Musical Sunday

Ludwig van Beethoven made history with his 32 piano sonatas. Their stylistic range is particularly impressive: they combine the classical and the romantic, but also incorporate baroque models and open the genre to the modern. Marcus Imbsweiler and Timo Jouko Herrmann pick out two striking examples from the enormous corpus: the Les Adieux sonata from Beethoven’s middle period and the C minor work op. 111, with which he concluded his sonata oeuvre in 1822. In this way, they provide an overview of the multitude of musical means used and trace further peculiarities of this work.

Here, two enthusiasts have their say who have their very own linguistic approach to music. Imbsweiler has previously published novels and short stories about composers from Haydn to Shostakovich. Herrmann is guest conductor of the Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra; his rediscovery of the song of joy Per la ricuperata salute di Ofelia, composed by Salieri, Mozart and Cornetti, made him famous worldwide.