Tempest

Greetings everyone! Last week, we looked at a rather lighthearted, jazzy piece, Liebertango. This week, let's study a darker piece: Beethoven's Tempest Sonata.

Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven is a classical composer, (alive from 1770-1827), who pushed the boundaries of the classical era into romanticism. Beethoven's works generally are divided into 3 periods due to their varying styles. As you probably already know, Beethoven began going deaf towards the end of his life, and for a musician, this drove him mad. His later works from the third period are darker and more unconventional for his time. The Tempest Sonata is one such work from this period.

Tempest

Okay, "Tempest," isn't actually the formal title of this piece. The title is Sonata No. 17 in d minor op. 31, but it is given the nickname "tempest" due to its stormy qualities. A tempest is literally a violent, windy storm. It was written in 1801-02.

The sonata has three movements, something typical of classical sonatas. We are going to focus on the final movement, as it has the most noticeably "stormy" qualities. The third movement, Allegretto, is in d minor, like the first movement. While the first movement was tragic, this final movement is chaotic.

Listen for the violent changes in dynamics, (or volume). Notice how quickly the piece goes from relatively calm, or brewing, and suddenly gets loud and almost scary. This mimics exactly the nature of an unpredictable storm. Imagine flashes of lightning with loud thunder every now and then with dark clouds and rain constant throughout.

Listen

Here is one of my favorite recordings of this piece. This was recorded by world renowned pianist, Daniel Barenboim. If you are interested in the first two movements, listen to them as well; they are linked to this video!

Remember to comment below on your thoughts on the piece? What does it make you feel? Did you imagine a storm? I want to hear your thoughts; please share!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtDAbP3UxPY