Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas are the “New Testament” of music, according to Hans von Bülow. Our selection here does not take things quite so solemnly, because we have also taken the opportunity to show the more “worldly” side of the composer, with dances, bagatelles, the unusual character piece “Lustig und traurig” (“Happy and sad”), and of course, the indestructable “Für Elise.” As usual in our 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, we 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.
Contents: Lustig-Traurig, WoO 54 • Six Ecossaises, WoO 83 • Bagatelle in A minor, WoO 59 “Für Elise” • Piano Sonata No. 20 in G Major, Op. 49, No. 2 • Adagio sostenuto from Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 “Moonlight” • Marcia Funèbre sulla morte d’un Eroe from Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat Major, Op. 26 • Piano Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Op. 14, No. 1 • Nine Variations on“Quant’ è più bello” from La Molinara by Giovanni Paisiello, WoO 69 • Bagatelle in G Major, Op. 126, No. 1 • Bagatelle in G Major, Op. 126, No. 5
