Beethoven: Sonata in E flat major, No. 1 Boris Giltburg, Beethoven 32 project

Whatever depths of evocative storytelling we encountered in Sonata No. 12, they come to a glorious culmination in the sistersonatas Op. 27, Nos. 1 and 2. They create two worlds, as opposing as they are complementary, similarly rich in atmosphere, and possessing a similar power to transport us elsewhere immediately upon hearing their opening bars. Beethovens critics had previously reproached him for writing sonata forms too close to fantasies, too irregular, too free. With Op. 27, it is as if Beethoven decided to show what he could achieve when explicitly attempting to meld a sonata and a fantasy. Both works in that opus are subtitled Sonata quasi una fantasia sonata in the spirit (or manner) of a fantasy. A fantasy was a freeform musical composition, commonly consisting of several loosely linked sections with abrupt shifts of tempo, mood and key. Interestingly, it is the less famous, unnicknamed Sonata No. 13 which adheres more closely to this ideal. Its four movements, performed without a break