22nd Sonata, Opus 54, in F major.
This remarkable Sonata, which appeared for the first time in April, 1806, is in two movements only—a Tempo d'un Menuetto, in full binary form (more like a Sonata movement than a Minuet), and a Allegretto con moto (somewhat Etude-like), with a Prestissimo Coda in which the hands very easily get tied up. This Sonata is comparatively little known, doubtless on account of its over topping neighbours, the Waldstein and the Appassionata. Bulow metronomed the opening movement at the quite moderate rate of 104 to the crotchet. The octave bravura subject appears there in its full majesty. The cadenza is noteworthy.
23rd Sonata, Opus 57, in F minor.
(Labelled Appassionata by the publisher Cranz).
Assai allegro—Andante con moto with variations—Allegro ma non troppo.
This Sonata, which was dedicated to Count Franz von Brunswick, is perhaps the most truly characteristic of all Beethoven's sonatas. The usual portrait of Beethoven with the massive jaws firmly set, the upturned eyes, the visage lined by suffering, the head of a Titan, might be quite appropriately placed here in the volume of the Sonatas, rather than at the beginning; for with the deep passionate note which sounds ceaselessly throughout the first movement and the immense vitality of the Finale, the calm beauty of the Andante with its variations, it holds the palm amongst all sonatas written for the clavier. Hackneyed it certainly is, but even through the indifferent temperaments of mere finger players, the immense force of the ideas easily penetrates.
It is a superb example of the growth of Beethoven's immense creations from two of the tiniest of germs (a) the first three opening notes—C, A flat, F—(b) the C, D, C in the third and fourth bars. The whole sonata grows as naturally from these as the huge oak from the acorn. Bridge subjects, second subjects, coda figures, the chief theme of the Andante, as also the impetuoso subject of the Finale, are all derived from these two little germs. Lenz calls the Sonata "a volcanic eruption, which rends the earth and shuts out the sky with a shower of projectiles." The first movement and the last movement have truly immense codas.
For a clue to this sonata, Beethoven told an enquirer to read Shakespeare's Tempest.