Beethoven's Piano Sonatas
CD Album Review of Wilhelm Kempff's Performance
German composer, organist, and pianist Wilhelm Kempff's technical virtuosity and ringing tone bring out the pathos in Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas.
Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Released: Polydor International, 1965 (re-released Jul. 26, 2000)
Performer: Wilhelm Kempff, piano
This 9-disc set brings all 32 of Beethoven's piano sonatas into one superb collection. Wilhelm Kempff's reserved yet finely nuanced touch highlights Beethoven's own disciplined pathos.
Wilhelm Kempff: German Pianist, Organist, Composer
Born in 1895, Wilhelm Kempff's musical pedigree was extensive: his father served as Royal Music Director and Cantor of the Church of St. Nicholas in Jüterbog, Germany. His grandfather was also an organist and his brother Georg was director of church music at the University of Erlangen. Wilhelm Kempff's master classes at the German Music Institute for Foreigners were so popular that he was able to continue teaching until 1944, despite Germany's involvement in WWII. After the war, he moved around, eventually settling in Italy. In 1956, he resumed master classes in Positano and established international summer courses focused on Beethoven.
Kempff composed extensively in several genres, including opera, ballet, oratorio, symphonic and chamber music, vocal music, and works for piano and for organ. However, an interest in performance and interpretation overshadowed Kempff's work in composition.
Both as a composer and as a performer, Kempff loved the Baroque through Romantic eras, especially Bach and Beethoven. His compositions were influenced by German folk songs--colorful but not radical.
Wilhelm Kempff died in 1991.
Beethoven's Sonatas: A Microcosm of the German Composer's Growth
Because Beethoven composed sonatas continuously throughout his lifetime, one can trace the development of each era in the German composer's creative output.
- The earlier sonatas, nos. 1-7, illustrate the early "Classical" side of Beethoven's life. 5 of these first 7 sonatas are arranged in 4 movements (resembling a symphonic formal structure).
- Sonata No, 8, Op. 13, "Pathetique," marks Beethoven's movement towards a more Romantic sound palette.
- The sonatas from this period (nos. 8-26) are typically in 3 movements, and often represent some extra-musical idea. Sonata No. 17, Op. 31, No.2, "The Tempest," musically depicts Shakespeare's play by the same name.
- Beethoven also began to stretch "classical" harmonic organization in this period: in the first movement of the "Waldstein" Sonata (No. 21, Op. 53), the first theme plays in C major only to be followed by a secondary theme in E major (an unusual key progression at the time).
- In his later period (sonatas nos. 27-32), Beethoven grew more abstract and intellectual. Some of these sonatas contain only 2 movements (nos. 27, 32), but are still of extraordinary length.
This collection can be purchased at Amazon: Beethoven: The Piano Sonatas.
