L. v. Beethoven | Sonata n. 29 op. 106 “Hammerklavier” – 3. Adagio sostenuto. Appassionato e con molto sentimento (1817 - 1819)
 
Beethoven’s sonata n. 29 “Hammerklavier” is widely recognized as on of the highest summits of western music, as well as Beethoven's most technically challenging piano composition, so much that it was considered to be unplayable at all until Lizt first played it in a concert 15 years after its publishing. Monumental, enigmatic, immense, and somewhat esoteric, the third movement is a masterpiece and a whole world on its own. In almost 20 minutes of playing time its embraces over a century of history of classical music, taking up the baton of a counterpoint mastery that has been only of J. S. Bach before and anticipating nocturne-like elements that would become common only after Chopin’s works, with an inventive richness, an intellectual depth, a compositional balance and an emotional power that have few equals in the history of music.