Reading Beethoven #2 - Choice of Language

Most piano sonatas begin with a tempo marking.

Allegro.Adagio.Presto.

Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 81a begins differently.

Before the music starts, before the first phrase unfolds, before we even touch the keyboard, Beethoven tells us a story.

He gives the three movements names:

1. Das Lebewohl (The Farewell)

2. Abwesenheit (The Absence)

3. Das Wiedersehen (The Return)

These are not simply titles. They are the emotional framework of the entire sonata.

Op. 81a was composed in 1809 when Archduke Rudolph, Beethoven's student, patron, and close friend, was forced to leave Vienna during Napoleon's invasion. Rather than writing an abstract piano sonata, Beethoven transformed this personal experience into music, tracing the emotions of departure, separation, and reunion.

What fascinated me even more was Beethoven's choice of language.

While reading Laura Tunbridge's Beethoven: A Life in Nine Pieces, I was intrigued to discover that Beethoven objected to the French title Les Adieux. In a letter to his publisher, he explained that "Lebewohl" expressed a heartfelt farewell to one person, whereas "Les Adieux" suggested a more general leave-taking addressed to a group. At the time, Italian was the established language of music. Tempo markings, expressive directions, and titles were almost always written in Italian. Yet Beethoven deliberately chose German.

The titles are not decorative.

They are part of the interpretation.

Before Beethoven tells us how to play, he tells us what we are about to experience.

The opening movement is titled Das Lebewohl ("The Farewell"), and above the first three chords he writes the syllables "Le–be–wohl." Beethoven doesn't simply give us music to interpret, he invites us to understand the farewell before we hear it.

The score of Beethoven's Sonata, Op. 81a, titled "Das Lebewohl", features the opening movement marked by expressive chords annotated with the syllables "Le–be–wohl," inviting listeners to grasp the essence of farewell before the melody unfolds.

Beethoven wanted performers to understand the story before they played the music.

Further Reading

• Laura Tunbridge, Beethoven: A Life in Nine Pieces (Yale University Press, 2020).

• Beethoven's letter to Breitkopf & Härtel, 9 October 1811, discussing the title Das Lebewohl versus Les Adieux.

• Jeremy Yudkin, The New Beethoven: Evolution, Analysis, Interpretation.