I've been listening to some Beethoven recently. There's been an incredible amount of cynicism and bitterness flowing around recently but to succumb to that sort of attitude and constantly assume the worst of all those who disagree with you is a degenerate state of mind. By that I mean it leads to decay and not progress. Beethoven tends to attenuate negativity in me because although his music is full of darkness and turmoil it is always optimistic in the end.
Today I discovered Richter's performance of the sonata pathetique, Beethoven's 8th sonata (out of 32). Especially in Richter's the first movement is dark and anxious. Richter add's and accelerando to the grave in the introduction and plays with a violent percision. But all of this gives away to one of the most beautiful and nostalgic melodies ever put to paper in the second movement transitioning a third down from C minor to A flat major. In the third movement returns to C minor but lacks the darkness of the first, feeling more like an excited dance.
