Beethoven: Sonata No.1 in F Minor, Op.2 No.1 (Kovacevich, Lewis, Buchbinder)

So if someday extraterrestrials visit Earth, and (inexplicably) ask about Sonata Form – what it is and how it works – there’d be a very short list of candidate sonatas you could probably put together to use as model examples of “perfect” sonatas, and this one, B.’s very first, would have to be high up the list. It’s not a radically innovative sonata, and displays few of the boundary-busting tendencies that are already apparent in the very next sonata he writes, but it is by any standard an incredibly powerful work that does not come into shame even if set down beside B.’s last 5 sonatas (after all, what makes a sonata “new” is only a function of when it was written, not how well it works, musically, on its own terms). You’ve got that taut, beautifully precise Mvt 1, where Themes 1 & 2 are woven out of the same motivic cloth, the development already has a muscularity (and crunchy syncopation) that tugs a little at the boundaries of the classical idiom, and not a single note is wasted on superfluous movement. Mvt 2 is a wonderful thing that combines B.’s natural terseness in motif-construction with Mozartean ease of expression. The Menuetto has mysterious outer sections (interspersed with birdcalls) flanking an affectionate Trio that features some lovely texturing and contrapuntal writing. The final movement is where you get an idea of the sort of soundscapes B. will come to explore in the later sonatas: white-hot and swarming with notes, with moments of Schubertian drama punctuating the fury: 10:52. Kovacevich: 00:00 – Mvt 1 03:04 – Mvt 2 07:20 – Mvt 3 10:16 – Mvt 4 Lewis: 14:55 – Mvt 1 19:22 – Mvt 2 24:00 – Mvt 3 27:32 – Mvt 4 Buchbinder: 32:44 – Mvt 1 36:14 – Mvt 2 41:44 – Mvt 3 44:40 – Mvt 4 Kovacevich has a hyper-intense, uncompromising approach to this sonata – those outer movements a something of a shock to the system, especially if you’ve heard this sonata played in practice-rooms a couple too many times. Lewis is the polar opposite of Kovacevich: his approach is lyrical and measured, with Mvt 2 and the Trio being particularly attractive. In the outer movements there is a kind of menace where Kovacevich generates pure fury. Buchbinder occupies a middle ground between Kovacevich and Lewis, expressively speaking, but his playing is characterized by clean textures and wonderful clarity: his Mvt 2 sounds right out of Mozart, and the final movement is especially incisive. MVT I, Allegro EXPOSITION 00:00 – Theme 1. Motif (a) = rising arpeggio, (b) = turn 00:08 – Transition, using (a) in C min, (b) 00:19 – Theme 2, rhythmically nearly identical to T1. (a) is reversed in direction, as is (b) 00:37 – Cadence-theme DEVELOPMENT 01:27 – Theme 1, in Ab, moving towards V of Bb min 01:33 – Theme 2, in Bb min, moving toward V of C min. From 1:44 T2 continues in bass, before at 1:49 being reduced into a syncopated outline 01:56 – Dominant preparation. At 2:08 (b) enters in RH RECAPITULATION 02:14 – T1 02:23 – Transition, with two bars added 02:33 – T2, now firmly in (F) min 02:50 – Cadence-theme, diverted at 2:56 into V of (iv) then V of (III) with syncopation, before close MVT II, Adagio EXPOSITION 03:04 – Theme 1 04:11 – Transition 04:34 – Theme 2 RECAPITULATION 05:10 – T1 06:16 – T2 (no transition preceding it, except for short melodic link) 06:52 – The third repetition of T2’s melody becomes the Coda. MVT III, Menuetto: allegro 07:20 – Minuet, Strain 1. S2 at 7:46, S3 at 8:00 08:36 – Trio, featuring some lovely counterpoint 09:35 – Minuet MVT IV, Prestissimo EXPOSITION 10:16 – Theme Group 1, Theme 1, containing rhythmic motif (a) in RH 10:20 – Theme Group 1, Theme 2, using (a) 10:29 – Dominant preparation for C min, using (a) 10:38 – Theme Group 2, Theme 1 10:52 – Theme Group 2, Theme 2, again using (a) 11:09 – Cadence-theme = TG1, T1 DEVELOPMENT 12:18 – After closing chords echoed in V of Ab, developmental theme in Ab 13:16 – (a) reappears in 4-bar steps and interspersed with new motif, moving into home dominant 13:35 – Dominant preparation RECAPITULATION 13:46 – TG1 14:12 – TG2. The movement ends without a coda, and with a 4-bar group, where in the identical point in the exposition there was an (irregular) 3-bar group