Piano Sonata No. 17 in d minor, “Tempest,” Op. 31, No. 2

Composer: BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van
  • The nickname, “The Tempest” doesn’t actually appear in any of the early editions of the piano sonata. According to Beethoven’s biographer, Anton Schindler, when asked what the piece was about, the composer responded that this piano sonata could be understood by reading Shakespeare’s The Tempest.1
  • This piece was one of three piano sonatas composed in Heiligenstadt in 1802. This period of time is particularly significant for Beethoven as he was growing deaf and consequently noted his near-suicidal despair in his famous “Heiligenstadt Testament.”2
  • This piano sonata is one of several works that exemplify the start of Beethoven’s “new path,” his shifting compositional voice away from the Classical-era tonal range and into more exploratory and expansive tonalities and techniques.3

Sources

  1. Norbert Gertsch and Murray Perahia, “Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata no. 17 d minor op. 31 no. 2 (Tempest),” Henle, accessed August 8, 2022, https://www.henle.de/us/detail/?Title=Piano+Sonata+no.+17+d+minor+op.+31+no.+2+%28Tempest%29_784.
  2. Michael Church, “Beethoven: Sonata in D minor op. 31 no. 2 ‘The Tempest,'” in accompanying booklet, Credo performed by Hélène Grimaud, Deutsche Grammophon B0001732-02, 2003, compact disc.
  3.  Douglas Johnson et al, “Beethoven, Ludwig van,” Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press, 2001), accessed August 8, 2022, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040026.

Cut IDs

41495 45183 45518