Sunday, March 10, 2013 | Royce Hall
Alexander Treger, Conductor

Shostakovich - Symphony No. 5 Mvt IV

Chopin Grande Valse Brillante Op.18 Played by Valentina Lisitsa

Tchaikovsky   Piano Concerto No 1, B Flat Minor, Op 23 Open   Best Of Classical Music

C. Debussy - Suite Bergamasque - IV. Passepied

Two Nocturnes Op.27 - No.2

Two Nocturnes Op.27 - No.2 - Frédéric Chopin

Kreisler-Rachmaninoff  Liebesleid(Love's Sorrow)

Chopin: Waltz in C#minor op.64 no.2

Sonata N.8 in C minor op.13 "Pathetique" "Pathétique" "Pathetic"

The title "Pathetique" (or "Pathétique", "Pathetic") while not given by Beethoven himself, was agreed and even used by the composer referring to this famous composition.

The Sonata was composed in the years 1798 and 99 and published by Eder in Vienna as "Grande sonate pathétique pour le clavecin ou piano-forte composée et dédiée a son Altesse Monseigneur le Prince Karl von Lichnowsky."

This very popular work is the summit of Beethoven's piano works composed up to 1800. It is also the second time the composer uses the key of C minor which is very evocative for him. He will be using that key once more, only at the ultimate Sonata N.32, opus 111.

Also characteristic in this Sonata is the slow beginning "Grave". Far from being a "prelude" it is, to quote César Franck, "the cyclical entity (cell) which will project on the whole composition." Even though the idea of a slow introduction has been used before, Beethoven gives to it such a dramatic power that no listener can remain unaffected.

Right after its publication, the "Pathétique sonate" became an immense success.

I. Grave - Allegro di molto e con brio

The three notes: C - D - E-flat following the  "forte-piano", C minor chord and forging this introduction's theme will also appear as the core of the theme of the final Rondo. It is repeated with variations all through the introduction with an orchestral scoring.

The fortissimo chords roughly interrupting the melodic evolution set the stage for the drama.

A glissando-like chromatic down scale projects into the Allegro di molto e con brio which is made of two themes.

The first is an almost straight raising scale of C minor harmonized on each note and presented over a timpani-like, tremolo, left hand part. The other is also a minor key theme with incisive "mordents" which can hardly be called "embellishments". The term "mordant" (biting) if taken literally best describes those "ornaments".

The ending of the movement which re-uses the introductory elements of the Grave, but the powerful forte-piano chords now replaced with silences is a dramatic climax which plunges again into the first Allegro theme and concludes with a brusque coda.

II. Andante cantabile

The second movement is a gracious "lied" with a number of distinct intermediary parts. The theme's specific contour is very close to the Adagio theme of Mozart's K 457 C minor sonata.

All through the movement, the left hand seems to positively hold back the right hand from going to higher keyboard ranges. Even in the serene A-flat major key and with the use of the warm middle keyboard range with a beautifully balanced melodic contour, the second movement delivers only a partial relief within the overall tragic atmosphere of the entire Sonata.

III. Rondo: Allegro

The very gracious theme of the Rondo, seems to float over a dramatic landscape. Dark and tumultuous sections, sharp and incisive fortissimo chords intervene in each section. Only the second couplet, a "fugato" theme with perfect fourth intervals, seems to soothe the dramatic discourse which soon takes over in an even more boisterous way.

Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas VOL.3

Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas VOL.3; Sonata op.13 "Pathetique" I

More on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lKofYUaDTk

Chopin – Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2, 2nd mvmt (Yuja Wang)

I produced this track using midi and EW Gold Pianos in order to perfection the performance as I imagine it.

Franz Liszt - La Campanella

David Ezra Okonsar, Belgian pianist, composer, conductor and musicologist was born in Istanbul, Turkey. He studied piano, composition and orchestration at the Brussels Royal Conservatory and musicology at the Istanbul Technical University. His primary teachers were J. Cl. Vanden Eynden and Alexis Weissenberg for the piano and Madame Jacqueline Fontyn for composition. He is laureate of numerous international piano competitions including the Gina Bachauer. Besides his international concert career he is a prolific composer and music writer.

Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas VOL.3; Sonata op.13 "Pathetique" I

David Ezra Okonsar

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