#TheCompleteBeethoven #216

Piano Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 27 No. 1 "Quasi una fantasia" (1800-01)

1/ After a piano sonata with no sonata-form movements, a sonata with no separate movements at all. Fantastic.

2/ To Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, a Fantasia was a piece with a sense of improvisatory freedom. The two Op. 27 sonatas are even more experimental and unpredictable than Op. 26, which was already starting to tear up the classical rule book big-time. https://twitter.com/deeplyclassical/status/1245239741664169985?s=20

3/ Four movements fuse into one. The serene opening is interrupted by an explosive central section. Wild harmonic progressions come thick and fast, and the finale is interrupted by the previous movement. I wonder if we'll hear that idea again later?

4/ To me this sonata seems to predict many later musical developments. Its almost impressionistic sound is decades ahead of its time and its compressed structure, a fantasia with four movements in one, sounds like a blueprint for another great work.

5/ #TheCompleteBeethovenPianoSonatas #15

Shura Cherkassky plays Op. 27 No. 1

Not the most polished performance, but few are as individual or intimate. It's like he's communing with himself and with Beethoven as he plays. @WyastoneEstate
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4bSKeR9d5zPrfYAsWDtnnK?si=QRkVhdl8QryLNdPIsGINbA