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34-440: The German word Hammerklavier may refer to: The Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 106 by Ludwig van Beethoven A German word for early pianos A novel by Yasmina Reza Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Hammerklavier . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

68-424: A composition . The motif is the smallest structural unit possessing thematic identity. The Encyclopédie de la Pléiade defines a motif as a "melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic cell ", whereas the 1958 Encyclopédie Fasquelle maintains that it may contain one or more cells, though it remains the smallest analyzable element or phrase within a subject . It is commonly regarded as the shortest subdivision of

102-399: A theme or phrase that still maintains its identity as a musical idea. "The smallest structural unit possessing thematic identity". Grove and Larousse also agree that the motif may have harmonic, melodic and/or rhythmic aspects, Grove adding that it "is most often thought of in melodic terms, and it is this aspect of the motif that is connoted by the term 'figure'." A harmonic motif

136-510: A German word that could replace pianoforte (or fortepiano ), and after considering various possibilities chose Hammerklavier (literally "hammer-keyboard"). Beethoven titled the work "Große Sonate für das Hammerklavier", meaning "Grand sonata for the piano". The preceding Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101 was also titled as being for "Hammerklavier", but the epithet has come to apply to the Sonata No. 29 only. The work makes extensive use of

170-407: A contemplative episode beginning at bar 152 featuring the subject in retrograde , leading to an exploration of the theme in inversion at bar 209. The work was perceived as almost unplayable but was nevertheless seen as the summit of piano literature since its very first publication. Completed in 1818, it is often considered to be Beethoven's most technically challenging piano composition and one of

204-447: A humorous form of the first movement's first subject – is at once playful, lively, and pleasant. The scherzo, in B ♭ major, maintains the standard ternary form by repeating the sections an octave higher in the treble clef. The trio, marked "semplice", is in the parallel minor , B ♭ minor , but the effect is more shadowy than dramatic. It borrows the opening theme from the composer's Eroica symphony and places it in

238-486: A largely stepwise figure in the treble clef in a high register, while the left hand moves in an octave-outlining accompaniment in eighth notes . The development section opens with a statement of this final figure, except with alterations from the major subdominant to the minor, which fluidly modulates to E ♭ major . Directly after, the exposition's first subject is composed in fugato and features an incredible display of musical development. The fugato ends with

272-401: A minor key. Following this dark interlude, Beethoven inserts a more intense presto section in 4 meter , still in the minor, which eventually segues back to the scherzo. After a varied reprise of the scherzo's first section, a coda with a meter change to cut time follows. This coda plays with the semitonal relationship between B ♭ and B ♮ , and briefly returns to

306-446: A motif is a musical cryptogram of the name involved. A head-motif (German: Kopfmotiv ) is a musical idea at the opening of a set of movements which serves to unite those movements. Scruton , however, suggests that a motif is distinguished from a figure in that a motif is foreground while a figure is background: "A figure resembles a moulding in architecture: it is 'open at both ends', so as to be endlessly repeatable. In hearing

340-442: A phrase as a figure, rather than a motif, we are at the same time placing it in the background, even if it is...strong and melodious". Any motif may be used to construct complete melodies , themes and pieces . Musical development uses a distinct musical figure that is subsequently altered, repeated, or sequenced throughout a piece or section of a piece of music, guaranteeing its unity. Such motivic development has its roots in

374-428: A rhythmically basic time-unit." Anton Webern defines a motif as, "the smallest independent particle in a musical idea", which are recognizable through their repetition. Arnold Schoenberg defines a motif as, "a unit which contains one or more features of interval and rhythm [whose] presence is maintained in constant use throughout a piece". Head-motif (German: Kopfmotiv ) refers to an opening musical idea of

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408-440: A section featuring non-fugal imitation between registers, eventually resounding in repeated D-major chords. The final section of the development begins with a chromatic alteration of D ♮ to D ♯ . The music progresses to the alien key of B major , in which the third and first subjects of the exposition are played. The retransition is brought about by a sequence of rising intervals that get progressively higher, until

442-452: A similar opening fanfare in B ♭ major, with a secondary theme in G major. The sonata's second movement is also a scherzo in 4 , and its third movement contains a transition into the fourth. The composer Felix Weingartner produced an orchestration of the sonata. In 1878, Friedrich Nietzsche had suggested such an orchestration: In the lives of great artists, there are unfortunate contingencies which, for example, force

476-412: A similar rhythm on the unexpected chord of D major . This ushers in the more lyrical second subject in the submediant (that is, a minor third below the tonic), G major . A third and final musical subject appears after this, which exemplifies the fundamental opposition of B ♭ and B ♮ in this movement through its chromatic alterations of the third scale degree. The exposition ends with

510-544: A span such as the Hammerklavier' s third movement. The piece contains four movements, a structure often used by Beethoven, and imitated by contemporaries such as Schubert , Schumann , and Chopin , in contrast to the more usual three or two movements of Mozart 's and Haydn 's sonatas. The four movements are: In addition to the thematic connections within the movements and the use of traditional Classical formal structures, Charles Rosen has described how much of

544-442: Is a series of chords defined in the abstract, that is, without reference to melody or rhythm. A melodic motif is a melodic formula , established without reference to intervals . A rhythmic motif is the term designating a characteristic rhythmic formula, an abstraction drawn from the rhythmic values of a melody. A motif thematically associated with a person, place, or idea is called a leitmotif or idée fixe . Occasionally such

578-489: Is the "immersion of a musical motif in a composition", i.e., keeping motifs and themes below the surface or playing with their identity, and has been used by composers including Miriam Gideon , as in "Night is my Sister" (1952) and "Fantasy on a Javanese Motif" (1958), and Donald Erb . The use of motifs is discussed in Adolph Weiss ' "The Lyceum of Schönberg". Hugo Riemann defines a motif as "the concrete content of

612-544: The una corda pedal , with Beethoven giving for his time unusually detailed instructions when to use it. Dedicated to his patron, the Archduke Rudolf , the sonata was written primarily from the summer of 1817 to the late autumn of 1818, towards the end of a fallow period in Beethoven's compositional career. It represents the spectacular emergence of many of the themes that were to recur in Beethoven's late period:

646-531: The fugue . Dominated by falling thirds in the bass line, the music three times pauses on a pedal and engages in speculative contrapuntal experimentation, in a manner foreshadowing the quotations from the first three movements of the Ninth Symphony in the opening of the fourth movement of that work. After a final modulation to B ♭ major, the main substance of the movement appears: a titanic three-voice fugue in 4 meter . The subject of

680-440: The adagio; and in the fugue in both its introductory bass octave-patterns and in the main subject , as the seven-note runs which end up on notes descended by thirds. The first movement opens with a series of fortissimo B ♭ -major chords , which form much of the basis of the first subject . After the first subject is spun out for a while, the opening set of fortissimo chords are stated again, this time followed by

714-405: The first theme before dying away. The ternary-form slow movement, centred on F ♯ minor, has been called, among other things, a "mausoleum of collective sorrow", and is notable for its ethereality and great length as a slow movement (e.g. Wilhelm Kempff played for approximately 16 minutes and Christoph Eschenbach 25 minutes) that finally ends with a Picardy third . Paul Bekker called

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748-500: The first theme is stated again in the home key of B ♭ , signalling the beginning of the recapitulation . In keeping with Beethoven's exploration of the potentials of sonata form, the recapitulation avoids a full harmonic return to B ♭ major until long after the return to the first theme. The coda repetitively cites motives from the opening statement over a shimmering pedal point and disappears into pianississimo until two fortissimo B ♭ major chords conclude

782-470: The fugue can be divided itself into three parts: a tenth leap followed by a trill to the tonic; a 7-note scale figure repeated descending by a third; and a tail semiquaver passage marked by many chromatic passing tones , whose development becomes the main source for the movement's unique dissonance. Marked con alcune licenze ("with some licenses"), the fugue, one of Beethoven's greatest contrapuntal achievements, as well as making tremendous demands on

816-406: The keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti and the sonata form of Haydn and Mozart's age. Arguably Beethoven achieved the highest elaboration of this technique; the famous "fate motif" —the pattern of three short notes followed by one long one—that opens his Fifth Symphony and reappears throughout the work in surprising and refreshing permutations is a classic example. Motivic saturation

850-594: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hammerklavier&oldid=753742029 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Articles containing German-language text Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Piano Sonata No. 29 (Beethoven) The sonata's name comes from Beethoven's occasional practice of using German rather than Italian words for musical terminology. In 1816 Beethoven sought advice on

884-489: The most demanding solo works in the classical piano repertoire. The Piano Sonata No. 1 in C, Op. 1 by Johannes Brahms opens with a fanfare similar to the fanfare heard at the start of the Hammerklavier sonata. Felix Mendelssohn 's Piano Sonata in B ♭ major, Op.106, is thought to have been influenced by the Hammerklavier sonata, although the shared Opus number is coincidental. Mendelssohn's sonata has

918-437: The movement "the apotheosis of pain, of that deep sorrow for which there is no remedy, and which finds expression not in passionate outpourings, but in the immeasurable stillness of utter woe". Wilhelm Kempff described it as "the most magnificent monologue Beethoven ever wrote". Structurally, it follows traditional Classical-era sonata form, but the recapitulation of the main theme is varied to include extensive figurations in

952-477: The movement. Beethoven indicated a tempo of 138 BPM on the half note for this movement, so fast that it is routinely dismissed by performers based on theories that it was a mistake from the composer or caused by a differently functioning metronome. There is a controversy whether A-sharp or A-natural should be played in measures 224-26. The brief second movement includes a great variety of harmonic and thematic material. The scherzo 's theme – which Rosen calls

986-405: The painter to sketch his most significant picture as only a fleeting thought, or which forced Beethoven to leave us only the unsatisfying piano reduction of a symphony in certain great piano sonatas (the great B flat major). In such cases, the artist coming after should try to correct the great men's lives after the fact; for example, a master of all orchestral effects would do so by restoring to life

1020-428: The performer, moves through a number of contrasting sections and includes a number of "learned" contrapuntal devices, often, and significantly, wielded with a dramatic fury and dissonance inimical to their conservative and academic associations. Some examples: augmentation of the fugue theme and countersubject in a sforzando marcato at bars 96–117, the massive stretto of the tenth leap and trill which follows,

1054-457: The piece is organised around the motif of a descending third ( major or minor ). ( Carl Reinecke had first remarked on this in 1897). This descending third is quite ubiquitous throughout the work but most clearly recognizable in the following sections: the opening fanfare of the Allegro; in the scherzo 's imitation of the aforementioned fanfare, as well as in its trio theme; in bar two of

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1088-580: The reinvention of traditional forms, such as sonata form ; a brusque humour; and a return to pre-classical compositional traditions, including an exploration of modal harmony and reinventions of the fugue within classical forms. The Hammerklavier also set a precedent for the length of solo compositions (performances typically take about 40 to 45 minutes, depending on interpretative choices). While orchestral works such as symphonies and concerti had often contained movements of 15 or even 20 minutes for many years, few single movements in solo literature had

1122-605: The right hand that anticipate some of the techniques of Romantic piano music. NPR 's Ted Libbey writes, "An entire line of development in Romantic music—passing through Schubert , Chopin , Schumann , Brahms , and even Liszt —springs from this music." The movement begins with a slow introduction that serves to transition from the third movement. To do so, it modulates from D ♭ major/B ♭ minor to G ♭ major/E ♭ minor to B major/G ♯ minor to A major, which modulates to B ♭ major for

1156-416: The symphony that had suffered an apparent pianistic death. However, Charles Rosen considered attempts to orchestrate the work "nonsensical". Motif (music) In music , a motif ( / m oʊ ˈ t iː f / ) or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure , musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of

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