Engravers vs Composers: Slurs of Genius
Posted: 13 Jan 2016, 00:04
The following excerpt is from the second movement of Beethoven's Sonata op. 27 no. 2 ("Moonlight").
A unique S-shaped slur occurs in the left hand of the first measure in the example:
Why? Lack of room above the third beat? Or something else?
The following analysis show what might going on: a pianistic-acoustical problem that Beethoven solves in his usual masterful manner. The tenor voice actually moves Ab—Bb—Ab. The alto voice actually moves Eb—Db—Gb—Eb—Db—C as shown in the following diagram.
But this presents technical problems. The Bb in the tenor forms a tenth with the bass, which would have to be broken by most players or played by the right hand. The Gb and Eb eighth notes in the alto form thirds with the soprano that sound thick on their own, create a shrill piano voicing overall, and are slightly awkward to articulate and play fluently because of the repetition of the Gb between the two voices.
Beethoven solves these problems by swapping tenor and alto tones between the hands, which necessitates moving the alto down an octave. This also creates a warmer voicing for a very expressive moment in the piece. To show that the notes on beat three of the lower staff are really alto voice notes, Beethoven uses the slur to visually throw those note upward into the upper staff!
Another way to look at it is that Beethoven has combined two two-note slurs into one: the slur that should run between the Ab and Bb in the tenor with the slur that should run between the Gb and Eb in the alto! The S-shape therefore also alerts us to the fact that there are two slurring operations going on here at once.
Here is the first edition. Already a slur of genius has been destroyed by the engraver:
The right hand slur is contested in various editions.
Is it one as in the first edition? Two joined slurs as in the autograph? Two slurs that join by a slip of the pen as in the Schenker edition? Or is it some kind of correction by Beethoven?
My theory: Beethoven is writing in his "string quartet" style for the piano in which the tenor voice would be supplying the legato sustain, the bass the tenuto support, and the soprano and alto the more articulated voices slurring pairs of tones. (This refers to the voices as shown in the analysis.)
Because the tenor voice cannot actually supply a perfectly nuanced sustain between the required tones Ab and Bb, Beethoven's instinct was to supply a little help in the right hand to connect to both the "tenor" and soprano Bb's by means of the three-note slur. Yet, he ALSO wanted a break between the F and Bb in the soprano. To notate this is almost impossible, but the impossible never stopped Beethoven! I think that this is another case where the composer's notation should be left as it stands.
A unique S-shaped slur occurs in the left hand of the first measure in the example:
Why? Lack of room above the third beat? Or something else?
The following analysis show what might going on: a pianistic-acoustical problem that Beethoven solves in his usual masterful manner. The tenor voice actually moves Ab—Bb—Ab. The alto voice actually moves Eb—Db—Gb—Eb—Db—C as shown in the following diagram.
But this presents technical problems. The Bb in the tenor forms a tenth with the bass, which would have to be broken by most players or played by the right hand. The Gb and Eb eighth notes in the alto form thirds with the soprano that sound thick on their own, create a shrill piano voicing overall, and are slightly awkward to articulate and play fluently because of the repetition of the Gb between the two voices.
Beethoven solves these problems by swapping tenor and alto tones between the hands, which necessitates moving the alto down an octave. This also creates a warmer voicing for a very expressive moment in the piece. To show that the notes on beat three of the lower staff are really alto voice notes, Beethoven uses the slur to visually throw those note upward into the upper staff!
Another way to look at it is that Beethoven has combined two two-note slurs into one: the slur that should run between the Ab and Bb in the tenor with the slur that should run between the Gb and Eb in the alto! The S-shape therefore also alerts us to the fact that there are two slurring operations going on here at once.
Here is the first edition. Already a slur of genius has been destroyed by the engraver:
The right hand slur is contested in various editions.
Is it one as in the first edition? Two joined slurs as in the autograph? Two slurs that join by a slip of the pen as in the Schenker edition? Or is it some kind of correction by Beethoven?
My theory: Beethoven is writing in his "string quartet" style for the piano in which the tenor voice would be supplying the legato sustain, the bass the tenuto support, and the soprano and alto the more articulated voices slurring pairs of tones. (This refers to the voices as shown in the analysis.)
Because the tenor voice cannot actually supply a perfectly nuanced sustain between the required tones Ab and Bb, Beethoven's instinct was to supply a little help in the right hand to connect to both the "tenor" and soprano Bb's by means of the three-note slur. Yet, he ALSO wanted a break between the F and Bb in the soprano. To notate this is almost impossible, but the impossible never stopped Beethoven! I think that this is another case where the composer's notation should be left as it stands.