I love the Sonata Pathetique, it is likely my favourite piece of music (hard to be definite as there are so many options).
It begins stormy and unpredictable. Sometimes moody, sometimes playful, sometime aggressive. I used to play it. I wasn’t blessed with hands large enough to play it well enough. I like to blame the small size of my hands, not my lack of practice. Most times you can’t get away with it, but with Beethoven you can. His hands must have been huge. I used to say that the greatest satisfaction in life was to play brilliant music badly. I was joking! The biggest satisfaction in life is to listen to wonderful music played brilliantly (not by me – ahem!).
And then the second movement comes. Out of the storm like a shaft of light. There is something in its wistful strains that evokes a sense of longing. Its happy, hopeful and just out of reach. In this second movement Beethoven brings me to a stop. No matter what I am doing I pause mentally and absorb the notes. It is breathtakingly beautiful.
God gave us this! All good things come from God. The work of this man’s hands only point to ultimate beauty, the beauty of God.
When we listen to great pieces of music, we connect with the ‘Father of the heavenly lights.’ That feeling you feel way down inside, that is the spirit of the divine.
James 1: 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the
Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Daniel Barenboim plays Beethoven Sonata No. 8 Op. 13 (Pathetique) – YouTube
Roberta Writes 