Assessing Frederic Lamond’s Interpretation of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 23, Op. 57 (Appassionata)

Abstract

It is well-established that Beethoven has a very important position in classical music, the ‘Appassionata’ Sonata is one of Beethoven’s most famous sonatas. This study aims to examine the first movement of Beethoven’s ‘Appassionata’ and gain an in-depth understanding of it through the analysis of a recording of Frederic Lamond’s 1927 performance and his score, which was published in 1923. By studying the performance of different players in the performance of this sonata, specifically in the uniqueness of Lamond’s playing, as was discovered in this essay. It could have a deeper understanding of this piece. This finding shows that Lamond has a definite rhythm marked on the score, but the rhythm in his recordings is erratic. Lamond has great finger control and technique, and he uses his finger technique very well in some difficult parts of the performance. In his scores, he annotated many dynamic markers, such as staccato, continuous lines, accents, crescendos and crescendos, etc. In his recordings, he shows it all with his finger skills. Such analysis gives us an idea of Lamond’s version. These results suggest that analyzing the notation and performance, it shows that no matter how Lamond’s himself playing style is, he has his own musical ideas. Lamond’s music is very romantic, based on the relevant notation on the score, and his recordings have their own character, which is related to his learning experience.