Oscillations

The pianist Einav Yarden juxtaposes two composers in Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) and Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) who are rarely named in one breath. While the name of Beethoven is mostly heard in the “classical triad” along with Haydn and Mozart, we usually group Stravinsky with Schönberg, especially as Theodor W. Adorno pronounced the two composers as antipodes and hence associated one with the other. But Beethoven and Stravinsky? For Beethoven, the piano was a central instrument, which gave him the opportunity of shining equally both as composer and pianist. Five piano concertos, 32 sonatas, numerous variation works, bagatelles, individual pieces etc. demonstrate the purely numerical significance of the piano for Beethoven. In direct comparison, Igor Stravinsky’s oeuvre for piano is quickly browsed through. Three works for piano and orchestra, the sonata of 1924, some early works, etudes, barely a dozen individual pieces, some works for two pianos. But despite this rather sparse oeuvre, the piano was a central instrument also for Stravinsky. “Every note I wrote,” said Stravinsky, “was tried out on this instrument, every interval singly tested, heard again and again.” And Stravinsky, too, wrote piano works for himself to perform in the concert hall. particularly after 1920.