The Increasing Expressivities in Slow Movements of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas: Op. 2 No. 2, Op. 13, Op. 53, Op. 57, Op. 101 and Op. 110

Abstract

Ludwig van Beethoven’s influential status is not only seen in the keyboard literature but also in the entire music world. The thirty-two piano sonatas are especially representative of his unique and creative compositional style. Instead of analyzing the structure and the format of each piece, this thesis aims to show the evolution of the increasing expressivity of Beethoven’s music vocabulary in the selected slow movements, including character markings, the arrangements of movements, and the characters of each piece. It will focus mainly on these selected slow movements and relate this evolution to changes in his life to provide an insight into Beethoven himself. The six selected slow movements, Op. 2 No. 2, Op.13 Pathétique, Op. 53 Waldstein, Op. 57 Appassionata, Op. 101 and Op. 110 display Beethoven’s compositional style, ranging from the early period, middle period and late period. To understand Beethoven’s expressiveness and his music vocabulary, we need to understand his background. Beethoven’s contribution to music is enormous and inspiring to all of us today. The dissertation presented above has been an attempt to examine not only the successive piano works and their expressive notations, but also the precise nature of their interconnections.