So, I along with so many others, have referred to these last three sonatas as a Trinity. It's attempting and in a sense logical thing to do, given that they have consecutive opuses. But at the same time, I think it's an open question to what extent these three works form a unit. Each one makes an immensely powerful statement all on its own. They were actually composed in different years, 1820, 1821, and 1822 respectively. Schubert's final three sonatas by contrast were all written in the same month. Of course, Beethoven had often published Trinity's of works all within one opus. I'm referring not just to the Opus two, Opus 10 and Opus 31 piano sonatas, but also the Opus 12 and the Opus 30 violin sonatas and the great Razumovsky string quartets, Opus 59. So, if Beethoven had wanted to send a clear message that these three works belong together, there wouldn't been an easy way for him to do so, he chose not to. Having said that, I have heard the last three Beethoven sonatas played in a single evening and it is one of the greatest of all listening experiences. These pieces so totally compelling individually, do become more than the sum of their parts when listened to collectively. There are links between them, above all between opuses 109 and 110. There are moments in a 109 that clearly foreshadow 110 and moments in 110 that unmistakably recall Opus 109, more on this soon. Opus 110 is at the same time the most structurally complex of the final three sonatas, even saying how many movements it has is not straightforward, and the one which looks backward the most. The second half of the piece is dominated by arioso and [inaudible].These forms were and are very strongly associated with the Baroque era. So, as visionary as this piece it is, it has a certain retrospective quality about it. What Opus 110 does share with Opus 109 and Opus 111, and with so many of Beethoven's late works really, is that it grows in scope as it progresses. It's first movement is extraordinary for its beauty and its depth of feeling, but structurally it is unremarkable. Its an average length sonata form with all the sections and events you'd expect. The very brief second movement is essentially a gruff skirts with a trio and in many ways would not have been out of place, had it been written 20 years earlier. But the last movement is something else entirely, in length and breadth and ambition it dwarfs the other two. In fact it is many movements in one, covering an astonishing amount of emotional territory and moving in directions that cannot be anticipated. But let's begin at the beginning. I said that the first movement was structurally conventional and that is true, but the movement itself is not. It has a tremendous warmth about it which Beethoven asks for fairly explicitly. He writes [FOREIGN] and Sanft or gentleness at the outset. This is another one of those late pieces with both Italian and German markings. It is also atypically leisurely for a sonata movement. I'm trying to avoid saying sonata allegro because this is in fact not an allegro, it's marked Moderato cantabile molto espressivo. Now, there are a number of cases where Beethoven gives a sonata's opening movement and even slower tempo marking. But those are always the rare cases when the movement is not a sonata form. The variations of Opus 26, the quasi una fantasia's of Opus 27, the quirky or then quirky menuet of Opus 54. In every other case, the opening movement is either allegro something or other, [inaudible] molto, moderato and [inaudible] or faster still, presto. So, for Beethoven to skew the allegro entirely and mark this movement moderato cantabile, is to make a very clear statement that he is trading propulsion for serenity. Schubert was to go even further in this direction giving his final sonatas opening movement the marking multi-moderato. This is always seems like an oxymoron to me, extremely moderate, but let's not get sidetracked. At any rate, this marking helps set this piece on its unique unhurried path. Among its many other qualities, it has always seemed the most philosophical of Beethoven sonatas to me.
