Abstract: Beethoven's piano sonata is a unique document that expounds the spiritual development process of musicians. They actually cover Beethoven's entire creative career on the keyboard. He first created heroic achievements like a little lion; In middle age, he showed heroism with challenging spirit; In the later period of my life, I felt the great mysterious realm. Different from the Old Testament of keyboard music, that is, Bach's average law (composed of 48 preludes and fugues), Beethoven's piano sonatas have a revolutionary influence on the style of piano music.

Keywords: Beethoven's piano sonata music

Beethoven's piano sonata is a unique document that expounds the spiritual development of musicians. They actually cover Beethoven's entire creative career on the keyboard.

I. Piano Sonata, Op. 27-2 Creation Background of Moonlight

Beethoven wrote this piece of music in 180 1 year, when he was in love with Julia Fata Gitchadi (1784- 1856), and this piece of music was dedicated to her. In June of this year 165438+ 10/6, Beethoven mentioned her in a letter to Heller, saying, "She loves me and I love her." But by the beginning of 1802, she had fallen in love with Count Andrew Hallenborg and married him in 1803. Romain rolland linked this song with Beethoven's lovelorn love, saying, "Fantasy didn't last long, and the pain and indignation in sonata has surpassed love."

Romain rolland interprets the first movement as melancholy, mourning and pain. Russian musician Ole Biyishev (1794- 1858) thinks that the first movement is "deep sorrow" of lovelorn, just like "hanging fire". However, 180 1 was the time when Beethoven and Guichar Di fell in love. It is untrue to say that this work is about the pain of lovelorn love. Perhaps Stasov (1824- 1906), a Russian art critic, is more reasonable in explaining this work. Recalling listening to Liszt's performance in Petersburg, he thought the sonata was a complete tragedy, and the first movement was a thoughtful, gentle and sometimes gloomy state of mind. He had a similar impression when listening to anton rubinstein's performance: "... from a distance, it seems that a silent voice suddenly rises from the depths of an invisible soul. Some voices are melancholy, full of infinite sadness, some are meditative, with endless memories and gloomy omens ... "

This song is called Moonlight because the German poet Ludwig compared it to the moonlight on Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. Sonatas in C minor are especially famous for their titles and legends.

Beethoven once said, "People often talk about sonatas in C minor, but I have written something better than this, and sonatas in F major (Op. 78) are the same works." It can be seen that Beethoven himself was not very satisfied with Moonlight Song.

Second, the legend of moonlight song

The legend of Beethoven's famous moonlight song goes like this: One autumn, Beethoven traveled around the world and came to a small town on the Rhine. One night, he was walking along a quiet path and heard the intermittent piano sound coming from a small room, playing his music.

Beethoven approached the hut, the piano suddenly stopped and someone was talking in the room. A girl said, "How difficult it is to play this song! I've only heard others play it several times, but I don't remember how to play it. If only I could listen to Beethoven himself! " A man said, "Yes, but the tickets for the concert are too expensive. We are too poor." The girl said, "Don't be sad, brother, I'm just saying."

Hearing this, Beethoven gently pushed open the door and came in. A candle was lit in the hut. In the dim candlelight, men are making leather shoes. There is an old piano in front of the window, and a girl of sixteen or seventeen is sitting in front of it. Her face is handsome, but her eyes are blind.

Seeing a stranger come in, the shoemaker stood up and asked, "Who are you looking for, sir?" ? Wrong door, right? "Beethoven said," no, I'm here to play a tune for this girl. "

The girl quickly stood up and offered her seat. Beethoven sat in front of the piano and played the tune that the blind girl had just played. The blind girl was so absorbed in listening that when the music ended, she said excitedly, "How well you play! How deep the feelings are! You, you are Mr. Beethoven? "

Beethoven didn't answer. He asked the blind girl, "Do you like it? Let me play another song for you. "

A gust of wind blew out the candle and the moonlight shone into the window. Everything in the hut seemed to be covered with silver gauze, which made it very quiet. Beethoven looked at the poor brothers and sisters standing beside him, playing the keys in the quiet moonlight. The shoemaker listened quietly. He seems to face the sea, and the moon rises from where the water meets the sky. Time is covered with silver wire on the sea where microwave shines. The moon rose higher and higher, passing through a wisp of gauze-like Wei Yun. Suddenly, there was a strong wind at sea, which rolled up huge waves. The waves glistened in the moonlight and came to the shore one after another ... The shoemaker looked at his sister. The moonlight shone on her unusually quiet face and her eyes opened wide. She seemed to see something she had never seen before, the rough sea in the moonlight.

Brother and sister were intoxicated by the wonderful piano sound. When they woke up from the music, Beethoven had left the hut. He flew back to the inn and spent the whole night recording the moonlight song he had just played.

This is a text in the seventh volume of Chinese textbook for full-time ten-year middle schools in China. It tells the story of Beethoven playing Moonlight for a blind girl. This is indeed a beautiful legend. Legend has it that Beethoven's piece (op.27 No.2-Piano Sonata in C minor) describes the moonlight scenery on the sea, which originated from German music critic Rael Stubb (1799- 1860). He used the nickname moonlight on the beautiful Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. Russian pianist anton rubinstein (1829- 1894) is very opposed to using "moonlight" to explain this piece. He said: "Moonlight should be meditation, meditation and tranquility in music description. In short, it is a soft and bright mood. The first movement of sonata in C minor, from the first note to the last note, is completely tragic (implied by minor), so it is cloudy sky and gloomy mood. The last movement is intense and enthusiastic, and it shows a completely opposite side to the gentle moon. There is only a short second movement, which can be said to be a moment in the moonlight. " In Germany, some people also call this kind of music "Garden Pavilion" sonata. The garden pavilion is a pavilion built in the shade of a tree, and this title is also inappropriate for this sonata. It seems that the first movement is by no means a clear landscape painting, but an inner gloomy mood. Thiel (1817-1897), the author of Beethoven's biography, said that the first movement was "A girl prays for her sick father", which is more appropriate than "Moonlight" and "Garden Pavilion" in any case.

Third, the analysis of works.

The first movement-Adagio continuo, 2/2 time in C minor, trilogy.

The emotional expression of this movement is extremely rich, with meditation tenderness, sad singing and dark premonition. Although the accompaniment, theme and intensity have not changed much, it still shows the fluctuation of the author's heartstrings delicately through the changes of harmony, range and rhythm. This sonata contains Beethoven's original ideas. Its fantastic improvisation and the way to explore piano sounds have predicted Debussy Impressionism about 100 years later. The theme it is based on is simple: at the beginning of the music, endless fantasy is constructed by the triplet flowing out continuously, and after four festivals, the first theme looms in the alto. It is meticulous and quiet, slightly melancholy. 1 paragraph 1 minute 18 seconds The second theme in B major (turn to page 89) (followed by page 83) appeared. The middle part starts with the first theme. The triplet twists and turns to the high-pitched area, showing impatience. Then in the third paragraph, the first theme reappears calmly, and the second theme reappears in C minor, and then continues to play the finale of the basic motivation of bass, slowly disappearing and ending.

The second movement-Allegro, D flat major, 3/4 time, trilogy.

This movement is relatively short, and Liszt described it as "a flower in the middle of two abyss". It perfectly connects the meditation of the first movement with the tension of the third movement with a completely different expression of light. The first paragraph is the theme of legato and staccato, then the variation is repeated, and the middle part is also kept in D flat major. 2 paragraphs 1 min 13 seconds to reproduce the first paragraph. This action seems to be a warm smile left in an instant.

The third movement in C minor-Allegro Excitement, in 4/4 beats.

Although the sonata is closely related to the first movement in tonality, it expresses completely different feelings. The first theme is passion and uncontrollable boiling and agitation, just like fierce rage, but also like jumping over and over again. The second theme is like a heartfelt complaint. It is near the end of the continuous eighth note, with firm rhythm, showing warm feelings and strong will. After a brief expansion, the inner excitement is even stronger. At the end, the boiling enthusiasm reached its peak and suddenly fell silent, but the surging mood did not subside. Beethoven once said that the two sonatas of his work No.27 are like fantasia. He pointed out that there should be no pause between the movements of Moonlight Sonata, which gradually unfolded from the beginning movement to the complicated ending movement in a suggestive way, thus providing a sense of climax. Beethoven's sonatas in this period are full of tentative practice, and he tries to re-evaluate the main creative principles of sonata form. Generally speaking, if we want to follow the traditional mode, sonata form often appears in only one movement, but usually in the first movement, but Beethoven broke this mode. Moonlight sonata is one of the works that classical music school began to transform into romantic music school.

Beethoven is not a composer with fast creative speed, and music creation is not an easy task for him, so each of his works is the product of careful consideration, and many first drafts are abandoned, leaving only the most satisfactory results. No matter how natural Beethoven's music sounds, in essence, it was created through his rigorous and intelligent skills. Of all Beethoven's 32 sonatas, almost no chapter is weak. He first created heroic achievements like a little lion; In middle age, he showed heroism with challenging spirit; In his later years, he felt the great mysterious realm. Different from the Old Testament of keyboard music, that is, Bach's average law (composed of 48 preludes and fugues), Beethoven's piano sonatas have a revolutionary influence on the style of piano music. They made the piano music break away from the elegant indoor style of Mozart's era and created an atmosphere for masters like Liszt and Talberg in the19th century.

References:

[1] Piano Teaching and Performance Technology, edited by Tong and Sun Mingzhu, People's Music Publishing House.

[2] Xie Ying's 20th Century piano master, Shanghai Music Publishing House.

[3] Analysis and Performance of Foreign Piano Works, edited by Tong and Sun Mingzhu, People's Music Publishing House.

[4] Zhou Wei's History of Western Piano Art, Shanghai Music Publishing House.

Authors: Music Department of taiyuan normal University.