Beethoven: Sonata No.9 in E major, No.1 (Korstick, Yokoyama, Jumppanen)

The 9th Sonata isn’t well known, probably due to a combination of its relatively diminutive proportions and slight air of oddness, but it definitely deserves much more attention than it gets. The striking first movement is an excellent example of how a good development section (see also the 6th sonata, and to a lesser extent the 5th and 7th) does not really need to develop material to be effective – here, the relevant sense of tension is generated by the inclusion of a completely new theme in the development, the first truly lyrical moment in the sonata (and B., in the manuscript, actually writes, “without developing the theme”). The movement is also a classic example of B.’s motivic style: the first theme group consists of rising 4ths (over an E pedal), scales, and then arpeggios, while the second theme group begins with a naked descending and rising (chromatic) scale. It’s pretty extraordinary how much drama B. wrings from such humble material, often with the aid of some very beautiful quartet-like counterp