

1. Allegro in E major
2. Allegretto in E minor with a trio in C major (which returns in the Coda)
3. Rondo – Allegro comodo in E major.

The first movement opens with a series of ascending fourths in the right hand, followed by a quartet-like echoing of a phrase in different octaves. The second theme, in B major, is based on a chromatically descending scale. The development is full of sixteenth-note arpeggios in the left hand, and sixteenth-note left-hand scales accompany the start of the recapitulation, but the movement ends quietly.

The second movement is minuet-like; the main section does not resolve to a full cadence, but ends on an E-major chord that feels like the dominant of A minor. The first time, this leads without intermediate modulation to the trio, headed "Maggiore," in C; after its return, the coda briefly quotes the C major tune before returning to E minor. Anton Schindler recalled that Beethoven would play the E-minor section furiously, before pausing at length on the E-major chord and giving a calmer account of the Maggiore.

The third movement is a lively rondo. On its final return, the main theme is syncopated against triplets.

Notwithstanding its seeming simplicity, this sonata introduces the "Sturm und Drang" character that became so commonly identified with Beethoven. He adds drama both in the contrast between the lyrical passages that follow very active, textured thematic sections. Furthermore, the contrasting dynamics and variation between major and minor, between using the parallel minor and the subdominant of its relative major (E-minor to C-major). These were new techniques that offer a hint of the innovations that Beethoven brought to end the Classical era and begin the Romantic era.

Critical reception

The pianist and musicologist Charles Rosen considers both of the Opus 14 sonatas to be "considerably more modest than their predecessors", "destined for use in the home" and with "few technical difficulties".