29th Sonata, Opus 106.
Allegro—Scherzo—Adagio sostenuto—Fugue.
The first two movements were finished in April, 1818; the two last were composed in the summer of that year. The Sonata was ready for publication in March, 1819, but did not appear until September, 1819. It carried the sub-title "Sonata for the Hammerclavier."[89] It is dedicated to the staunch friend and patron, the Archduke Rudolph, and is the longest of all Beethoven's sonatas, being about twice as long as the longest of the others. The first movement (over four hundred bars in length) is evolved from the two little germs contained in the first two bars. There is a long bridge passage in which derivative themes occur before the second subject in three sections. A long development follows and a superb return with a powerful coda. In the three bars preceding the return, all the "A sharps" are usually misprinted "natural." This A sharp should be the enharmonic of the following B flat.
The Scherzo is fantastic in the extreme. From the playful mood of the first part it is suddenly plunged into the inexpressible anguish of the minor trio. A short Presto unison phrase of eight bars brushes this aside, a tremor on a minor ninth preceding the happy return of the Scherzo.
The Adagio is one of the sublimest things in all music. It certainly reaches heights which transcend the limits of the piano. A remarkable bridge, which changes mood no less than six times, forms a sort of prelude to the final fugue which is drawn from the opening germ of the work. It is a struggle of giants, unbridled in its onslaught. Fuga a tre voci, con alcune licenze Beethoven marked it, and its great licenses and amazing contortions have puzzled many minds. The heavenly interludes, however, transport one into the pure air of the Sanctus of the Mass in D. The similarity of the opening phrases of the Allegro, the Scherzo and the Adagio, should be noticed. It was by such means that Brahms later on strove to unify the separate movements of his longer forms.