Beethoven: At the Piano

Description

Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas are the "New Testament" of music, according to Hans von Bülow. Henle's selection here does not take things quite so solemnly, because they have also taken the opportunity to show the more "worldly" side of the composer, with dances, bagatelles, the unusual character piece "Lustig and traurig" ("Happy and sad"), and of course the indestructible "Für Elise".

As usual in the series "At the Piano", all the pieces are arranged progressively from easy to medium level of difficulty. and you do not have to be in awe of Beethoven's piano sonatas either: the highly classical Sonata in G Major (essentially a sonatina) offers an ideal introduction to the many-facetted world of Beethoven's sonatas. in contrast to this, Henle also show Beethoven the "poet at the piano", with the first movement of his "Moonlight" Sonata in c-sharp Minor, along with the funeral march from the Sonata in A-flat Major – visionary creations that already point far ahead into the world of Romanticism.

Pieces

• Lustig-Traurig (Bagatelle), WoO 54
• 6 Écossaises, WoO 83
• Für Elise (Bagatelle), WoO 59
• Piano Sonata No. 20 in G Major, Op. 49, No. 2
• 1st Movement from Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor ("Moonlight"), Op. 27, No. 2
• 9 Piano Variations on "Quant' è più bello" from La Molinara by Paisiello in A Major, WoO 69
• Marcia funebre from Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat Major, Op. 26
• No. 1 from 6 Bagatelles, Op. 126
• No. 5 in G Major from 6 Bagatelles, Op. 126
• Piano Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Op. 14, No. 1