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Beethoven's Piano Sonata in A flat,
Op. 110
Beethoven's Sonata in A flat, Op. 110, was composed during the years 1820-21. According to Vincent d'Indy, this work and the String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132, which was written four years later, both express the tragic mental condition of the composer during the last period of his life.
The A flat Sonata is the only work of its kind of Beethoven's last period which bears no dedication. ' Only to himself ', says Vincent d'Indy, ' could Beethoven dedicate this musical expression of a convulsion in his own life.'
Irene Scharrer first studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Tobias Matthay and made her debut as a soloist at St. James's Hall in 1901. Like many other British artists, she came to the forefront during the last war, when she was continually to be heard in London and the provinces playing with all the leading orchestras.