9th Sonata, Opus 47, in A.
Dedicated to Rudolph Kreutzer.
Adagio—Presto—Andante con variazioni—Presto.
Though absurdly over-estimated, perhaps on account of Tolstoy's stupid novel, this still remains one of the great masterpieces in music. Commissioned by a Mulatto violinist named Bridgetower, and written, as the original title-page says, "in a specially brilliant style," it was first given at 8 o'clock on a May morning in 1803 in the Augarten at Vienna, with Beethoven at the piano and Bridgetower with the violin. The Sonata opens with a majestic introduction, ending on a dominant pause. Tradition has it that Bridgetower improvised a cadenza here and that Beethoven approved. Amongst the whirl and excitement of the bold and vigorous opening Presto, the hymn-like second subject stands out with a marvellous way. Nothing is lost of the tenderness of the Andante in the brilliant variations which follow it, and this is all the more wonderful because this piece is the most virtuoso-like of all Beethoven's chamber-music. Tenderness with Beethoven is no maudlin sentiment, but the gentle sympathy of a strong man. The Tarantelle-like Finale originally belonged to the Sonata of Opus 30, No. 1, A major, but, as Beethoven had been dilatory in his commission, the time having arrived and no Finale, he took the Finale from the earlier Sonata and wrote a new one for it later on.