"Waldstein" Sonata and Andante Favori

Ciao Gino! Biamonti says this:

The original manuscript is unknown. The sketches are found, together with those of the first and last movements of the Sonata op. 53, in the Eroica sketchbook. The title Andante favori, with which the piece was first designated in an 1807 edition by Breitkopf und Härtel and is still commonly known today, would derive, according to Czerny, precisely from Beethoven himself, who seems to have preferred it and played it gladly in private gatherings. According to what Ries and Czerny report, this Andante was supposed to be part of the Sonata in C major op. 53 as the second movement. A friend pointed out to Beethoven that the work would result from it being too long; an observation that, although poorly received at first, nevertheless convinced the master, after some reflection, to replace the piece with the current Introduction (Adagio molto) to the Rondo. In reality, the static and monochrome character of the Andante did not quite link with the splendid animation of the other two movements. As Rolland wrote, its main defect was not that it occupied too much space, but that it was not in place: something about which some (wrongly, in our opinion) are still not convinced today. The form is like that of the Finale of the Sonata, that of a Rondo (and even this, i.e., the succession within the same work of two somewhat long movements of the same type, would perhaps have harmed the harmony of the general structure, despite their different character). The ritornello, in whose theme D'Indy noted an analogy with an episode from the Finale of a Sonata by Rust.

That being said, I went to get the Eroica sketchbook (published by Lockwood and Gosman: Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Sketchbook: A Critical Edition Transcribed, edited and commentary by Lewis Lockwood and Alan Gosman. 2 vols. pp. 428 (University of Illinois Press Champaign, Ill.2013. $200. ISBN 978-0-252-03743-6.)

the sketches for op. 53 are just after those of Vestas Feuer, and consecutively cover several pages: First movement, Andante (WoO 57) and finale Rondo... I am attaching a couple of photos.... I would say yes..... Czerny and Ries (who probably knew the genesis of the sonata.... ) were right

a warm greeting,

A------------------------

We owe the first biographical testimonies on Beethoven to Franz Gerhard Wegeler and Ferdinand Ries.

Ferdinand Ries reported the following testimony regarding Sonata Opus 53: «(...) it originally possessed a large Andante.» (Andante Favori) «A friend expressed to Beethoven the opinion that the Sonata was too long, receiving a terrible scolding for it. Upon calmer reflection (...) he soon became convinced of the validity of that observation (...)» Franz Gerhard Wegeler/Ferdinand Ries: Beethoven. Appunti biografici dal vivo. Moretti&Vitali editore) and the Andante was extracted and published separately. Regarding this piece of music, Ries also reported another anecdote: «(...) When Beethoven performed it for the first time before our friend Krumpholz and me, we liked it enormously and tormented Beethoven for so long that he had to repeat it. On the way home, passing in front of Prince Lichnowsky's residence to tell him about Beethoven's new excellent composition, I was then forced, as much as I could remember, to play said piece in his presence. Since it came back to my mind with increasing clarity, the prince insisted that I repeat it once more. It so happened that he also learned a part of it.

The following day, as a joke, the prince went to Beethoven telling him that he too had composed something, and that it was not a bad piece at all. Ignoring the fact that Beethoven resolutely told him he did not want to listen to it, the prince sat at the piano and performed, to the composer's astonishment, a good part of the Andante.

Beethoven flew into a rage (...). Never again did he allow me to be present while he played (...)» Franz Gerhard Wegeler/Ferdinand Ries: Beethoven. Appunti biografici dal vivo. Moretti&Vitali editore)

This, Gino, is the truth, but what surprises me most about all this is that Piero Rattalino now asserts this, given that he himself in his "Guida alla musica pianistica" writes: «It had originally been conceived as the second movement of Sonata Op. 53 (…) Some commentators have severely decreed that it would be a cultural duty to relocate the Andante to the place it originally occupied. But in truth, it is not understood how it could be relocated within the context of the Sonata, because the short adagio in F that follows the first movement is organically connected with the Rondo in C, and if the favored Andante is inserted, the following Andante-Largo-Rondo sequence would unbalance the architecture of the Sonata. The removal of the Andante is, in my opinion, another reason—not one of convenience, but of artistry. The favored Andante, a wonderful piece evocative of the past, with its main theme in the style of a minuet and with its ornamentations, poetically belongs to the world of the calm and dreamy Sonata Opus 54, not to that of the vitalistic, exuberant Opus 53. Beethoven is striving to reach the goal of a historical synthesis that links the contemporary era with the era preceding it. Sonata Opus 110 represents the culmination of this research, which Beethoven reaches by degrees (...) Putting together the future and the past in a single composition was, however, an immense task for which Beethoven was not yet mature (...) As a standalone piece, it gives us an image of Elysium, with the vision of the Blessed dancing ceremoniously to the time of a minuet (...)»"

Franz Gerhard Wegeler Ferdinand RiesFerdinand Ries

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RiesKrumpholzLichnowsky

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Eliso