Beethoven's "Tempest"

From February 8 to 10, 2007, the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, Montreal, Canada, will host an international symposium devoted to a single composition: Beethoven's "Tempest" Sonata (in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2), a work that represents a turning point in music history, raising questions about aesthetics, instrument, performance, and form.

This three-day event will bring together pianists, historians, and theorists from Belgium, Canada, and the United States around this one piece, which lends itself particularly well to different approaches and perspectives. At the core of the project are connections of scholarship and performance.

More workshop in spirit than formal conference, events will consist of seminar-type presentations, performances, and an open discussion forum.

Attendance is free.

Preliminary Schedule of Events

Thursday, February 8, 2007

1:30–1:45 Welcoming Remarks

1:45–2:30 PERFORMANCE

Daniel Steibelt, L’Orage précédé d’un rondeau pastorale (from his concerto Nr. 3, Op. 33, 1798), Erin Helyard (McGill), fortepiano

Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2 (“Tempest”), Tom Beghin (McGill), fortepiano

2:45–3:45 Jeroen D’Hoe (Lemmens Institute), ”Playing (with) Harmony in Beethoven's Op. 31, No. 2”

4:00–5:00 Pieter Bergé (Leuven), “To Play or Not to Play: Motivic Connections in Beethoven's ‘Tempest’ Sonata”

Friday, February 9, 2007

9:30–10:30 William Caplin (McGill), “The ‘Tempest’ Exposition: A Springboard for Form-Functional Considerations”

10:45–11:45 Robert Hatten (Indiana), “Interpreting the ‘Tempest’ through Topics, Gestures, and Agency”

1:30–2:30 Tom Beghin (McGill), "Orating the Oracle: The Rhetorical Paradox of Beethoven's Tempest Sonata"

2:45–3: 45 Markus Neuwirth (Leuven), “Listening Forward: What an Expectancy-Based Cognitive Music Analysis Tells Us about Beethoven’s ‘Tempest’ Sonata”

4:00–5:00 Steven Vande Moortele (Leuven), “Hesitant Openings and Tempestuous Transitions: Ways of Organizing Sonata Form Expositions in the Nineteenth Century”

6:15 CONCERT

Ludwig van Beethoven, Three Piano Sonatas, Opus 31:

Number 1 in G Major, Sara Laimon (McGill), piano

Number 2 in D Minor, Richard Raymond (McGill), piano

Number 3 in E-flat Major, Kyoko Hashimoto (McGill), piano

Saturday, February 10, 2007

10:00–12:00 Open Forum: Analysis & Performance

Moderator: Robert Hatten, with the participation of Tom Beghin (on the fortepiano) and Richard Raymond (on the modern piano)