Daniel Heide - Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 12 “Funeral March”, 14 “Moonlight” & 15 “Pastorale” (Vol. 2) (2022)

When I first heard Beethoven’s Sonata No. 15 in D Major, op. 28, the “Pastoral”, it immediately conquered my heart. The swaying, deeply resounding, velvety bass notes and the tender theme in the right hand continue to produce a melodious sense of well-being in me to this day. A series of slow, melodious arches alternating with incisive, characteristic insertions create the general mood in the first movement.
Then the entire second movement is pervaded by a relentless staccato figure in the left hand: these tranquil sixteenth notes, with their metronomical precision, provide a guiding framework for the right hand’s dignified theme. In the middle section, we are surprised by the onset of a harlequinesque alternation between dotted chords and whimsical triplets in the right hand, which lasts until the initial main theme and its accurately pulsating left-hand accompaniment call everyone back to order. In the last section, Beethoven accelerates the theme to thirty-second note runs – leading to a culmination before the music suddenly becomes quiet and the movement fades out in tranquil transcendence.
In the scherzo we are confronted with an accurate, reactive joy of music-making combined with an outgoing sense of humor, and the same variety of pulsating playing pleasure is likewise prolonged throughout the last movement. This is not a furious finale, but a mischievous, swaying Rundgesang (stanza-and-refrain) with an affectionate rondo theme that returns again and again. A breakneck coda in Presto time allows the soloist to conclude this grand sonata with bravura. I still well remember my admission exam for the University of Music Franz Liszt in Weimar in 1996. My programme included Beethoven’s “Pastoral” sonata; the jury allowed me to play portions of all movements, and I was admitted!

Tracklist
1. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 15 in D Major, Op. 28 "Pastorale" - I. Allegro (10:09)
2. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 15 in D Major, Op. 28 "Pastorale" - II. Andante (6:35)
3. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 15 in D Major, Op. 28 "Pastorale" - III. Scherzo (Allegro vivace) (2:15)
4. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 15 in D Major, Op. 28 "Pastorale" - IV. Rondo (Allegro ma non troppo) (5:33)
5. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No. 2 "Moonlight" - I. Adagio sostenuto (5:20)
6. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No. 2 "Moonlight" - II. Allegretto (2:15)
7. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No. 2 "Moonlight" - III. Presto agitato (7:41)
8. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A Flat Major, Op. 26 "Funeral March" - I. Andante con variazioni (1:17)
9. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A Flat Major, Op. 26 "Funeral March" - Variation 1 (1:12)
10. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A Flat Major, Op. 26 "Funeral March" - Variation 2 (0:55)
11. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A Flat Major, Op. 26 "Funeral March" - Variation 3 (1:22)
12. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A Flat Major, Op. 26 "Funeral March" - Variation 4 (0:53)
13. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A Flat Major, Op. 26 "Funeral March" - Variation 5 (1:46)
14. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A Flat Major, Op. 26 "Funeral March" - II. Scherzo (Allegro molto) (3:12)
15. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A Flat Major, Op. 26 "Funeral March" - III. Marcia funebre sulla morte d'un Eroe (Maestoso andante) (6:01)
16. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A Flat Major, Op. 26 "Funeral March" - IV. Allegro (3:19)