In 1970, Argentinian-Israeli conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim and his close friend, filmmaker Christopher Nupen, collaborated on a thirteen-part series about Ludwig van Beethoven - marking the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth. Lost to the British public for half a century, this series of films has never been shown together on national television in the UK. Now, as we celebrate the 250th anniversary in 2020, the episodes have been resurrected in their original form.
Episode 12 takes a closer look at Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111. Of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas, this last one is unique in its makeup, consisting of just two movements. As Barenboim puts it, the two movements balance each other out with a “prevailing inner logic”: if the first movement, “with its terrifying energy, shows us only one side of Beethoven’s nature… this world with all its struggles,” the second - variations on an Arietta - presents a vision of “eternity undisturbed,” a profoundly spiritual expression of a pure innocence “consciously won, through the lessons of experience.”
Music piece excerpts performed:
02:14 Ludwig van Beethoven - Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111 (2nd Movement)
05:11 Ludwig van Beethoven - Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111 (2nd Movement)
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