Category Music updates

Beethoven’s “Cuckoo” sonatina. One might suspect that the Opus 79 sonatina was actually composed much earlier than its publication date of 1809, but Beethoven’s sketchbooks show that it is a contemporary of such works as the Emperor Concerto and the…

Beethoven’s “Shakespeare” sonata, “I scorn to change my state with kings;” the great Appassionata. Opus 57 – the “Appassionata” – one of the greatest works of Beethoven’s so-called “heroic” period, provides the backdrop for the following account: In the late autumn…

Another from Beethoven’s “new path”, the “Waldstein” sonata, Opus 53. We come to the “Waldstein” sonata, Opus 53, dedicated to one of Beethoven’s earliest patrons. When Beethoven departed Bonn for Vienna, it was Count von Waldstein, Privy Councillor to the…

A Presidents Day tribute to G. Washington and A. Lincoln both of whom loved music: Beethoven’s Kreutzer sonata for violin and piano played by a master. The Kreutzer Sonata, Beethoven’s ninth for violin and piano, is sometimes referred to as…

Today, Beethoven’s second piece of Opus 49. We are eternally grateful to Beethoven’s brother Kaspar, who arranged for the publication, against the composer’s wishes, of the two “Leichte Sonaten” Opus 49. There is hardly a piano student who has not…

Beethoven’s “Leichte Sonaten” composed in 1795-76 but not released publicly until 1805 are often studied by students. The Opus 49 “Leichte Sonaten” (light sonatas) are only known today because Kaspar van Beethoven, one of the composer’s brothers, decided on his…

Beethoven’s piano sonata Op. # 3 in E-flat major, “The Hunt,” was written in 1802. The third of the Opus 31 sonatas is affectionately known as “The Hunt”, a nickname that describes only the last movement – fast, rollicking, and full…