i. Allegro con brio
ii. Introduzione: Adagio molto (attacca)
iii. Rondo. Allegretto moderato – Prestissimo
Count Ferdinand Ernst von Waldstein was a leading figure in Bonn’s political life at the end of the eighteenth century, and it was Waldstein who arranged for the young Beethoven to be given a scholarship to study with Haydn. In 1792, he wrote to Beethoven: “You go to realise a long-desired wish : the genius of Mozart is still in mourning and weeps for the death of its disciple … Receive Mozart’s spirit from Haydn’s hands.” Waldstein was a talented amateur musician and a generous patron, and he also encouraged an old friend from Military Academy to support Beethoven: Prince Lichnowsky soon became Beethoven’s most important Viennese patron. In short, Beethoven had ample reason to be grateful to Waldstein, and dedicated one of the greatest works of his middle period to him. The Waldstein” Sonata was composed in 1803–4, and first published in 1805. Originally Beethoven wrote a conventional slow movement, but substituted it with “Introduzion” that leads to the finale. He quickly published the original movement as a stand-alone piece that we now know as the Andante favori. It was an inspired revision: among the many moments of heart-stopping beauty in this masterpiece, none is more magical than the pianissimo emergence of the Rondo theme.

Nigel Simeone © 2013