In 1792 Beethoven took up residence in Vienna in order to study with Haydn–a relationship that lasted only a handful of lessons. Little did it matter; the musical and cultural capital of the western world, used to the Apollonian music of "Papa" Haydn and Mozart, had no inkling of what was about to hit it. This prototypical "angry young man" was about to alter the landscape of music forever. He quickly developed twin reputations as virtuoso pianist and irascible, enfant terrible composer, il–suited to those rarefied social circles he most wished to access. Any young composer wishing to attract attention was obliged to compose in forms amenable to the upper classes, and by far the quickest route at the time was chamber music. Thus the majority of Beethoven's early works are of this genre, including the Op.1 piano trios, nine of the ten violin sonatas, the six Op.18 quartets, and the first two of the five cello sonatas (along with the three sets of cello variations).

It is remarkable in itself that Beethoven's early output included sonatas for cello and piano (or, rather, piano and cello, as the convention of the day dictated). This combination of duo sonata simply did not exist; neither Haydn nor Mozart wrote any sort of solo work for the cello in a chamber context. True, the cello had been emancipated from its strict accompaniment role in the later quartets of Haydn, but it still occupied the position of a lesser among equals. Thus Beethoven is rightly credited with creating the "modern" form of the cello sonata, permanently elevating the status of the instrument in the process.

Neatly, the cello sonatas fall into the commonly accepted categories of Beethoven's life's work, his so–called first, second, and third periods. The two Op.5 sonatas and the three sets of cello variations are from the very heart of the first period, showing Beethoven assimilating inherited traditions while developing his own unique voice. The third cello sonata, Op.69, was written during the height of Beethoven's characteristically independent second period, and is contemporaneous with the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. The last two sonatas, Op.102, from the very threshold of the third period, foreshadow many of the changes that period brought, including the compression of emotion and the inward–looking introspection of the late quartets.

Beethoven expanded his public profile through a concert tour in 1796, visiting Prague, Dresden, and finally Berlin, where he played his just–composed Op.5 cello sonatas with one of the leading cellists of the day, Jean–Louis Duport, at the court of King Friedrich Wilhelm II. Since the king was himself a keen cellist, and the young Beethoven was never one to miss an opportunity for exposure, this may have been the original impetus for these ground–breaking works. While in Berlin, inspired by the playing of Duport, Beethoven quickly wrote a first set of piano and cello variations (based on a theme from Handel's opera Judas Maccabaeus), and was richly rewarded for his efforts; the king presented him with a gold snuff box filled with louis d'or ("Such as would be appropriate for an ambassador," Beethoven boasted in a letter).

Upon his return to Vienna, Beethoven wrote a second set of piano and cello variations, this time on Papageno's aria "Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen" from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. These were most likely intended for cellist Bernhard Romberg, visiting from Bonn, who had known Beethoven as a boy and played with him in a string quartet. Romberg's fame today rests upon a few pedagogical works, but in his day he was very well–respected as a performer and composer of virtuoso cello music. As with many of his contemporaries, however, his grasp of Beethoven's genius, was somewhat limited; Romberg is on record as having called the Op.18 quartets "absurd" and the "Rasoumovsky" quartets "unplayable."

Five years later, Beethoven penned his last set of piano and cello variations, again on a theme from Die Zauberflöte (which was then enjoying two new productions in Vienna). This time Beethoven used the duet "Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen," in which Pamina and Papageno extoll the advantages of married bliss. A development may be seen from the previous two variations in Beethoven's new willingness to give the cello an equal share of the motivic material. This may have been inspired by the source material as much as by a new–found regard for the cello's capabilities, since the rôle of Pamina is played by the piano, while the cello impersonates Papageno.

The two early sonatas and the variations share certain textural characteristics, including a predominance of writing for the piano and a lack of fully formed slow movements. This omission may be explained by the inherent problem of balance between the two instruments–the tenor register of the cello can easily be overpowered by the piano. The extended slow introductions to both of the Op.5 sonatas push the boundaries of the two–movement form toward three, while testing the waters of a true slow movement for the "untried" combination of piano and cello.

The early years of the 19th century saw Beethoven established as Vienna's leading composer (still perhaps a bit too original for some) but increasing deafness exaggerated his eccentricities and spelled the end of his performing career. The output of this "second period" includes many of his most famous masterpieces: the middle symphonies, Fidelio, the Violin Concerto, and the "Rasoumovsky" string quartets. Eleven years had passed since that tour to Berlin, and Beethoven again took up the challenge of a sonata for piano and cello again, with the Sonata in A major, Op.69. Composed during 1807/08, while he was also at work on the epochal Fifth Symphony, this is one of his most thoroughly conceived chamber works. Its expansive, relaxed opening movement has made it by far the most popular of the cello sonatas, while the metrically surprising scherzo (a development exclusive to Beethoven, here using the Fourth Symphony scherzo as a model) marks a major innovation in sonata structure. The trio of this middle movement is also notable for the characteristic way in which Beethoven compresses the development of a melodic idea into a mere two notes, much like the motivic outworking of the Fifth Symphony. The slow introduction to the finale serves two functions: cleansing the palate after the exhilarating ride of the scherzo, while toying once again with the concept of an independent slow movement. This truncated moment of repose leads directly into a spirited finale which balances the opening movement perfectly.

Nearly eight years passed before Beethoven returned to the cello sonata. In fact, the only significant works from 1815 are the two cello sonatas of Op.102. The past few years had been particularly fallow, even for a composer famous for his agonizingly labour–intensive method of production. Beethoven had been significantly distracted by a final revision of Fidelio, but he was also laying the mental groundwork for the move into what became his third period. The last twelve years of Beethoven's life gave us works of surpassing beauty, but also works of paradoxical juxtapositions. Strict forms inherited from the past stand alongside some of the most personal–and capricious–musical utterances ever written. The sonatas of Op.102 are the harbingers of this final period.

The fourth cello sonata borrows a structure from the high Italian Baroque period, the sonata da chiesa, in which the order of movements is slow–fast–slow–fast. Beethoven combines this form with the classical sonata–form structure for both of the fast movements, while recalling motivic material from the introductory movement in the second slow episode. All this is done with the simplest of motives, a descending scale in C major, and compressed into a mere 16 minutes. The second slow episode is especially noteworthy in its surpassing beauty, foreshadowing (and nearly equalling) the profound slow movements of the late quartets.

The final cello sonata is patterned on the old three–movement classical form of fast–slow–fast, and contains a fugue finale (again harkening back to the Baroque), and the only true slow movement of the set. The fugue subject of the last movement is especially disarming, comprised of a simple scale, reminiscent of the halting opening of the finale of the First Symphony composed by the brash young man of many years past. The compression of the first movement, the chorale–like intimacy of the second movement, and the formal rigorousness of the finale are all characteristic of these last great works. This is music of genius and transcendence; only Beethoven could employ antique forms in such a radically transformative way, and with such intensity and economy of material. Years of exile from the hearing world had driven Beethoven deep within himself, to a place of personal expression that has not been surpassed.

©2009 by Brian Mix, cellist of the Vancouver–based Pacific Rim String Quartet