Beethoven: Sonata in E Minor, (Korstick, Biss, Lewis)

The Sonata evades easy characterisation. It’s highly compressed, usually taking no more than 14 minutes to be performed in its entirety, and is constructed with incredible efficiency despite its thematic richness. The refrain of the second movement rondo is one of the most beautiful melodies Beethoven ever wrote, but the first movement is far more difficult to pin down – it’s certainly full of tension, but of a rather lonesome and despairing sort –it’s not menacing like the Appassionata or violent like the . Of particular note is the development section of the first movement, which is as short as it is ingenious, and the structure of the rondo (which typically is a little mysterious – it has elements of sonata form, and no-one knows if it’s really got a coda and where it begins if it does exist.) MVT I, Mit Lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck (“With liveliness and with feeling and expression throughout”) EXPOSITION 00:00 – Theme 1.1 00:10 – Theme 1.2 00:22 – Theme 1.3 00:40 – T