Five Great Piano Sonatas

This collection features the most famous of the composer's 32 piano sonatas. Includes "Pathétique," "Moonlight," "Waldstein," "Appassionata," "Les Adieux." New introduction by Carl Schachter, and performance notes by Anton Kuerti.

Haydn pioneered the development of sonata form, and this compilation comprises 11 of the master's finest sonatas -- from short, simple early works to the more complex thematic developments and variations that followed.

Beethoven’s piano sonatas form one of the most important collections of works in the whole history of music. Spanning several decades of his life as a composer, the sonatas soon came to be seen as the first body of substantial serious works for piano suited to performance in large concert halls seating hundreds of people. In this comprehensive and authoritative guide, Charles Rosen places the works in context and provides an understanding of the formal principles involved in interpreting and performing this unique repertoire, covering such aspects as sonata form, phrasing, and tempo, as well as the use of pedal and trills. In the second part of his book, he looks at the sonatas individually, from the earliest works of the 1790s through the sonatas of Beethoven’s youthful popularity of the early 1800s, the subsequent years of mastery, the years of stress (1812†“1817), and the last three sonatas of the 1820s. Composed as much for private music-making as public recital, Beethoven’s sonatas have long formed a bridge between the worlds of the salon and the concert hall. For today’s audience, Rosen has written a guide that brings out the gravity, passion, and humor of these works and will enrich the appreciation of a wide range of readers, whether listeners, amateur musicians, or professional pianists. The book includes a CD of Rosen performing extracts from several of the sonatas, illustrating points made in the text.

A comprehensive and immersive survey of thirty-five Beethoven piano sonatas Beethoven's piano sonatas are among the iconic cornerstones of the classical music repertoire. Jan Marisse Huizing offers an in-depth study of the sonatas using available autographs, first editions, recordings, and nearly three hundred musical examples. Digging into the historical background and historical performance practice, the book provides illuminating detail on Beethoven's pianism as well as his characteristics of notation, form and content, "types of touch," articulation, beaming, pedal indications, character, rubato, meter, metric constructions, tempo, and metronome marks. Packed with anecdotes, quotations, and considerable new information, the book will inspire all involved with these masterworks, playing a fortepiano or modern Grand, giving the sense of the composer sitting beside them as he translates his inspiration and ideas into his notation.

Heinrich Schenker ranks among the most important figures in the development of western music theory in the twentieth century. His approach to the analysis of music permeates nearly every aspect of the field and continues to this day to be a topic of great interest among music theorists, historians, composers and performers. In his four volume work, Die letzen Sonaten von Beethoven: Kritische Ausgabe mit Einf?hrung und Erl?uterung (The Last Piano Sonatas by Beethoven: Critical edition with Introduction and Commentary) Schenker presented editions of Beethoven's Opp. 109, 110, 111 and 101 that were, at the time, unprecedented in their faithfulness to such authoritative sources as Beethoven's autograph manuscripts. He included a movement-by-movement and section-by-section discussion of form and content that grew increasingly penetrating from one volume to the next as the musical theory for which he is now known was developed, alongside inspired and detailed suggestions for the performance of each section of each work. In Beethoven's Last Piano Sonatas: An Edition, with Elucidation, noted Schenker scholar John Rothgeb presents the first English language edition and translation of these important works. Rothgeb builds upon Schenker's text, adding explanations of certain points in the commentary, references to corrections and other remarks entered by Schenker in his personal copies of the volumes, and graphic presentations of several passages (a practice that became standard in Schenker's own analytical work later in his career). Making these seminal works accessible to English speaking scholars and students for the first time, Beethoven's Last Piano Sonatas is an essential reference for music theorists, historians, performers, and composers alike.

From an earlier Belwin Mills edition, this is Volume 5 of a series of the piano works of the great Russian-American composer. Included are Rachmaninoff's Opus 28 and Opus 36 Sonatas. The Opus 28, in D-minor, in three movements, was completed in 1907 and was introduced in Dresden, Germany. The Opus 36, in B-flat minor, also in three movements, was written and 1913 but was later revised by the composer.

Middle sonatasAfter he wrote his first 15 sonatas, he wrote to Wenzel Krumpholz, "From now on, I'm going to take a new path." Beethoven's sonatas from this period are very different from his earlier ones. His experimentation in modifications to the common sonata form of Haydn and Mozart became more daring, as did the depth of expression. Most Romantic period sonatas were highly influenced by those of Beethoven. After 1804, Beethoven ceased publishing sonatas in sets and only composed them as a single opus. It is unclear why he did so.Opus 31: Three Piano Sonatas (1802)Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor ("Tempest")Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major ("The Hunt")Opus 53: Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major ("Waldstein") (1803) WoO 57: Andante favori -- Original middle movement of the "Waldstein" sonata (1804)Opus 54: Piano Sonata No. 22 in F major (1804)Opus 57: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor ("Appassionata") (1805)Opus 78: Piano Sonata No. 24 in F-sharp major ("A Thérèse") (1809)Opus 79:Piano Sonata No. 25 in G major ("Cuckoo") (1809)Opus 81a: Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat major ("Les adieux/Das Lebewohl") (1810)Opus 90: Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor (1814)Late sonatas Beethoven's late sonatas were some of his most difficult works and some of today's most difficult repertoire. Yet again, his music found a new path, often incorporating fugal technique and displaying radical departure from conventional sonata form. The "Hammerklavier" was deemed to be Beethoven's most difficult sonata yet. In fact, it was considered unplayable until almost 15 years later, when Liszt played it in a concert .Opus 101: Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major (1816) Opus 106: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major ("Hammerklavier") (1818) Opus 109: Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major (1820) Opus 110: Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major (1821)Opus 111: Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor (1822)

Acclaimed pianist Robert Taub offers the insights of a passionate musician who performs all 32 of Beethoven's well-loved piano sonatas in concert worldwide bringing a fresh perspective on Beethoven as the ÊNew York TimesÊ put it. In this book he shares his intimate understanding of these works with listeners and players alike.