Beethoven and more 2011 podcast #5: The sounds of spring

Ludwig van Beethoven 
Sonata No. 5 in F Major for violin and piano, op. 24 (Spring): 1st movement: Allegro
Julian Rachlin, violin
Itamar Golan, piano
MP3 recorded by Deutsche Welle (DW) in the chamber music hall of the Beethoven House, Bonn, on September 17, 2011

Nicknames of compositions often don't stem from the composers but are appended by followers. Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 5 is a case in point. The cheery first movement and the pastoral F Major setting seem to have awakened associations with springtime, particularly compared to the much darker companion work of opus 23. Even a critic at a newspaper notorious for decrying Beethoven's "modernism" during his lifetime praised the fiery and original "spirit of the composer" in the piece, calling it "among the best that Beethoven wrote, in fact, among the best that have ever been written."

In their duo partnership, Julian Rachlin and Itamar Golan clearly don't stick to just one interpretation.

"We've been working for more than fifteen years together," said Golan, adding, "Every time we play a piece again, we discover something new. Beethoven just left his scores. We don't know just how he would have wanted us to play. We can only study the notes he wrote again and again and play together in order to understand them and ultimately discover things we've missed."

Author: Marita Berg / gsw
Editor: Rick Fulker