BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van
Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110
IV. Fugue. Allegro, ma non troppo
Joaquín Soriano, guest professor
Cathal Breslin, student
For this fugue movement, identifying the voices is very important, and the initial indications focus on this. Soriano tells the student that they should play with the mezzopiano-piano-pianissimo levels: the effect of the voices is achieved by playing pianissimo those that are not meant to be sung. The professor points out that the bass should not be too forte, playing everything piano except the theme, because there is always a new color in the sound.
In Joaquín Soriano’s opinion, when playing this Sonata, one should bear in mind that Beethoven’s idea is that everything should remain intimate and expressive but under control (there are many “moderato”, “ma non troppo” indications…).
Later on, a certain passage is less forte but extremely intense because all the crescendi are related to the intensity of the expression rather than the volume of the sound.
From the tempo primo, a crescendo must be made gradually; each measure has to be larger in both sound and expression, and it is very important to achieve this for the Sonata to be well interpreted. As a general conclusion, the professor advises him to play with more depth, not so superficially on the keyboard, but always making sure to lift the fingers when necessary to keep the melody clean.
Language: English
