Beethoven Piano Your resource for the piano music of Ludwig van Beethoven

author: Nicholas Marston asin: 0193153327 binding: Hardcover list price: $215.00 USD amazon price: $215.00 USD

BL A unique view of this important Beethoven piano sonata In his thorough analytical study of Beethoven's Piano Sonata in E, Op. 109, Nicholas Marston suggests a unique way of understanding this important work. Using letters, sketchbooks, and other contemporary material, he builds up a detiled picture of Beethoven's compositional progress on the sonata. He provides an exhaustive study of the sources and an analytical approach to the structure of the sonata itself. The source study is based on a complete transcription of all the surviving manuscript sources for the work; the book includes a large majority of the sketches, and parts of the autograph score. The introductory chapter reviews Heinrich Schenker's work on Op. 109. The middle chapters form the core of the analytical study in which the sketches for each part of the three movements are analysed in detail, and the relevance of the sketches to the final version is explored. The final chapter extends the notion of `sketch' beyond Op. 109 and summarizes the results of the study. No stone is left unturned: even Beethoven's previously misunderstood notation of final barlines in the autograph score is shown to be of structural significance.

author: Ludwig van Beethoven asin: 0486413985 binding: Paperback list price: $3.95 USD amazon price: $3.95

One of Beethoven's most admired and widely performed piano concertos, perfectly designed and profoundly poetic. This convenient and economic volume — meticulously reproduced with bar-numbered movements — will be the perfect edition for classroom and concert hall alike.

asin: B000HXDS04 binding: Audio CD list price: $38.98 USD amazon price: $38.98 USD

Paul Lewis's traversal of the Beethoven Piano Sonatas may just become one of the indispensable recorded versions of these unique works. He tackles the Hammerklavier without attacking it; his interest is textual clarity, and he never fails in that approach. If you listen to the last movement of No. 25, "Alla tedesco," you'll be amazed by the formality and forward propulsion which underpins the seeming merriment in the piece, the abrupt ending suddenly quite a puzzle. Similarly, the first movement of the Waldstein is imbued with a darkness that makes you think you're hearing much of it for the first time. Lewis's is a serious--some might say grave--approach to these works, but it is not heavy; indeed, his touch remains light when it ought to be, without making the music seem trivial. Each movement lets us in on another one of Beethoven's secrets, and the lyrical moments have never seemed lovelier. This is a very special set, highly recommended. --Robert Levine