Clement Lo wrote: >... When I had to play the Beethoven Sonata Op. 31 no. 2 in an exam, I >was quite amazed at the amount of contrast that Beethoven got within just >3 movements. I have tried to understand how it became the "Tempest", I >know from the viva voce part of the exam that apparently it was some sort >of reference to Shakespeare's play, but it doesn't fit somehow, yes, the >beginning of both works have a 'storm' and the ending of the play is rather >tranquil as is the coda of the last movement. As I recall reading, Beethoven, impatient at some listener's asking him the meaning of the sonata, fobbed the person off by telling him (or her?) to read Shakespeare's *Tempest*. Walter Meyer