Re-reading the Beethoven Violin Sonatas

This monograph is the first of its kind in English dedicated to Beethoven’s ten Sonatas for Violin and Piano. It joins a small group of texts that consider these works: an edited collection (Lockwood/Kroll, 2004) and two books by violinists that consider issues of performance (Szigeti, 1965 and Rostal, 1985), along with a small number of articles and chapters, predominantly on Opp. 24, 47 and 96. Therefore, this study of such canonic works is long overdue, and equal consideration is here given to Op. 23, often overlooked in favour of its partner, Op. 24 (the Spring) as well as the Op. 12 and Op. 30 sets.
Scholarship here is rooted in the performer’s role as analyst, specifically from the keyboard (Beethoven himself was a pianist), and engages with latter-day musicological concerns including gender musicology, disability in music, performer’s analysis, humour in Beethoven’s scores, intertextuality and narratology. Beethoven’s music is interpreted or ‘read’ by its performer-author, for meaning that embraces art’s subjectivity, albeit backed up by detailed analyses and engagement with such scholars as Lawrence Kramer, Janet Schmalfeldt, Julian Horton, Susan McClary, Nicholas Cook, John Rink and many more. Consideration of Beethoven’s music is here taken beyond the structuralist approach that has persisted with regard to his works even beyond the turn of the twenty-first century, developing from acknowledgement of music’s temporal flow and the need for analyses that elucidate the experience of playing or listening to a work.
This monograph brings new readings and insights to bear on all ten sonatas, based on an extremely broad knowledge of the contemporary musicological landscape and a quarter of a century of performing experience. It will be published early in 2025 by Boydell & Brewer, with international distribution and the opportunity to acquire hard copy or read online at an affordable price.