Beethoven: Sparks of Joy — Op. 109 is the predecessor to the Hammerklavier.
The Opus 109 sonata is a much smaller work than its immediate predecessor, the “Hammerklavier”. It has a fantasy-like first movement followed by a quick prestissimo, and the whole is capped with a marvelous theme and variations, which Beethoven instructed was to be played “song-like, with the most intimate expression.” Here Daniel Barenboim performs. [Notes by Margaret Scialdone.]
Beethoven: Sparks of Joy — Op. 106, “Hammerklavier,” enfolds soul-wrenching drive with those unknown last moments of a Mars landing.
The Opus 106 “Hammerklavier”, Beethoven’s 29th sonata, is one of the most demanding works in the entire keyboard repertoire. Magnificent in scope, enormous in length, it contains a soul-wrenching Adagio movement and ends with an incredible double fugue. One might compare the finale to NASA’s “seven minutes of terror” as the Mars spacecraft makes its final descent and landing on the Red Planet!
Beethoven remarked to his publisher Artaria that this sonata would be “a hard nut to crack”, and that it would have pianists gnashing their teeth for the next 50 years. In fact, Beethoven’s London publisher released only the first three movements (rearranged so that the Scherzo followed the Adagio) because it was felt that England had no pianists at the time capable of playing the finale.
Although Beethoven had already used the term “Hammerklavier” for the Opus 106, it has become universally accepted as the name for this immortal work. Here is a superb performance by Vladimir Ashkenazy. [Notes by Margaret Scialdone.]
Beethoven: Sparks of Joy – Op. 101 begins his “late period” sonatas.
The Opus 101 is generally regarded as the first of the “late period” sonatas, in which Beethoven takes advantage of the expanded range and sturdier construction of the “Hammerklavier” to produce works of extraordinary power and richness of effect. In fact, in the Opus 101 Beethoven uses the low “E” for the first time – a note that didn’t exist on earlier instruments.
This is emphatically not a “Romantic” work. The Romantic movement was unleashed after the Congress of Vienna in order to supplant artistic rigor and replace it with “anything goes” licentiousness, in order to corrupt the musical tastes, and hence morality, of the public. Beethoven was always a Classical composer.
The sonata, which Beethoven jokingly suggested be called “the difficult-to-play A major sonata” is performed magnificently by Emil Gilels. [Notes by Margaret Scialdone.]
China Brings Its Space Vision to Hong Kong
June 24, 2021 (EIRNS)–A half-dozen leaders of the Chinese space program, including 88-year- old Qi Faren, the father of the Shenzhou program, descended on Hong Kong on June 23 to spend several days visiting Hong Kong universities and secondary schools to present the opportunities space has to offer to young Hong Kongers. This is the first major visit of a Chinese delegation to Hong Kong since the outbreak of COVID, and the effect was very powerful. Everywhere there were packed rooms. Most moving was the two-hour presentation by Qi Faren, who entered the Chinese defense establishment in 1957. Speaking without notes or a PowerPoint for two hours, and with times and dates engraved in his brain, he outlined China’s vision for space, from the historical experience of space in Chinese astronomy and poetry to the present period with the building of a Chinese space station. Qi talked about the spirit of the “two bombs and one star” program, the early attempt in incredibly difficult economic circumstances, for China to begin to again become a world power by building an atomic bomb in 1964, a hydrogen bomb in 1967, and launching China’s first satellite in 1970.
Qi, together with many of the elders in the space community, like Sun Jiadong, Ouyang Ziyuan, and others, had come out of this early program. And what was it that motivated them? Qi asked. It was “love of the motherland.” Qi explained that he was born in Dalian in 1933 and Dalian, like Taiwan and Korea, were all occupied by Japan at that time. “When I was young, I was bullied by Japanese kids, I gathered in the playground every day when I was in elementary school, bowed to Tokyo three times, and then practiced the bayonet. “If the War of Resistance Against Japan does not win,” he told himself, ” I will have to be in the Imperial Army, and China will be lost. But with the victory of liberation, I can now ‘Glimpse the Great Aerospace Era’,” Qi said. [the name of the Hong Kong foray].
He said the younger generation has no experience of this history, so patriotism must be promoted through education. He said that the noblest love, the greatest love, is patriotism. This provides the energy for overcoming difficulties for reaching your greatest potential. “In peacetime, everyone is patriotic as long as they do their job well. Everyone can do this, and the country can be strong. The dream of being a powerful country needs to be implemented in our business and our jobs,” he said. Qi’s lecture was met with applause that lasted a long time in the huge venue. The talk was also live-streamed on several sites, including a WeChat site which had 5,000 viewers.
Hu Hao, the designer of the third stage of China’s space program, gave a thorough presentation of the technology of the space program, noting that many people were needed to further develop China’s work in space. He was peppered with questions, including, how does one become an astronaut, what will we find in space, what kind of science experiments will be undertaken, etc. Hu also talked about mining on the Moon and the importance of Helium-3 for a future fusion energy program.
At the end of the week there will be a major exhibition at the Hong Kong Convention Center with space paraphernalia and Moon rocks.
Brits Confirm: HMS Defender Deliberately Provoked Russia
June 24, 2021 (EIRNS)–Confirmation that the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Defender’s sailing into waters claimed by Russia near Crimea was a deliberate provocation, came yesterday from none other than the BBC, which had one of its own reporters on the ship. The reporter, Jonathan Beale, confirmed that the Russians did issue radio warnings to the crew, that the crew was prepared for a possible confrontation, that gunfire was indeed heard, that some 20 Russian aircraft passed by overhead and that two Russian coast guard vessels came within 100 meters of the British ship. “This is at odds with statements from both the British prime minister’s office and defence ministry, which denied any confrontation,” the BBC reported.
“While Moscow claims the peninsula and its waters are Russian territory, the UK says HMS Defender was passing through Ukrainian waters in a commonly used and internationally recognised transit route,” the BBC reported further. “A source told BBC diplomatic correspondent James Landale that the Defender was not there to pick a fight but to make a point — to assert its right to freedom of navigation in international waters.”
Beale himself added: “This would be a deliberate move to make a point to Russia. HMS Defender was going to sail within the 12-mile (19km) limit of Crimea’s territorial waters. The captain insisted he was only seeking safe passage through an internationally recognised shipping lane.” The logic behind this is that since the UK does not recognize the return of Crimea to Russia, the territorial waters that extend from the peninsula still belong to Ukraine. Therefore, according to the British view, the HMS Defender was merely exercising the right of innocent passage on its transit from Odessa to Georgia.
The Russians regard the incursion by the HMS Defender as a violation of international law. “Russian Defense Ministry views the dangerous actions of the Royal Navy Destroyer as a blatant violation of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Russian military ministry called on the British side to conduct a thorough investigation of the HMS Defender crew for prevention of similar incidents in the future,” the Defense Ministry said.
Wang Yi Chairs Meeting of Belt and Road Countries in the Asia Pacific Region
June 24, 2021 (EIRNS)–On June 23, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted a high-level video conference on international cooperation in the Belt and Road Asia-Pacific region. The theme of the conference was “Strengthening Anti-epidemic Cooperation and Promoting Economic Recovery.” The participants included Colombian President Duque and deputy prime ministers, foreign ministers, and other political leaders from 29 other countries, as well as the UN Deputy Secretary-General and UN ESCAP Secretary-General Ali Shahba.
President Xi sent a letter to the participants, in which he underlined the successes of the BRI and the importance of its work in dealing with the COVID epidemic. He said that China was creating a new development paradigm which, through the interconnectivity of the BRI, would help create more market opportunities, investment opportunities, and growth opportunities for BRI partners.
Minister Wang underlined the many successes of the Belt and Road in bringing development to the Asia-Pacific region. He noted that 140 partners have signed BRI cooperation documents with China. Cumulative trade between China and its BRI partners has exceeded 9.2 trillion U.S. dollars, and the cumulative direct investment of Chinese companies in countries along the route has exceeded 130 billion U.S. dollars. “The ‘Belt and Road’ has truly become the world’s widest and largest international cooperation platform,” Wang said. He also noted that there were no political conditions or ideological bias attached to Belt and Road membership, making a clear distinction between BRI and the Biden/G7 “Build Back Better World” boondoggle.
The meeting reached agreement on a 6-point program. The Members positively praised the progress of BRI cooperation; called on the international community to work together to overcome the problems engendered by the pandemic; called for greater cooperation in the development of vaccines and making them available to the world as a whole; placed “green development” in a prominent position in BRI infrastructure development; supported greater cross-border movement of goods and people and the promotion of trade and investment liberalization; accelerated the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Beethoven’s sonata Op. 90 follows Napoleon’s defeat.
Five years would lapse before another piano sonata appeared since Napoleon’s storming of Vienna. During these years, Beethoven composed his Mass in C, and organized a successful revival of his opera, now called “Fidelio”.
The Opus 90 sonata was composed following the defeat of Napoleon and during the preparations for the 1815 Congress of Vienna – the conference of royals and their functionaries which restored the feudal system over war-ravaged Europe, unleashed the Romantic movement, and ruthlessly suppressed all efforts to replicate the new American model of government in Europe.
The sonata has two movements, and is played here with great passion by the Israeli pianist Boris Giltburg. [Notes by Margaret Scialdone.]
President Xi Talks With the Space Station Crew From the Beijing Aerospace Center
June 22 – President Xi Jinping went to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center to speak with the three astronauts on the Tianhe module of the Chinese Space Station. “How are you doing?” he asked. “And is everybody healthy?” Major General Nie Haisheng, the 57-year old commander of the mission, replied that they were all doing well. “This is my third space mission. I work and live in Tianhe, and the conditions are getting better and better. Now we have a permanent home operating in orbit, and we are proud of our great Party and motherland,” said Nie.
Nie came from a poor family in the then drought-ridden portion of Hubei province. He had eight siblings and sometimes had to wear some of his sister’s flowery clothes to school, and took a terrible ribbing from his classmates for that. He was known, however, as the “king of mathematics” and although he almost had to leave middle school to go to work when his father died, one of his teachers saw to it that he could stay in school and that the tuition would be waived. Tang Hongbo, the youngest of the three was on his first venture in space, said that he was happy that he could have a video talk with his parents while at the station. “Our home in space is very cozy and comfortable, and we have full confidence in completing the upcoming tasks,” said Tang.
Xi said he was delighted to learn that the astronauts were in good condition and that their work was progressing smoothly. “The construction of the space station is a milestone in China’s space industry, which will make pioneering contributions to the peaceful use of space by humanity,” said Xi. You are the first astronauts stationed in the core module Tianhe and will stay in space for three months,” Xi said during the video call. “We all care about you very much.”
Beethoven’s rebuke of Napoleonic forces; a sonata for Archduke Rudolph.
Napoleon’s forces approached Vienna in April of 1809, forcing the nobility to flee to their country estates, and Beethoven to shelter in his brother’s cellar, with pillows strapped over his ears to preserve what little hearing he still had.
The departure of his friend and patron, the Archduke Rudolph, was the occasion for Beethoven’s next piano sonata, “Das Lebewohl” (The Farewell), Opus 81a. In the first movement (“Das Abschied” – The Parting) he writes the syllables “Le-be-wohl’ over the opening theme, which he returns to throughout. The second movement, called “Abwesenheit” (Absence), is a poignant depiction of longing, and leads directly to the third movement, “Das Wiedersehen” (The Return), in which Beethoven celebrates the anticipated homecoming of his patron with unbounded joy and exuberance.
It is important to note that from this point on Beethoven abandoned the use of both the French and Italian languages in his compositions, instead giving all tempo and other instructions in German, and he was furious when his publisher gave this sonata the name Les Adieux.
András Schiff gives an outstanding interpretation of this marvelous work. [Notes by Margaret Scialdone.]
June 23 (EIRNS)–The Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) has posted a link to the invitation for the Schiller Institute’s conference this weekend on its home page, announcing simply “Schiller Institute Conference `For the Common Good of All People, Not Rules Benefiting the Few!’ View it here.