In this segment, we're going to look at yet another way that the sonata cycle is
used.
Remember, I told you this was a very important form and we're going to see a lot
of it. So in this segment we're going to look at the sonata
as a genre. We've had the sonata cycle which is a formal structure, a form, so
this is the sonata, which uses the sonata cycle,
but it's not the sonata cycle so that can be kind of confusing.
So, what's a sonata? A sonata is a sounding piece, the "sonar" part of that, so
something that's sounded so it's instrumental music and
it actually has two ways it can play out. One is that it could be
a sonata for an instrument like piano or guitar
or harpsichord or organ, anything that can actually play multiple pitches and
therefore can play its own harmony.
So we might have a piano sonata, in which case that would be
just a piano player. That's it. We might also have a sonata that would be for one
of those instruments that I just mentioned
plus some other single-line
instrument, an instrument that only plays one note at a time.
So we might have a clarinet sonata, which would be for clarinet
and piano or harpsichord or whatever instrument they choose to do there.
So that's what distinguishes a sonata from a concerto where you would have
an orchestra as the accompaniment for the soloist.
So as we saw in the concerto, that was three movements, fast-slow-fast'
we've had the symphony which has four movements, so the whole sonata
cycle.
The sonata genre is not nearly as prescribed.
They may use all four movements of the cycle.
They may use three, they may only use two. So it's not nearly as
easy to say ""okay, it's a sonata, I know this is what's going to be happening.
So if you go to a recital and it says sonata and there's only two movements then you'll
just know that that was one of those times the composer decided they only
wanted to have
two movements and the piece that we're going to listen to is an example of that.
We're going to listen to a sonata by Beethoven
and this is his Cello Sonata No. 2
in G Minor. That title tells us a lot of information.
So this piece is for cello and the performance that we're going to watch is
by Yo-Yo Ma who is,
I guess most people would say, he's the best living cellist,
and Emanuel Ax is our pianist, who is one of the great pianists of our time as well.
So we've got two really terrific performers to watch.
So in this piece there are two movements
but the way that Beethoven has structured it, it really functions almost
like three and in the video is actually divided into three parts.
So the opening movement is actually
two parts. It has a slow part first, which is sort of not what we expect when we
talk about
a sonata. We expect that fast thing to happen first
but instead we've got the cello, which is this beautiful lyrical instrument
anyway, that Beethoven is just going to let you enjoy the beauty
of that cello sound with the piano
for a pretty good while for the introduction.
And then it will go into the allegro section that we expect and you can
start to follow along and work with
the ideas of the sonata allegro form.
So you have that as the first movement that sort of feels like two.
And then we have a second movement
that is a rondo. So that'll be an opportunity for you to
identify that 'A' theme that keeps coming back over and over again in our rondo
and listening for the things that happen in between.
All right, so now I'd like you to go and listen to this wonderful performance by Yo-Yo
Ma & Emanuel Ax,
of Beethoven's Cello Sonata No. 2 in G Minor
and just enjoy the beauty of the cello, which is such a wonderful
instrument,
and this delightful performance by two of the great musicians of our time.