Wan

With this third album, which includes Sonata No. 4 in A Minor, Op. 23, the famous Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 (“Kreutzer”), and Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 96, Andrew Wan and Charles Richard- Hamelin complete their recording of the entire cycle of Ludwig van Beethoven’s (1770–1827) sonatas for violin and piano. Sonata No. 4 was composed in parallel with Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Op. 24 (“Spring”) in the latter half of 1800. Sonata No. 4 stands apart from both its opus 12 predecessors and Sonata No. 5 with its spartan piano part, which, more often than not, has only a single voice playing in each hand; the resulting texture is much akin to a string trio. After the rhythmic energy of the opening “Presto,” the middle section, marked “Andante scherzoso più allegretto,” serves as a light interlude between two serious movements. The concluding rondo features a number of highly contrasting sections, one of which foreshadows that of Sonata No. 9 (“Kreutzer”).