Composed in 1803, this sonata is one of the works initiating Beethoven’s middle period of boldly heroic work. There was a new violinist in Vienna that spring, and Beethoven’s patron Prince Lichnowsky put the two musicians together. Born in Poland as the son of a West Indian father and a European mother, George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower made his debut in Paris at the age of ten. He and his father then moved to England, where he became a celebrity prodigy, promoted as the “son of the African Prince.”
In 1802, Bridgetower visited his mother in Dresden and his success there produced letters of introduction to Lichnowsky and others in Vienna. He and Beethoven quickly became friends and planned a concert together in May 1803.
Beethoven well understood how different this new sonata was from any that had come before, including his own eight. His title page describes it as a “Sonata for the pianoforte and violin obbligato, written in a very concertato style, almost like a concerto.”
Shortly after the concert in which this sonata was performed, Beethoven and Bridgetower quarreled over a woman (according to Bridgetower’s recollection years after Beethoven had died). Bridgetower returned to England and Beethoven dedicated this startling new work to the French violinist Rodolphe Kreutzer, who found it completely baffling and never performed it.
This performance is from a recording of live performance at the Library of Congress on April 13, 1940. This is one of a very small number of examples of Bartók’s virtuoso performances. Regrettably, virtually none of Bartók’s performances of the great solo piano literature (apart from his own compositions) have been preserved. This recording has a special significance, therefore, in documenting Bartók’s piano artistry and creative approach to performance.
First Movement
Second Movement
Third Movement
Kreutzer Sonata
Beethoven had very little time to compose the piece before its first performance and rushed to finish it in time. He even decided to use the discarded Finale of his Violin Sonata Opus 30, No. 1 for the last movement instead of writing an original one. George Polgreen Bridgetower, to whom the piece was dedicated, sight-read the entire work on the day of the performance while reading Beethoven’s manuscript for the first and second movements. The last movement was the only movement fully notated.
The sonata consists of three movements. The first movement is titled Presto, which follows sonata form. The second movement is titled Andante con variazioni, which is a theme and variations. The last movement (the movement intended for a different sonata) is titled Presto and is an upbeat rondo in 6/8 meter.