The Thirty-Two Piano Sonatas II. [antikvár]

PREFACE LÜDWIG van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) The THIRTY TWO SONATAS for Piano in Five volumes Beethoven wrote piano music all his life. The Piano Sonatas as well as all his other compositions clearly show the creative periods in his life in their individual style. The first period roughly tn 1800 was one in which Beethoven still leaned a little on Haydn and Mozart though of course, it was Beethoven who vastly overshadowed this influenced The second period, roughly to 1817 is the one in which the composer still clung to the forms prevailing at his time. In the last period from 1817 to his death he created new forms, a new style, and broke loose from tradition. One has but to look at his last string quartets where instead of the conventional 4 movements Beethoven has sometimes 6 or 7. The most famous sonatas — have in the course of time— acquired nicknames, as Pathetique, Moonlight, Waldstein, Appassionata, Les Adieux, and finally the Hammerklavier op. 106. The Hammerklavier is the instrument we have today — with some improvements, of course. All of his last sonatas were written fo.' the Hammerklavier, but only op. 106 is generally known under above nickname. Among the sonatas there are two that are very or relatively so - easy to play. op. 49/1 and 2. The sonatas all bear dedications either to Beethoven's patrons or to his pupils.