Question...

[KyleC]

My piano teacher has assigned me a duet called six variations on a poem by Goethe by L.V. Beethoven and i was just wondering if any of you have heard that piece. i am doing the base part of the duet to improve my reading skills for my left hand. i was just wondering what you guys think of the piece? and will my part, the base part, be a challenge to play? or is it an easier piece?

Also my teacher mentioned that doing a duet was different than other pieces. well i do realize that it would be but in what ways? is the music given a different feel or something. thank you.

[This message has been edited by KyleC (edited 07-23-2004).]

[Chris]

I'm afraid I don't know of any such work. Maybe I just don't remember it, or maybe it is not actually a work by Beethoven. Is there an Opus number or WoO number on it?

[KyleC]

no there is no Opus number on the copy that i have. but it does say that it is by Beethoven. the music that i get from her never has Opus numbers its the darn music books she uses. lol.

[Chris]

Well, I frankly doubt this is a piece by Beethoven. Maybe someone else will know something about it, but I could find no information on this piece at all.

[KyleC]

well my teacher said that it was. and in her book of music it gives him the credit in the table of contents. maybe it is not a very known piece. but thanks for looking so hard chris. i atleast appreciate your efforts.

[Peter]

The piece is Wo0 74 - 6 variations on a theme to the opening stanza of Goethe's Ich denke dein in D, dedicated to Therese and Josephine Brunsvik written 1799 and revised in 1803.

I don't know the piece, but the challenge in playing duets of course is that you have to listen to the other player - you must balance the sound and keep together. Playing the bass part, you are really the conductor and control the rhythm so this in itself will be a good exercise - duets are excellent for teaching purposes and you are fortunate in having a teacher that bothers with them!

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'Man know thyself'

[Chris]

Well, I guess I was wrong after all. I've never heard the piece and couldn't find a reference to "Goethe" in any list of Beethoven's works.

If you don't know the piece, how did you identify it, Peter? Did you just recognize "Ich denke dein" as being by Goethe?


[This message has been edited by Chris (edited 07-23-2004).]

[Rod]

I've got this piece on CD, two versions in fact (one played on the fp, the other on the pf). I like it, but I'm not a pianist so I won't get into technical matters. All I can say is a general point about performance with duets (including the duo sonatas), there is no such thing as an accompanyist with Beethoven chamber music.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin


[This message has been edited by Rod (edited 07-23-2004).]

[Peter]

Originally posted by Chris:

If you don't know the piece, how did you identify it, Peter? Did you just recognize "Ich denke dein" as being by Goethe?


[This message has been edited by Chris (edited 07-23-2004).]

I have a comprehensive listing by genre so I simply looked up piano duets!

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'Man know thyself'

[Rod]

I may add that recordings of Beethoven's piano duets seem to be very few and far between. After many years of searching I found 2 CDs in quick succession but both are Italian imports.


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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[KyleC]

well now. good work Peter. thank you everyone for looking and trying your best to help me. yes i have been told many times by many people that i have a very good teacher. she thinks that doing a duet with her will improve my musicianship and will help me stay on tempo. anyways so far it is pretty easy but i have not looked at all of it. does it atleast sound good when played thoroughly and with the 3rd and 4th hands? i have not heard much of this piece. thank you.

[Tony John Hearne]

Originally posted by Peter:
The piece is Wo0 74 - 6 variations on a theme to the opening stanza of Goethe's Ich denke dein in D, dedicated to Therese and Josephine Brunsvik written 1799 and revised in 1803.

I don't know the piece, but the challenge in playing duets of course is that you have to listen to the other player - you must balance the sound and keep together. Playing the bass part, you are really the conductor and control the rhythm so this in itself will be a good exercise - duets are excellent for teaching purposes and you are fortunate in having a teacher that bothers with them!

Peter, you are making me feel that I want to learn to play the piano!! You must be an ace teacher Thank you yet again for a genuinely interesting reply even for non players like me who at best can only hum along half tunefully

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Love from London