Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 is one of the most important piano works from the composer. It was completed in his middle period in 1804 and in many ways surpasses his previous piano sonatas. The name Waldstein comes from its dedication to his friend and patron, Count Waldstein. Sometimes this sonata is also called as L’Aurora (The Dawn in Italian), as through some parts in the third movement of the music one can associate to daybreak. This piano sonata has three movements and the average play of the Waldstein is around 25 minutes.
I. Allegro con brio (in C major)
II. Adagio molto (in F major)
III. Rondo. Allegretto moderato — Prestissimo (in C major)
The Waldstein piano sonata was published a year after completion in 1805, Vienna.
Challenges in playing the Waldstein sonata
It is considered one of the most challenging piano works from Beethoven. The rondo part contains pedal trills and quick left hand runs. The coda section is full with gliding octaves (glissando) between the two hands. It is believed that the unusual pedaling was made possible and inspired by Beethoven’s new Érard piano that he received just a year earlier from Paris. It had four pedals (a dedicated one for raising the dumpers, instead of knee lever) and extended range with heavier action and bigger sound, compared to Viennese brands.
|Related: On what piano brands did Beethoven play?
The reception of the piano sonata
The Waldstein piano sonata was never intended for amateur players, rather as one of the grand sonatas (Grande Sonate). A review in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung wrote, “The first and last movements belong among the most brilliant and original pieces for which we are grateful to this master, but they are also full of strange whims and very difficult to perform.”
There is no evidence that Beethoven ever played this piano work in front of greater audiences, but rather his pupils Carl Czerny and Ferdinand Ries did, or contemporary piano master Ignaz Moscheles.
What makes the Waldstein sonata unique?
Just as with his Eroica Symphony (his third), with Waldstein he expanded the possibilities of an instrument and a genre. With this sonata he utilized every bit of the musical elements there are for a piano work: key, form, rhythm, volume, harmony and melody… and of course the master pianist techniques.
For many this composition could be a worthy climax in a musical career, but not for Beethoven. His following works, like the Appassionata or the Hammerklavier, went above and beyond the Waldstein.
