A tale of two composers: Emanuel Ax explores Beethoven and Schoenberg in Seattle recital

In late 2020, I decided to listen to Beethoven’s 32 sonatas in chronological order.  Consider it my take on one of those pandemic-era “deep dives” – sourdough bread, birding – that we all took.

My love for Beethoven dates back to 1996, when a dear friend introduced me to classical music for the first time.  In the years that followed, I listened to individual sonatas on and off, but never in order. But my pandemic-era exploration showed them in a new light.  Over the course of two weeks, and with the help of a dozen different pianists, I listened to them all.  As a body of work, they are profound, humorous, elegant, and, of course, transformatively inventive.

In a recent recital in Seattle, legendary pianist Emanuel Ax further enlarged my appreciation of Beethoven with help from an unexpected source: Arnold Schoenberg.  In brief remarks to the audience, Ax shared two key thoughts on Schoenberg.  First, that the composer’s music is no longer new, yet it still instills fear in listeners.  And second that Schoenberg is essentially at heart a Romantic composer.  

Schoenberg’s piano music consists of only a handful of complete works.  Ax chose for his recital two of the most well-known and one that is less familiar.  In the first half, Ax sandwiched Schoenberg’s Op.11 Three Piano Pieces between two Beethoven sonatas. He kicked off the second half with Schoenberg’s Three Piano Pieces from 1894 – one of his earliest surviving works –  and Six Little Pieces, before finishing the program with another Beethoven sonata.  Three Piano Pieces was a young Schoenberg’s tribute to Brahms, with affecting melodies given an elegant presentation by Ax.  The other two works by Schoenberg were harder to enjoy, but just as well presented.  Each concise movement shimmered, murmured and exploded with individualism.  It is true that the audience had to look hard at times amidst disjointed atonality, but they likely found enjoyment if for no other reason than that Ax seemed to care so deeply about the works.  And all present learned that Schoenberg is nothing to fear.  

Hearing three Beethoven sonatas juxtaposed against Schoenberg’s music evinced Beethoven’s struggle against established tendencies that most of us forget.  Beethoven is now the foundation for how most people think about classical music.  His symphonies, quartets, and especially his piano sonatas no longer seem that revolutionary – and instead showcase many of Beethoven’s most popular melodies.  Yet when cast alongside Schoenberg, Beethoven’s disruptive spirit is plainly visible.  

Even Beethoven’s Op.2, No.2, an early sonata that Ax chose to close the first half, is gentile, but far beyond what people would have heard from Mozart and Haydn.  Throughout its four movements Ax provided a master class in how to convey contrasting moods, play with precise articulation, while also lavishing care on Beethoven’s colors, energy and humor.  It’s a sonata that demands as much variety from the pianist as does Schoenberg – while also pointing the way to the Second Viennese School of composers.  The ‘Pathétique’ and ‘Appassionata’ sonatas were the other two big works on the program – opening and closing the recital, respectively.  Each work pushes Beethoven further away from the Classical-era style, every note serves Beethoven’s expressive purpose, just as Schoenberg abandoned tonality.  Ax’s performance was convincing even as he favored a less tempestuous, more probing approach.

Through Ax’s masterful interpretation, Schoenberg’s atonal landscapes revealed their hidden Romantic heart, while Beethoven’s sonatas, especially the Op.2, No.2, showcased the composer’s revolutionary spirit.  As the music lifted from Ax’s Steinway, it became clear that Beethoven’s innovations, often taken for granted today, were once as daring as Schoenberg’s.  Ax’s profound commitment to these works revealed the beauty and significance of both composers’ legacies.