Hammerklavier

[Eric Schissel]

as a quick followup, while I know next to nothing of how a pianoforte
works, I believe it uses hammers to hit the strings. Does a fortepiano
lack those hammers? If so, score one for the aptness of "Hammerklavier" as
a title, and decidedly zero for "pianoforte".

-Eric Schissel

[Eric Schissel]

Basically, it means pianoforte, IIRC. The new kind of piano that was
beginning to compete with the fortepiano, which is a somewhat less
"powerful" instrument in some respects. (My favorite recording of the
Hammerklavier is on a fortepiano, and I'm not much for "original
instruments"... but Peter Serkin is just a good player, to say the least.)

Still, two sonatas, not just one, by Beethoven were called the
"Hammerklavier": he applied this designation to the sonata in A, op. 101,
as well, which is usually described as sonata # 28 to the B-flat's # 29.
The moods of the works are to some degree quite different- especially
compare the first movements of each, and the central sections of the 2nd
movements.

All in all, both are among the best piano music I have ever heard.

-Eric Schissel

In article <01bc5e69$3c7f8b60$1235a098@default>,
Bill Zick <wz...@rc.net> wrote:
>I recently obtained my first copy of Beethoven's Piano Sonata in B-flat,
>nicknamed
>"Hammerklavier". What does "Hammerklavier" mean, and why was it applied to
>this
>particular work?

[Bill Zick]

I recently obtained my first copy of Beethoven's Piano Sonata in B-flat,
nicknamed
"Hammerklavier". What does "Hammerklavier" mean, and why was it applied to
this
particular work?

Bill Zick
wz...@rc.net

[Kjetil Helstrup]

Bill Zick wrote:
> =

> I recently obtained my first copy of Beethoven's Piano Sonata in B-flat=
,
> nicknamed
> "Hammerklavier". What does "Hammerklavier" mean, and why was it applie=

d to
> this
> particular work?
> Bill Zick
> wz...@rc.net

The sonata was first published as "Grosse Sonate f=FCr das Hammerklavier"=
=2E
Hence the nickname. Actually all the Beethoven sonatas are written for
the Hammerklavier, i.e. keyboard with hammers, that is: a piano! And not
a harpsichord or clavichord, which still were around at the time.

Kjetil

[David]

Eric Schissel wrote:
>
> Basically, it means pianoforte, IIRC. The new kind of piano that was
> beginning to compete with the fortepiano, which is a somewhat less
> "powerful" instrument in some respects. (My favorite recording of the
> Hammerklavier is on a fortepiano, and I'm not much for "original
> instruments"... but Peter Serkin is just a good player, to say the least.)
>

I love what Charles Rosen has to say about modern versus authentic
instruments with respect to the performance of late Beethoven in the
opening pages of his new book, The Romantic Generation. The first
chapter is entitled "Music and Sound" and in it Rosen discusses, among
other paradoxes, inaudible aspects of music and the use to which Romantic
composers put them. He begins by describing how in listening to music we
learn to shut out irrelevant sounds, coughing, the sound of the air
conditioner, etc., and how we hear things implied by the music but not
actually realizable in sound, as for example a crescendo on a sustained
note on the piano. He discusses the inadequacy of the piano to realize
Beethoven's intentions and writes: "More than any composer before him,
Beethoven understood the pathos of the gap between idea and realization,
and the sense of strain put on the listener's imagination is essential
here [in a passage from Op. 111]. The best argument for using the pianos
of Beethoven's time in place of the modern grand piano is not the aptness
of the old instruments but their greater inadequacy for realizing such an
effect, and consequently the more dramatic effort required of the
listener. The modern piano, however, is sufficiently inadequate to
realize Beethoven's intentions." (The effect in question occurs near the
end of Op. 111 where the pianist plays one note in the highest end of the
register and one in the lowest. The high note fades quickly, the low
bass note has greater staying power. The effect depends not only on the
wide spacing but on our perceiving the two notes as having equal staying
power.)
- David

[Isaak Koh]

The FP uses a hook-like mechanism to pluck the strings, thus the "plunking"
sound of the FP. The PF, OTOH, uses felt-covered hammers, thus the
"thunking" sound.

Isaak

[Aron Edidin (NC)]

Hello.

'Hammerklavier' is a German word for piano (because, unlike harpsichords,
whose strings are plucked by quills attached to the keys, piano strings
are struck by "hammers"). The story I've heard is that at the time in
question, Beethoven was using German terms rather than Italian ones
wherever possible. Other examples can be found in the tempo indications in
some of the late sonatas. As I recall, all of the late piano sonatas are
specified for "hammerklavier," but it's only to the one that the
specification got used as a nickname for the sonata itself.

Yours,
Aron
edi...@virtu.sar.usf.edu

> I recently obtained my first copy of Beethoven's Piano Sonata in B-flat,
> nicknamed
> "Hammerklavier". What does "Hammerklavier" mean, and why was it applied to

[Fang-lin Hou]

Are you sure that you are not confusing a harpsichord and a fortepiano
here?
My understanding is that a fortepiano, too, uses hammers. Look into the
size,
wrapping material, and action mechanism of the hammers to see the
differences
between a fp and a pf.

FLH

[Fang-lin Hou]

I regret not having read Rosen's newest book, for the obvious insight,
which is all the more precious considering that he mostly plays a
modern piano!

FLH

[Tripletz]

So how does a spinnet piano differ from the more standard issue?
RichF