Tag Archives: classical music

Saturday Noon Concert (32): Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Opus 111

This might sound at a point like a ragtime, but don’t be fooled – it’s a piano sonata nevertheless. 🙂 The last one written by Beethoven (and his last composition for piano too). So here goes the last “concert” from this series (we hope you’ve enjoyed it):

As usual, we want to thank Bunji Hisamori for his kind permission to post the above audio rendering on our blog. The midi file was downloaded from The Classical Music Archives. You can find some technical details and the previous sonatas from this series here.

Saturday Noon Concert (31): Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110

This sonata was composed by Beethoven in 1821 and has three parts. It is, in a way, representative for the group of piano sonatas written by him at the end of his life (he had probably lost his hearing entirely at the time).

As usual, we want to thank Bunji Hisamori for his kind permission to post the above audio rendering on our blog. The midi file was downloaded from The Classical Music Archives. You can find some technical details and the previous sonatas from this series here.

Saturday Noon Concert (30): Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op.109

This is quite intense:

As usual, we want to thank Bunji Hisamori for his kind permission to post the above audio rendering on our blog. The midi file was downloaded from The Classical Music Archives. You can find some technical details and the previous sonatas from this series here.

Saturday Noon Concert (29): Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 106

The 29th piano sonata (also called Große Sonate für das Hammerklavier) is one of the most difficult works for piano solo ever written by man. It is a bit long, though, so make sure you have about 40 minutes to spare before you start listening to it.

As usual, we want to thank Bunji Hisamori for his kind permission to post the above audio rendering on our blog. The midi file was downloaded from The Classical Music Archives. You can find some technical details and the previous sonatas from this series here.

Saturday Noon Concert (28): Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101

You can actually hear how much Beethoven’s musical thinking has evolved while you listen to this sonata. If you compare it to the first piano sonata written by Beethoven more than 20 years earlier, for instance, you’ll see what we mean. It’s musical structure is more complex and sounds at times a bit broken, a bit repetitive, as it expresses what Beethoven has called “a series of impressions and reveries” (see here).

However, the 28th is still an interesting listening experience, so we hope you’ll enjoy it:

As usual, we want to thank Bunji Hisamori for his kind permission to post the above audio rendering on our blog. The midi file was downloaded from The Classical Music Archives. You can find some technical details and the previous sonatas from this series here.

Saturday Noon Concert (27): Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Opus 90

Beethoven wrote this one 5 years after writing the 26th piano sonata, during the summer of 1814. The 27th piano sonata has only two parts. The first movement is regarded as a dialogue between reason and passion, while the second is seen as a dialogue between lovers (see here, for instance). He hope you’ll enjoy it, because we did. 🙂

As usual, we want to thank Bunji Hisamori for his kind permission to post the above audio rendering on our blog. The midi file was downloaded from The Classical Music Archives. You can find some technical details and the previous sonatas from this series here.

Saturday Noon Concert (26): Piano Sonata No. 26 in E flat major, opus 81a, ‘Les Adieux’

This time the name of the sonata seems to express Beethoven’s own intentions. The sonata was dedicated to “(…) Archduke Rudolph in admiration”. We don’t know who he was, but we’ll google him later.

Anyway, according to Beethoven’s indications, the three parts tell the story of a farewell, of a period of absence and finally of the departed person’s return (Beethoven wrote the word “Lebewohl” (Farewell) over the three chords of the first part). And now, let’s give it a try:

As usual, we want to thank Bunji Hisamori for his kind permission to post the above audio rendering on our blog. The midi file was downloaded from The Classical Music Archives. You can find some technical details and the previous sonatas from this series here.

Saturday Noon Concert (25): Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 25 in G major, Opus 79

The 25th piano sonata written by Beethoven is rather short (in spite of having three movements), quick and playful. The truth is that we don’t know what else to tell you about it. Here it is:

As usual, we want to thank Bunji Hisamori for his kind permission to post the above audio rendering on our blog. The midi file was downloaded from The Classical Music Archives. You can find some technical details and the previous sonatas from this series here.

Saturday Noon Concert (24): Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 24 in F-sharp major, Opus 78

Beethoven dedicated this sonata to one of his students, the Duchess Thérèse von Brunswick (she might be the one for whom Für Elise was written too). So this is perhaps how Beethoven sounds when he’s in love. 🙂 Happy listening:

As usual, we want to thank Bunji Hisamori for his kind permission to post the above audio rendering on our blog. The midi file was downloaded from The Classical Music Archives. You can find some technical details and the previous sonatas from this series here.

Saturday Noon Concert (23): Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 ‘Appassionata’

You’ll recognize this one easily. The sonata is really powerfull, quite violent in fact (no wonder Lenin liked Appassionata a lot 🙂 – see here). Some might say it reveals a bit of Beethoven’s turbulent spirit. Gramo would prefer to say it was like heavy metal for the beginning of the 19th century. 🙂 Anyway, here it is:

As usual, we want to thank Bunji Hisamori for his kind permission to post the above audio rendering on our blog. The midi file was downloaded from The Classical Music Archives. You can find some technical details and the previous sonatas from this series here.