Piano Sonata No. 23, Op. 57 "Appassionata" (1804-1805)

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Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 was named "Appassionata" by a music publisher in 1838.  It was his most technically demanding piano sonatas to that time.  It is in the same key, F minor, as his Piano Sonata No. 1 (remember what the narrator said about that in the video clip of Haydn and Beethoven).

The Appasionata is a work of tragedy in the first and last movements (both in F minor), with only an occasional glimpse of optimism before being pulled back down into an abyss.  The slow middle movement, in Db major, is more optimistic, but it is fragile and gives the sense that the optimism could end at any time.


Review from Day 1: What is a motif (or motive) and what did Beethoven use them for?


Comparing the Appassionata to the Moonlight sonata:

The Appassionata is more complex harmonically and technically, and on a grander scale than the Moonlight.  

While the first movement of the Moonlight (C# minor) has some tension and eeriness, it is very subdued.  The first movement of the Appassionata (F minor) is ominous from the first notes and grows more tragic as it continues with a driving 12/8 pulse.

The second movement of each sonata (both in Db major) is somewhat Mozartian, but the simple playfulness of the Moonlight's second (scherzo) movement isn't as expressive as the delicate beauty of the Appassionata's second (slow) movement.

Both third movements (both in their original minor keys) are driving and tragic, but the scale and complexity of the Appassionata's third movement is much greater than the Moonlight's.


First movement of the Appassionata:

A sonata-allegro form, the first movement progresses quickly through startling changes in tone and dynamics.

1.  The opening theme, in single unison notes spaced two octaves apart, is quiet and ominous.  It consists of a down-and-up arpeggio in dotted rhythm immediately repeated a semitone higher (in G♭ minor).  This use of the Neapolitan chord (e.g. the flattened supertonic) is an important structural element in the work, also being the basis of the main theme of the finale.  This 1/2 step movement also happens in the 3rd movement (with different notes).  

2.  Within the first movement, the second theme at a quicker tempo uses part of the first theme with a significant modification.

3.  The same 1-2-3-1 motif that will reappear in the Fifth Symphony (1808) is used in the first movement sonata.


Third movement:

A sonata-allegro (sonata form) in near-perpetual motion in which climaxes with a faster coda (at presto speed) introducing a new theme which in turn leads into an extended final cadence in F minor.

Beethoven uses the sonata form, usually used in the first movement, for the third movement.  But where there is a key change from the first theme to the second theme, it is not the typical move from a minor key to a major key, (as in the two themes of Symphony No. 5 in C minor and Eb major), but from F minor to another minor key - C minor.  This allows Beethoven to keep the sound dark and tragic throughout.  Notice how the fury increases right to the very end.