Whilst I have always
loved the Weber piano Sonatas it is only now that I have added the Ab Sonata to
my repertoire (previously I had only performed no. 4). This music has
preoccupied my imagination in the most infectious way. I wouldn’t be alone in
saying that it has, like many of his cousin by marriage, Mozart’s works,
intimations of the angelic (Chopin likened this Sonata to an angel passing over
the sky).
It seems to me that
Weber’s importance as more than just a formative influence on Wagner’s stage
dramas is ignored. A passing resemblance between the openings of the Sonata and
of Das Rhiengold notwithstanding, there are other more profound links between
the styles of these first generation and last generation German romantics. A
subject for a book, not a blog!
1816, the date of
composition of the Ab sonata is startling. It isn’t so much that the music
seems not to belong to its time, because it does; more that music written a
long way after could easily be mistaken to be earlier influences on it! The
partly self-taught Weber developed a personal style of piano writing that was
beefier than any of his contemporaries (ie, Dussek, Hummel). His piano music
demands a full blooded legato in the passages that is at odds with the fleet
delicacy needed in the likes of Hummel et al, and his gigantic hand-span make
him into a kind of hundred year earlier Rachmaninoff in terms of muscular piano
technique. This is a far from inappropriate parallel when we consider that
Weber was Adolf von Henselt’s idol and as Richard Beattie Davis has pointed
out, Henselt’s effect on all of the romantic Russians simply cannot be
overstated. The importance of Recitativo in his Operas seems to suggest that a
declamatory style of performance is frequently appropriate, especially in slow
movements. For any pianist who has played both Weber and late Schubert, the
silken yarns of influence that run from Haydn through to Bruckner and Wagner
can be easily felt.
His sheer originality
is borne out by the fact that his works generally don’t sound dated alongside
the composers whom he most obviously influenced (Schubert, Henselt, Schumann).
As we can see, Chopin held him in high regard, Liszt performed, arranged and
even directly quoted him (see the ‘Dante’ sonata in relation to the finale of
the Ab sonata) and I wonder if the first movement of the sonata (a barcarolle
in sonata form) is the source from which Chopin’s Barcarolle flows so gracefully?
I’m performing the Ab
Sonata for the first time next weekend at the Lamberhurst Music Festival
alongside Chopin’s Op 25 Etudes and can’t wait! I’ve a feeling this Sonata will
become a trusted and valued travel companion!
