Expert: Pat G - 9/13/2009

Question
At the beginning of the third mvt. of Beethoven's Tempest sonata, the sheet music shows that the 2nd note of each left hand arpeggio is tied. Does this mean that these notes should be held down? I'm asking because no one that I've seen perform this sonata holds down those tied notes, so I was wondering if the tie means something else. Also, why do the first two notes of each arpeggiated figure have stems going both up and down?
Thankyou!

Answer
I am not familiar with the score for Beethoven's Tempest. Unfortunately, I have a panic project and don't have time to go grab my score and look at it, but I'll tell you the usual reasons for these things. If you have stems going both up and down, that usually means that one stem will be for a longer note (say the arpeggio is eighth notes, but the other stem is a quarter note stem). This means the notes should be held down for the full quarter note. Most likely, the reason nobody plays it that way is because it is too difficult. We can't ask Beethoven what he really meant by that, or whether he simply misnotated it. If you are working on the sonata, I suggest you try it both ways, and if it proves too difficult with the notes held down, don't hold them down. Maybe in a week I will have time to go look at the score, but don't count on it.

PS Thanks for the wonderful rating. I would like to add to my comments. I am listening to that movement right now. It is evident that the OTHER reason for two stems in this case is because the first note in the arpeggio is accented. It is played louder than the other notes. With the pedal, it is hard to tell how long the note is being held down, but I think in this recording, it is being held down for longer than the other notes. This tendency to emphasize the first note of an arpeggio is actually fairly common. It brings out the melody.