Opus 53 Sonata in C major for Piano
I) Allegro con brio – II) Introduction. Adagio molto – III) Rondo – Allegretto moderato
OPUS 53 – Sonata in C major for piano, Op. 53, dedicated to Count Waldstein, 1803 – second half of 1804, published in Vienna, Bureau d’arts et d’industrie, May 1805. GA. No. 144 (series 16/21) – B. 53 – KH. 53 – L. II, p. 270 – N. 53 – T. 110.
The original manuscript is preserved in the archive of the Beethovenhaus (Bodmer collection). The sketches are found in the “Eroica” sketchbook. The title “Aurora”, by which the work is often referred to, was attributed to it at a later date, though we do not know by whom or when. It is natural that commentators and scholars have sought to justify this name through the character of the music.
For Madame Wartel, the first movement «semble représenter le désordre des éléments», while the final one is «l’aurore de la vie, ou aurore du jour, c’est bien un matin, que rien n’a encore fané ni flétri»; for both D’Indy and Rolland, it reflects a particular facet of a general «pastorale» conception; Chantavoine cites the crescendo of the opening and the twilight awakening of the slow introduction that precedes the final Rondo; Casella, referring to the other crescendo in the first movement before the recapitulation, suggests that it may have been prompted by the «espediente dinamico di far sorgere progressivamente uno sprazzo di luce abbagliante da una sonorità sorda, caotica, lontanissima»; Edwin Fischer compares this same episode to the rising of the sun announced by a rumble of thunder in Goethe’s Faust.
However one chooses to interpret it — whether from a more spiritual or descriptive standpoint — it cannot be denied that a certain luminosity, serenity, or “solar” joy serves to distinguish Op. 53 from the other five piano sonatas composed within the same brief period (1802–1804): from the eccentric Op. 54; from Opp. 31 Nos. 1 and 3, which share a somewhat humorous character; and from Opp. 31/2 and 57, linked by analogies of dramatic passion.
The first thematic element of the Allegro con brio is symphonic in nature, with its hammering chords, darting high-register reverberations, expansive lines of crescendo, fortissimo, and decrescendo; a momentum that is launched, suspended, resumed, and ultimately resolved in the gentle chorale-like character of the second theme. This in turn gives rise to a passage of brilliance, crowned by resounding fanfares, which then fades nostalgically into the subdued tone of a modulation to the minor. This dynamism constitutes the very substance of the development section, culminating in the transition to the recapitulation and, following that, in the closing section as well.
It has been noted that the original second movement of the sonata was the Andante favori mentioned in the previous entry, and that Beethoven later replaced it with the present Adagio molto, which serves as an introduction to the Finale.
The distinctive physiognomy of this passage lies in a continuous sense of ascent, tending towards a liberation in melody, a gradual transition from shadow, to twilight, and finally to light. This is expressed in the rhythmic figure which, driven in a certain sense from the bass, rises repeatedly, as though through a slow reverberation of sounds, until it unfolds into a sweet and open song, but one all too soon reabsorbed into the cadence of the bass itself. The alternation intensifies with each recurrence: the upper voice grows increasingly insistent in its upward striving, while the lower becomes more animated in its descent into the depths, as though attempting to drag the upper voice down with it; until, from the final, vibrant question, the resolving melody of the Rondo emerges.
Originally, Beethoven had conceived a different theme for this movement, one which certainly does not relate to the above-mentioned introduction, and which appears to have been set aside even before the latter was conceived. Rolland observes certain affinities between the current theme and a motif from a popular song, the Grossvaterlied, which he claims to have found, citing it, in a sketch leaf dated between 1800 and 1803. This theme sustains the entire movement — undoubtedly one of the longest of its kind composed by the master, yet it never fatigues the ear, upheld by a vigorous and picturesque technique.
The intermezzos renew its freshness each time with their dancing and festive character. We must agree with Rolland: «C’est comme un jour d’été. On n’en a jamais assez!» Schering refers, in connection with this Sonata, to the Odyssey, which, along with the Iliad, was one of Beethoven’s favourite readings.
First movement: The old nurse Eurycleia announces to Penelope the return of her husband. Penelope’s doubt. Reference to the struggle with the suitors and their slaughter. Feelings of joyful anticipation in the conversation between the two women. Penelope’s decision to go and meet her husband.
Second movement (Introduction): Penelope observes the man, still clothed in rags like a beggar, full of astonishment, suspicion, and disbelief. (Rondo): Celebration and dancing in Odysseus’s home, to divert the suspicions of the slain suitors’ relatives. Then the hero — to whom Athena has granted renewed beauty and youth — re-enters the hall in splendid attire. Penelope recognises him and embraces him amidst general jubilation.
[By Biamonti Giovanni – Catalogo cronologico e tematico delle opere di Beethoven comprese quelle inedite e gli abbozzi non utilizzati, Torino, ILTE 1968]
Official title: Opus 53 Sonate (C-dur) für Klavier Widmung: Ferdinand Ernst Graf von Waldstein NGA VII/3 AGA 144 = Serie 16/21 Beinamen: Waldsteinsonate, L’ Aurore.
Composition and Publication: Sketched, along with the original slow movement (Andante, WoO 57), between December 1803 and early January 1804. At the end of August 1804, Beethoven offered the sonata to Breitkopf & Härtel, and presumably sent an engraved exemplar to Leipzig in December of the same year. The original edition was published only in May 1805 by the Kunst- und Industrie-Comptoir in Vienna. Beethoven originally conceived the sonata with the Andante WoO 57 as the central movement. According to Ferdinand Ries, acting on the advice of a friend who considered the sonata too long, Beethoven removed the Andante and replaced it with a slow (and much shorter) introduction to the third movement.
Ries’s remark will be published alongside the autograph transcription of the work. The two leaves containing the slow introduction were added later, either glued or stitched between the bifolios (for another movement Beethoven had planned, see WoO 56). Sonata Op. 53 belongs to the group of neue[n] Solo Sonaten that Beethoven had offered to Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig on 26 August 1804, along with other works (BGA 188). He presumably dispatched the shipment with engraving drafts (Opp. 53–55) at the end of December 1804. In response to Breitkopf’s letter of 22 December 1804, which stated that the promised works had not yet been received, Beethoven wrote on 16 January 1805: „So viel ich sehe, ist Mein von mir an Sie abgeschiktes Paquet noch nicht angekommen – sie erhalten darin, die Simphonie und zwei Sonaten“ (BGA 209). When, nine months later, all the engraving models had still not reached Leipzig, the publisher terminated negotiations and, in June 1805, returned the manuscripts already received, including those for Opp. 53 and 54 (BGA 226). By that time, Op. 53 had already appeared in Vienna, and the autograph manuscript had been used as the engraving model for the first edition.
“L’Aurore”:
The nickname, common in the French-speaking world, likely became established in the second half of the nineteenth century. For example, an 1880 edition by the Parisian publisher Magnier includes the nickname as a header title, though not on the title page (copy D-BNba C53/22). Wilhelm von Lenz (in Beethoven et ses trois styles, 1852) and Oulibicheff (Beethoven, ses critiques et ses glossateurs, 1857), by contrast, do not mention it.
Dedication: Count Ferdinand Ernst von Waldstein, born in Vienna on 24 March 1762 and deceased there on 29 August 1823, was the son of Count Emanuel Philibert Waldstein (1731–1775) and his wife Maria Anna Theresia, née Princess of Liechtenstein (1738–1814). Ferdinand von Waldstein joined the Teutonic Order and completed his novitiate in Ellingen, Württemberg, and from 1 February 1788 in Bonn (Elector Maximilian Franz was Grand Master of the Order), where the Elector appointed him Knight on 17 June 1788. He later became Privy Councillor and member of the State Conference of the Teutonic Order in Bonn, undertaking diplomatic missions on behalf of the Grand Master. Waldstein was a member of the Bonner Lese- und Erholungsgesellschaft from 1788, serving as its president in 1794.
Eclectic in nature, he was also a competent musician. He played the piano and composed; Beethoven wrote the Eight Variations for Piano Four Hands on a Theme by Count Waldstein, WoO 67, for him; see also the music for the Ritterballett, WoO 1. Waldstein was a close confidant of the Elector. As one of Beethoven’s earliest patrons, he played a significant role in the composer’s life, and the move from Bonn to Vienna was either advised or at least decisively supported by him (cf. Wegeler/Ries, p. 13ff). Before Beethoven’s departure, Waldstein wrote in his journal:
„Lieber Beethowen! / Sie reisen itzt nach Wien zur Erfüllung ihrer so lange / bestrittenen Wünsche. Mozart’s Genius trauert noch / und beweinet den Tod seines Zöglinges. Bey dem uner= / schöpflichem[!] Hayden fand er Zuflucht, aber keine Beschäf= / tigung; durch ihn wünscht er noch einmal mit jemanden / vereinigt zu werden. Durch ununterbrochenen Fleiß / erhalten Sie Mozart’s Geist aus Havdens Händen. Bonn d 29.’ Oct. [1]792. Ihr warer Freund Waldstein OT“ (Braunbach/Stammbuecher).
According to the Bonn master baker Fischer’s notes, the Elector „dem Graf von Wallenstein den Auftrag, den Herrn Lutwig v. Beethoven nach Wien zu besorgen“ (Wetzstein/Bäckermeister, p. 123f). Waldstein likely provided Beethoven with letters of recommendation to the high Viennese aristocracy (which would explain the composer’s swift and effortless entrance into the elite circles of Viennese society). Waldstein’s aunt, Anna Elisabeth, was the younger sister of Countess Wilhelmine Thun-Hohenstein, née Countess Uhlfeld (1744–1800; see Op. 11), who at the time hosted Vienna’s most important salon. Two of her daughters married later patrons of Beethoven: Prince Lichnowsky, his first patron in Vienna (see Op. 1), and Prince Rasumowsky (see Op. 59). Beethoven expressed his gratitude to Waldstein by dedicating the great Sonata Op. 53 to him.
In the following years, however, their close relationship appears to have weakened — there is no evidence that Beethoven and Waldstein ever met again after the Count’s return to Vienna in 1809. Waldstein lost his entire fortune through questionable financial dealings and died in poverty.
The date of the first performance is unknown.
There exist a great number of sketches, which will be addressed in a dedicated future entry.
First Edition: 1805 (May), Vienna, Kunst- und Industrie-Comptoir (Bureau des arts et d’industrie), VN/PN 449. —
Title: „GRANDE SONATE / pour le Pianoforte, / composée et dédiée / à / Monsieur le Comte de Waldstein / Commandeur de l’ordre Teutonique à Virnsberg et Chambellan / de Sa Majesté J. & J. R. A. / par / LOUIS VAN BEETHOVEN. / Op. 53 / [1.:] 449. [r.:] f 2.15 x. / À Vienne au Bureau des arts et d’industrie.“
