Masterclass: Beethoven’s Cello Sonata no.4

Lynn Harrell main picture

Cellist Lynn Harrell considers challenges and contemporary concepts in the first movement of a sonata conceived entirely in the imagination of a deaf composer

Explore more Masterclasses  like this in The Strad Playing Hub

Read more premium content for subscribers here

Beethoven’s Fourth and Fifth sonatas – op.102 nos.1 and 2 – ushered in a new musical language: at their time of writing in 1815, they showed the musical direction of the future.

There is the most wonderful moment in the first movement of Sonata no.4, at the beginning of bar 94, where Beethoven writes in A major in the piano part and D minor for the cello. This lasts only for a moment, but for a Classical composer to have the concept that the two main poles of traditional harmony – the dominant and the tonic – could be played at the same time shows that hewas starting to think in a way that might have led, if he had lived another 15–20 years, to a Schoenbergian breaking up of traditional harmony altogether. It’s just extraordinary.

Schoenberg marked principal and secondary voices Hauptstimme (H) and Nebenstimme (N) respectively. At the opening of Beethoven’s Sonata no.4, we could do the same: to begin, the cello has the principal voice; then the piano takes over, and the role goes back and forth between the two.

In bars 6–9 the cello is secondary, playing the bass-line to the piano part a 3rd apart. We accompany from bar 12 and, given that we no longer have material of secondary or principal importance, we should play this with less focus or interest than before, only following the piano’s expression for the swell in bars 13–14.

In bar 17, suddenly we go from tertiary to principal importance, within the same dynamic. It takes real artistry to be able to move from one voice to the next without changing sonority, and that is part of what I love about this music. Beethoven’s musical concept was outgrowing and outdistancing all the instrumentalists of his time.

Click here to view the sheet music for this work in our digital edition

Already subscribed? Please sign in

Subscribe to continue reading…

We’re delighted that you are enjoying our website. For a limited period, you can try an online subscription to The Strad completely free of charge.

  • Free 7-day trial

    Not sure about subscribing? Sign up now to read this article in full and you’ll also receive unlimited access to premium online content, including the digital edition and online archive for 7 days.

    No strings attached – we won’t ask for your card details

  • Subscribe 

    No more paywalls. To enjoy the best in-depth features and analysis from The Strad’s latest and past issues, upgrade to a subscription now. You’ll also enjoy regular issues and special supplements* and access to an online archive of issues back to 2010.

 

* Issues and supplements are available as both print and digital editions. Online subscribers will only receive access to the digital versions.