BEETHOVEN VIOLIN SONATA NO.8, FIRST MOVEMENT

Violinist Viktoria Mullova describes how knowledge of historical style, a sense of spontaneity and precise metronome work are crucial for pulling off this cheeky movement

From Ludwig van Beethoven Violin Sonatas, Volume II Sieghard Brandenburg (Editor) Hans-Martin Theopold (Fingering) Max Rostal (Fingering and bowing for Violin) Urtext Edition, paperbound Violin and Piano with marked and unmarked string parts Order no. HN 8 · ISMN 979-0-2018-0008-0 Printed with permission of G. Henle Verlag, München © 1978

This sonata is new for me. I had previously played the last movement as an encore, but I only started learning the whole work in 2023. I am still discovering more about it. It’s important for me to return to pieces because each time I do, I find so many new things – for example, here I am constantly changing the bowing. It’s fascinating and exciting how much everything changes and new ideas come.

Choice of strings and a historical approach

On our latest recording, of this sonata, Alasdair Beatson used a fortepiano and I played on gut strings. Ultimately you can play it on either metal or gut strings – for me it doesn’t matter what you choose, but first it’s very important to learn the context in which this piece was composed and how it was originally meant to be performed. This was a starting point for me. If you try and play it on gut strings and with a classical bow, you immediately understand the style, and can then go on to play on metal strings and transfer over that style of playing. After that, you can even change the bowing or the fingering because you will have that sound in your ears, but the most important thing is to understand the style.

When I play on gut, I make use of lots of open strings; the timbre is wonderful. Open strings have such a beautiful colour and I use them a lot in very fast passages; they make the music sound very bright and resonant, full of air in lyrical passages.

It’s essential for each player to find their own fingerings. What might be comfortable in one position for one person might be different for another. For me, choosing my own fingerings is a very important and satisfying process. I like changing my fingerings and bowings not only while I’m learning the piece, but also after I’ve already performed or recorded it. I enjoy continually exploring the possibilities of new sounds and articulations.

AGA TOMASZEK

Characters and contrasts

Usually other Beethoven sonatas start with the melody, but this one starts with a passage that sounds like a rush of wind. I aim for articulation that is clear, light and crisp. It is technically challenging but entirely possible.

This movement is full of joy and sometimes very funny. In this movement Beethoven makes an effect out of just one note, for example the sforzando in bar 8. It sounds so random and out of the blue. In the end, we decided it should sound like a drunken hiccup. You have to play this note three times throughout the movement, so each time I aimed for each one to be different using a variety of ugly sounds, like someone is drunk and not stable.

Bar 28 is like a throwaway gesture. Play it towards the end of the bow, lightly and off the string. It has to sound easy – like you’re throwing a ball which then bounces back up.

Remember that the mood is very comical and full of scherzando. There are lots of syncopations, such as from bar 81 onwards, where there are playful bits in the piano part that all seem to be in the wrong place.

The whole movement is full of contrasts; for example, in bar 50 there is real strong Beethovenian drama, but it’s drama with a smile because it doesn’t take itself too seriously – it’s still scherzando. It’s like a storm in a teacup!

There are lots of beautiful and gentle places too, such as in bar 42; it’s especially important here to highlight the contrast. I learnt from the early years of my career that it’s very important to exaggerate. I used to listen to myself when I was younger and I would imagine I was creating lots of contrasts and crescendo. But on hearing a radio recording of a concert, I would be shocked because I almost couldn’t hear any difference!

Making musical decisions

I use plenty of consecutive up-bow staccato, for example in bar 2. When it’s done closer to the end of the bow, the sound is very light and refined. This means the articulation sounds very equal; if you play down, up, down, up, you lose that evenness.

It’s important to remember always to play with direction. The notes should be even and the same length, but with the direction of either a crescendo or diminuendo.

There is no right or wrong, however, because there are so many options. That’s the fun of it because you can just be spontaneous on stage. When I’m playing with Alasdair, sometimes he surprises me with what he does on the piano. And then I answer him in a different way too. Because we play together all the time, it feels like improvising, and that way it’s never exactly the same. It never gets stale and I never get tired of it.

‘There is no right or wrong, because there are so many options. That’s the fun of it because you can just be spontaneous on stage’

Practise with a metronome

Practising with the metronome really works for me, particularly with Beethoven’s music. It’s good practice because I discover sometimes that I’m rushing or slowing down without intending to.

Metronome practice will give you the framework and the parameters within which to work; you can then put the metronome away and have the freedom to create music. This way, your interpretation won’t be dictated by technique, or the way you heard someone play the piece before.

We chose to take the tempo at j= 108. I found some tempo markings of what people used in the late 19th and early 20th century. One was Czerny-Vortrag, who took it at j= 112. The tempos were so fast, it was almost unplayable! On the other hand, Kreisler took it so slowly, at around j= 96–100. We decided to try out all the tempos and chose a very fast one, because it makes more sense musically.

Bow distribution is so important, especially at times when you end up somewhere you don’t want to be and have to readjust without losing time. Going from bar 49 – which is piano and where you are playing at the tip of the bow – to the dramatic forte of bar 50, you have to change quickly to the part of the bow where you can play forte and off the string. There is a difficult passage later in bar 53, which is very fast and has lots of string-crossings. Make sure it is clear and in tempo – there is a tendency to slow down here.

Ensemble with the piano

The violin must join the piano by bar 87. It’s quite tricky because the piano is playing sforzando accents, and they are all in the ‘wrong’ place. When Alasdair and I first used to play this passage, I was always either too early or too late. Then I realised that counting doesn’t work because the accents are in a confusing place. Here, you just have to know exactly what the piano is playing and from there, work out how your part fits in context.

The passage at bar 107 needs to be light, clear and pianissimo – I use very little bow in the upper part. It’s also tricky because it’s in a completely different key, with a lot of sharps, so to play it in tune is a challenge. Work out a good fingering that will allow you to play in tune and mirror the gesture of the opening – that ‘rush of wind’.