CSMA welcomes back Axel Schmitt (CSMA piano faculty) for a free online concert on Saturday, September 5 at 7:30 pm via YouTube Live. Three years ago, Schmitt began the task of performing the complete piano sonatas of Beethoven. At that time, we interviewed him about his relationship to Beethoven’s music and why he was focused on performing the complete sonatas. As he approaches his sixth performance of eight, we asked him about the performance process.
You are more than halfway through your eight-part series. How are you feeling about your endeavor?
Playing the Beethoven Sonatas has been a great adventure, a true odyssey. Beethoven’s music expresses the complete range of emotions, from glorious jubilation to utter despair. When I played the first concert of this project, I was not sure how many people would come. But it has been a joy to see so many people interested in the concerts and the amount of enthusiasm for Beethoven’s music.
What have you learned about Beethoven from playing through his piano sonatas?
It is amazing to see how Beethoven was continuously able to reinvent his style and redefine the genre in almost every sonata. He never does the same thing twice. In the early sonatas, we can still see the influences of his predecessors, especially Haydn and Mozart. He takes elements from their styles and combines them in new and playful ways to forge his own style as a composer.
When we reach the sonatas of the middle period, Beethoven’s way of composing becomes much more individualized. Every element of the music is woven into the context of the whole, and the piece could not be by any other composer. It is almost incomprehensible how he was able to turn out one masterwork after the other. A similar level of innovation can be seen in today’s technology market. Every year, a new smartphone comes out with exciting new functions unheard of in previous models. The difference is that Beethoven did it all by himself. There is an unbelievable amount of creativity and intelligence in his music.
What does your audience look like? Are they the same people following your progress?
One of the most delightful things about playing this cycle is to see the same audience members coming to concert after concert. After the performance, they talk to me about how they felt about the music and how it was different from the previous concert. Playing the sonatas is an extremely rewarding experience, something wonderful to share with an audience. I am also very happy to see a surge in the number of my students who want to learn a Beethoven sonata and play it for their recitals or auditions. It shows that the music has not lost any of its fascinations and will stay alive for future generations.
Could you tell us about the program for the upcoming concert?
The next concert on September 5 takes place online and will complete the sonatas from Beethoven’s middle period, known as his heroic style. It includes the famous “Appassionata,” which is the most tragic of his piano sonatas. For a long time, Beethoven considered this to be his greatest piano sonata. It is a very gloomy piece that unleashes all his hidden demons, a brooding hell that is about to boil over. The ending is incredibly violent, almost cynical and hateful.
Another sonata on the program (op. 54 in F Major) displays the caustic humor that is so typical for Beethoven. It has been nicknamed “Beauty and the Beast” because of the stark contrast between the two principal sections in the first movement. In this movement, a graceful minuet theme is interrupted by violent octave outbursts. Perhaps the sonata is an ironic self-portrayal of Beethoven since he was well-known among Viennese society for his physical clumsiness and lack of social graces. According to his friends, no piece of fine furniture was ever safe from him, and he regularly spilled his ink bottle into his expensive piano.
In contrast, “Les Adieux” portrays his feelings about the separation from one of his close friends and students, to whom the sonata is dedicated. The three movements are entitled Farewell, Absence and Return. The final movement is a jubilant expression of joy and affirmation of his heroic style.
Learn more about Axel Schmitt and his relationship to Beethoven’s music on our blog and watch his September 5 concert on our YouTube channel.
