# 17 — TRUST YOUR EARS
It’s been a while since I wrote about a great composer, performer, or piece. Usually, those are my favorite to discuss because I can go on and on about my selection. The piece that I want to bring into the conversation is Beethoven’s (1770-1827) Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 “Kreutzer.” It is a masterpiece in the genre, really; my mere description of it would certainly do injustice to the work and the genius of its German composer. In fact, the “Kreutzer” Sonata is one of those pieces that you just have to listen to in order to fully grasp how it has remained a staple in the realm of duets with violin and piano. Fortunately, we are blessed to have easy access to an overwhelming abundance of recordings for our listening enjoyment. Unfortunately, however, almost everyone plays the first movement incorrectly. Most of them play a wrong note… not just any wrong note, but the wrong note. Who’s at fault here? The composer himself: Beethoven.
Let me do a quick sidebar here and offer a very quick crash course on musical form in the classical canon, because this is quintessential to understanding the quandary surrounding that wrong note. The first movement of this Violin Sonata follows a sonata-allegro structure, which is divided into three sections in the following order: exposition, development, recapitulation. First, the composer introduces two contrasting theme groups TG (usually a loud and lively TG 1, followed by a soft and lyrical TG 2). Next, in the development, the composer takes those two TGs and makes them sound weird. Finally, the two contrasting TGs make their proper return in the recapitulation, which is the third and final section of the sonata-allegro form. There’s a lot more to it than that, obviously. If there’s one thing that I want you to take away from this, then it’s the following: The exposition and recapitulation sections are basically carbon copies; they look and sound almost exactly the same. The only difference is that they are in different keys. In the case of the first movement of the “Kreutzer” Sonata, the TG 2 within the exposition ends in E Minor, and the TG 2 within the recapitulation ends in A Minor.
If you have the Henle edition of the score stashed somewhere in your library, then feel free to dust it off and follow along as I analyze the composer’s inconsistencies. The specific measures in question begin with mm. 165-166, which contain a short motif of the following notes: B, A, G-sharp, A, B. I have a big problem with that G-sharp, because the tonal center (temporary key) of this TG 2 in the exposition had already been clearly established as E Minor (E, G, B). The note G-sharp has no place in the E Minor scale. A few measures later, at mm. 169-170, that five-note motif is presented again in the violin part as follows: B, A, G-natural, A, B. Just to be clear, we have a G-sharp in m. 165, but then a G-natural shortly afterwards in m. 169. What the heck, Beethoven?
Okay, fine. Maybe that G-sharp in m. 165 was just some quirky thing that the composer decided to include in this piece. Assuming it is meant to be like so, that means I should expect to see something “sharp” in the recapitulation a few hundred measures later. Fast forward to mm. 486-487, which are the structural equivalent of the previously-mentioned mm. 165-166. This time, however, in the TG 2 of the recapitulation in A Minor, mm. 486-487 contain the following notes: E, D, C, D, E. A few measures later, at mm. 490-491, that five-note motif is presented again in the violin part as follows: E, D, C, D, E. That works for me, because the tonal center (temporary key) of this TG 2 in the recapitulation had already been clearly established as A Minor (A, C, E). The note C, which occurs in both mm. 486 and 490, belong to the A Minor scale. I thought I was going to see a C-sharp somewhere in this recapitulation, based on the logic of that G-sharp from the exposition earlier. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. Thank goodness.
You may have noticed that the previous two paragraphs are seemingly plagiarized, but with slightly different orderings of phrases and series of note letters. That’s how poetry works, if I recall correctly. In fact, that’s how the sonata-allegro structure is supposed to work, too. Music is an aural language of poetry that often lacks text, but our ears are still quick to recognize patterns and repetitions. At the same time, they are sharp (haha, get it?) enough to detect even the smallest imperfections and most trivial inconsistencies.
Here’s a bullet-point summary of everything I just babbled about:
TG 2, EXPOSITION, E MINOR (e, g, b)
mm. 165-166: B, A, G-sharp, A, B
mm. 169-170: B, A, G, A, B
TG 2, RECAPITULATION, A MINOR (A, C, E)
mm. 486-487: E, D, C, D, E
mm. 490-491: E, D, C, D, E
As you can see, mm. 165-166 make absolutely no sense. And… maybe that’s okay, because the composer himself wrote that G-sharp, after all. Can’t argue with that, right? Depends on who you ask. Personally, I can’t stand the fact that probably 95% of the recordings I listen to have that G-sharp. I must dig deep to find the other 5% — the recordings of those musicians who challenge the authority of the original edition and play G-natural instead. On that note, literally and figuratively, I recommend this fantastic recording by violinist Arthur Grumiaux and pianist Clara Haskil.