Cade Roberts

Mentored Research Project 2019-2020

Below I have attached the script from my research for this project that I conducted myself under

the mentorship of Dr. Stephen Beus. The general focus of the research was both musical and historical

context of two relatively underperformed masterpieces by the composer Ludwig van Beethoven,

namely: the fourth piano sonata in E-flat major “Grande Sonata” and the song cycle “An die ferne

Geliebte” or On the distant Beloved. A lecture recital for these two works was held on February 9th,

2020 at the St. Mary Episcopal Church in Provo, Utah at 6pm. The event was very well attended by

colleagues, professors, students, family, friends, and other members of the community. The piano

sonata was performed by myself during the section of the script that so indicate and the song cycle was

sung by Jonah Hoskins accompanied by myself at the piano.

February 9, 2020

Beethoven Lecture Recital

Ladies and Gentlemen; family and friends; I would like to welcome you to this evening’s lecture

recital. Before we begin, I would like to thank Serena Kanig Benish and St. Mary’s Episcopal Church for

allowing us to host this event here. This recital would not be possible without their community music

program. I would also like to thank my musical mentor Dr. Stephen Beus who could not be here this

evening for the valuable lessons and training he has given me over the years as well as my friends and

family for supporting my musical pursuits. I would like to ask you to please turn off all cell phones and

other electronic devices as this recital at this time. Please hold any and all applause until the end of the

recital so that we can get through all of the material and music without interruption.
 Today we will be discussing two works by Ludwig van Beethoven. I will be primarily focusing on

the musical content of these works rather than the historical context. For anyone interested, I recently

published an episode on my podcast Between Rehearsals giving an abridged narrative of Beethoven’s

life and historical context to the pieces that will be discussed today. For all of those who did not have

the opportunity to listen to my podcast about this lecture recital, I would strongly encourage you to

listen to the podcast, which is available either on Spotify, or Anchor.fm/betweenrehearsals. Fortunately,

the works stand for themselves. While historical context may be interesting and even useful, the works

that I will be presenting today need no backstory. They are in themselves masterpieces and I am thrilled

to be able to share them with you all this evening.

The first piece that I would like to examine this evening is Beethoven’s fourth piano sonata in E-

flat major, op. 7 which carries the subtitle “grande sonata”. The dimensions of this piece are massive

and out of all of the 32 sonatas that Beethoven wrote for the piano, only one surpassed op. 7 in scale

which was his 29th piano sonata written around 20 years later. The entire sonata takes no less than 30

minutes to play which is about 10-13 minutes longer than the longest sonatas written by his

contemporaries Franz Joseph Hadyn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This would be the equivalent of

going to the movie theater today without knowing the length of the film you were about to see. One

would expect there to be a certain amount of character development, story, climax, etc… that would last

about 2 hours. I think most of you would be pretty astonished if the film was then 3.5 to maybe even 4

hours. That’s what this piece was during Beethoven’s time. This piano sonata is in 4 movements with

such large proportions that imply a symphony, which was a much higher more refined type of music,

and it’s textural writing seems to support the idea that this piano sonata is not some small student

piece, but an entire symphony – the height of musical expression – densely condensed into the

virtuosity and individuality of one performer at the piano (move to piano).

 I. The first movement is an explosion of excitement, adventure and charisma. In the opening

few bars, we hear a two-note motive of a descending third (demonstrate) – the same exact

notes that would become Beethoven’s fate motive in the fifth’s symphony (demonstrate)

This motive is underlined by repeated notes in the left hand that I could imagine a French horn and

maybe cellos playing (demonstrate). This main theme comprised of the fate theme and the repeated

notes Beethoven brings back innumerable times throughout the piece as well. In Mozartian fashion,

Beethoven does not just include one or two themes in the exposition of this sonata, but somewhere

between 6 and 10 depending on how one counts them. This not only expands the length of the first

movement, but also gives the listener the sense that the music is always being driven forward to

something different, new, and exciting. The first movement is extremely difficult and is not frequently

performed because of the amount of practice and preparation required. This virtuosity again points to

an orchestra, as if the music itself can barely be contained by one performer but requires almost

orchestral strength in order to execute it successfully. For a young virtuosic pianist as Beethoven was,

the first movement displays Beethoven’s mastery as a composer as well as a pianist.

II. While the large first movement seems to show symphonic scope, this sonata would perhaps

not have received the title “grande sonata’ if it were not for the second movement.

In the traditional classical sonata, the second movement was often a lyrical, slower piece that normally

embodied the galant style – a style that sought to express personal emotions and sensitivity. In many of

Beethoven’s predecessors such as Wolfang Amadeus Mozart, these second movements defined this

galant style and would mimic the beautiful lyrical line of a singer with perhaps a simple accompaniment.

Let me briefly demonstrate this lyric galant style by playing the opening theme from the second

movement of Mozart’s Piano Sonata in F major, K. 331

Mozart’s Piano Sonata in F major, K. 331, second movement (first phrase)

This lyrical galant style would been in a familiar style to everyone during the 1790’s when Beethoven

was first writing in Vienna. Now let me contrast this Mozart sonata with what Beethoven writes as his

opening phrase in the second movement of op. 7.

Beethoven op. 7, II. Largo con gran espressione (first phrase)

Beethoven seems to view his second movement as something quite different than what Mozart had in

mind. Instead of personal intimate feelings, it seems like Beethoven is exploring the wonders and beauty

of an entirely different world. If Mozart is expressing the inner feelings that one might only express in

private, intimate situations, then Beethoven is describing a part of heaven where no mortal man exists.

Perhaps some beautiful forest where no man has ever stepped foot in; where the stillness and peace of

nature and God is uninterrupted by manmade imperfections. It is like an organ choral praising God in a

church where no one is present.

The second movement in no means imitates the human voice, nor does it imitate an orchestra.

If this music could be compared to any other, then it would mostly likely be a string quartet – bare and

exposed in orchestration with full harmonies. The second theme from the movement seems to confirm

this notion of the string quartet when the top voices form a choral with a pizzicato cello-like

accompaniment which sounds like this:

Op. 7, II. Largo con gran espressione (second phrase)

From these two primary themes Beethoven creates a work of pathos and gravitas. The second

movement takes approximately 9 minutes to perform and is the longest movement in the sonata, even
longer than the expansive first movement. This contrast between the charismatic first movement with

the vast, introspective second movement creates the grandeur where Beethoven’s “grande sonata”

rightfully gets its title.

III. The third movement does exactly what a third movement in a symphony should do. After

the first two taxing movements of music, the latter two movements serve to lighten the

mood.

The third movement from op. 7 is marked only allegro, but from the form of the piece one can tell that

this is a scherzo and trio which Beethoven used as a livelier modified version of a minuet and trio. It is

charming, pleasant, polite and behaves like any other minuet and trio would. The minuet or scherzo

could have been written by anyone of Beethoven’s time. It is sweet, put not particularly profound. It

exists to be entertaining and pleasant, but for no other purpose. Then comes the trio middle section.

The trio however takes us to a completely new world of sound. The trio shifts to the parallel minor of E-

flat minor, a key thought of as the most despairing in tonality. With this key change, the character of the

piece transforms entirely. The texture becomes very unclear, dense, murky, and mysterious. It is like

looking into space, seeing its density without any individual features. It is a duet at the third

(demonstrate) which is hidden in a whirlwind of tremolos that create this kind of musical texture

(demonstrate slow then fast).

We see this kind of thick tremolo texture in early romantic music all the way through modern

film scores. A clear example of music inspired by this trio section is Franz Schubert’s Klavierstück no. 1

written a few decades later when the musical style had already changed and people like Chopin and

Schumann were already composing in a romantic style. The example by Schubert’s sounds like this.
Now compare that to what Beethoven wrote (demonstrate). In my mind, Schubert saw this trio section

of Beeethoven’s op. 7 and knew that it would be the future. At the end of this violent trio section,

Beethoven drops dynamic to a triple pianissimo. To my knowledge, this is the first triple pianissimo ever

written in music. Ever. I’m not saying that is the quietest sound you’ve ever heard, but Beethoven at

least wanted the huge contrast between a fortissimo eruption of orchestral and atmospheric sound to

the single note triple pianissimo that ends the section, to which the first two sections repeat for a

pleasantly tasteful closing. It is the vast contrast which gives the third movement weight amongst the

other preceding movements.

IV. The final movement serves as a concluding pleasant rondo, which in many ways is not much

different from rondos written by Haydn or Mozart. A rondo is a normal concluding

movement for a sonata or symphony and is characterized by a returning theme that we will

call theme A. This is what theme A sounds like. Beethoven returns to the theme A after a

lyrical theme B in the dominant which sounds like this (play theme B) and a dramatic

contrasting theme C in the parallel major which sounds like this (play theme C).

For those not as familiar with functional harmony, these are modulations to different keys that are not

jarring or unexpected to the ear. They happen naturally and to an untrained ear, one might not even

notice the change in key. Surely you can see by this point in the work that Beethoven is too innovative to

finish something so grandiose such as this sonata with a simple cliché. After the traditional rondo form is

completed, Beethoven does something that I am quite certain he learned from his composition teacher,
Haydn. In Haydn’s last piano sonata which he wrote two years before Beethoven wrote his op. 7 in 1794,

Hadyn modulates up a half step towards the end of the first movement, and also returns to the same

key in the second movement. This relatively new innovative compositional technique Beethoven was

certainly eager to try. At the end of the last movement when we expect Beethoven to finish the piece,

he modulates up a half step to E major with octaves in both hands. This dramatic harmonic shift feels

almost religious in nature, as if Beethoven is transcending earth and reaching into heaven. To maintain

the incredible effect that this has in the piece, I will not demonstrate this now, but listen towards the

end of the fourth movement as Beethoven seems to lift the soul out of the ordinary into something

divine. He ends the movement by modulating back to the main key of E-flat major where different

themes we heard earlier in the movement are combined in a harmonious marriage as if one is watching

a the pleasant sun set. The grand sonata ends in calmly, almost abruptly in contrast to firework that

begun the work, now we get the personal, soft, gentle, peaceful close. Thus, Beethoven marries a

forward-thinking, innovative compositional style with the popular traditions of the past and present in

his fourth piano sonata. We see these innovations continue to grow throughout Beethoven’s life in the

29 piano sonatas that follow op. 7, but even in his early career one can see how Beethoven was a master

of the past looking to the future. So, without further ado… the grand sonata in E-flat major, op. 7 by

Ludwig van Beethoven.

Performance of Piano Sonata op. 7

 The second and final work for this evening’s lecture is a work for voice and piano titled An die

ferne Geliebte or To the distant Beloved. Contrasting to the wildly extroverted op. 7 that we just heard,

An die ferne Geliebte is intimate, personal, and introverted. The piece is comprised of 6 songs and takes

approximately 15 minutes to perform. This is substantial because most art songs of the day would only

be 2-3 minutes, only one song normally sung after dinner or another occasion to entertain family,

friends, or other house guests. Beethoven treats this music as something more serious than just giddy

dinner music, but a true artistic creation by the collection of several songs together. The pieces do not

have a normal moment of starting and stopping like most songs back then or even today do but flow

almost effortlessly from one song to the next which is a compositional technique that later would be

called through-composing. Because they are all connected, these through-composed songs cannot be

performed separately or at least would be very incomplete and not effective if taken out of the greater

context of the work.

An die ferne Geliebte was published in April of 1816 and is therefore the first song cycle ever

written. A song cycle is a collection of songs that are meant to be performed together and have some

general relationship with each other. The song cycle is the earliest ancestor of what we know today as

the album which I discussed more fully in the podcast about this lecture. So if you have ever listened to

any form of music today that has been part of an album, you have Beethoven to thank for it.

The second piece that even claims this form was written in November of the same year, but is

not even a real song cycle, rather a set of four songs by Carl Maria von Weber titled the four

temperaments to the loss of a lover. This music is a pathetic attempt to recreate what Beethoven

achieved in his An die ferne Geliebte. The final song from von Weber’s set sounds more or less as

follows:

Carl Maria von Weber Die vier Temperamente bei dem Verluste der Geliebten: IV. Der Gleichmütige
The last word I just sung in German was unerträglich meaning unbearable. I don’t think there is a better

word to describe this music… than… unbearable. Now that you have my horrific attempt to sing in your

ears, I hope that you will be able to fully appreciate the beautiful voice that Jonah will share with you all

in a few minutes (return to podium). This music from Carl Maria von Weber is quite clumsy and does not

have any rhetorical connection or conclusion of the previous 3 generally unrelated songs and the piano

writing is one of the most underwhelming things that I have every listened to.

Beethoven does everything magnificently what Weber lacked and truly innovated what an art

song could be. He not only writes much more interesting music, but also puts emphasis on the piano as

playing an active important role in the song, rather than just some form of chordal accompaniment that

we saw in the von Weber. In Beethoven’s second song in this cycle, Beethoven includes a section where

the singer sings only but a single note, while the pianist plays the entirety of the melody harmony, etc…

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Beethoven, An die ferne Geliebte: II. Wo die Berge so blau (C major section)

„Dort im ruhigen Tag schweigen Schmerzen und Qual, wo im Gestein still die Primel dort sinnt, weht so

leise der Wind, möchte ich sein!“

As a pianist, I very much appreciate the added importance that Beethoven introduces to art song, but it

goes much beyond making the music more enticing for keyboard players. By sharing musical importance
between the pianist and the singer, a whole new dimension of musical possibilities and expression is

created where the singer shares the narrator’s words, but the piano shares the narrator’s thoughts and

inner feelings. This helps us understand what Beethoven is trying to express emotionally with this piece

through both text and music.

Many scholars including myself believe that his song cycle is somewhat autobiographical in

nature. While Beethoven did not write the words, it seems that he commissioned the poem from a

physician and poet named Alois Isidor Jeitteles with whom he was friends and had worked with before.

Beethoven wrote this work in 1816 after having stopped composing for a period of 5 years due to his

hearing loss which had increased to the point where he could practically no longer hear people speaking

let alone hear music. An die ferne Geliebte deals with longing – particularly longing for one’s Beloved.

Beethoven wrote many letters to someone titled his “immortal Beloved’, but there are huge circles of

debate of who this person is. Beethoven was never married and we do know whether or not his

immortal Beloved was a real person or if was the longing was for love and companionship. Some think

that the longing spoken about in this piece could be Beethoven’s longing for heaven as expressed when

Beethoven was having suicidal thoughts in a letter that he wrote in 1802. Regardless of what this longing

implicitly refers to, the subject of longing is central to the cycle that ties one song to the next – as if

Beethoven is expressing his longing in an expansive monologue that shifts from one thought to another,

all proclaiming his ultimate longing for something, perhaps someone.

An die ferne Geliebte was a special piece for Beethoven. He never wrote another song cycle after

this – it was his first and his last. He quoted An die ferne Geliebte in one of his later piano sonata’s op.

109 in E major. Composer and writer Robert Schumann would write a fantasy for the piano several

decades later in which he professed his love to his future wife Clara Wieck that is also quotes from An

die ferne Geliebte frequently. Clearly, the inner circles of Beethoven must have realized how important
this work was for the composer – the piece that ended the five years of silence from Beethoven’s

compositional output – a piece linked with the tragic loss of his hearing – a piece longing for his

immortal beloved.

Before we conclude tonight’s program, I would like to point you all to the back of the program

where you will find a translation of the songs that I have prepared for the recital. Just like Beethoven, I

hope that you accept these songs and that tonight has given meaningful insight of the innovative style of

Beethoven’s music as well as converted some of you to the opinion that these two works rank as some

of the greatest works written by one of the greatest composers to ever live. I would like to thank you for

your attentiveness and hope you enjoy one of my favorite works written for the human voice and piano

An die ferne Geliebte sung by my good friend and incredibly talented tenor Jonah Hoskins.