Ludwig van Beethoven's Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69 was written in 1808, Beethoven's most productive compositional period. Composed in the same year were the two piano trios of Op. 70 and the Choral Fantasy; in the same year Beethoven also completed and published his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. The sonata was dedicated to Baron Ignaz von Gleichenstein and first performed in March 1809 by cellist Nikolaus Kraft and pianist Dorothea von Ertmann.

Form

The work consists of three movements:

1. Allegro ma non tanto
2. Scherzo. Allegro molto (in A minor)
3. Adagio cantabile – Allegro vivace.

The first movement opens with the cello alone; variations of its expansive main theme and a pair of contrasting secondary ideas give much cause to contrapuntal and melodic interplay between the two players.

The scherzo which follows, in the tonic minor (i.e. A minor), prominently features off-beat accents; the trio in the major is heard twice as in many of Beethoven's later scherzos.

The briskly-paced finale is preceded by a short slow introduction; the form of the sonata thus resembles that of works such as the Archduke Trio, where the scherzo precedes a slow movement linked to the fast finale.

References

1. ^ John Mangum. "Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 3 in A, Op. 69". LA Phil. Retrieved 17 October 2014. 
2. ^ Matthew Rye (1996). "Cello Sonata in A major, Op 69". Hyperion Records. Retrieved 17 October 2014.