Andras Schiff and the 32 Piano Sonatas

[Ludwign3bs]

I strongly encourage everyone to listen to the "lectures" of Andras Schiff regarding the 32 piano sonatas by LVB at music.guardian.co.uk. The lectures were given over a three year period. He has been performing many of the sonatas for more than 30 years, so is intimately familiar with them.

[Roehre]

wholeheartedly Seconded. It is interesting too to compare Schiff's observations with e.g. Barenboim's ones - if you can get hold of them, that is

[Peter]

I'm still waiting to find time to watch my Brendel dvds on this.

[Michael]

I've been dipping into them from time to time. Marvellous.

[Chris]

I agree as well. It was actually these lectures that prompted me to get tickets to see him when he came to Washington D.C. on his tour when he was performing all of the Beethoven sonatas. I saw him play the Op. 31 sonatas and the Waldstein. It was a great evening.

[Michael]

I had to paint the kitchen and another room today and, as those talks are available to download, I did so and listened on my iPod. Hardly felt the time passing.
Thanks for the reminder,Ludwign3bs !

[Ludwign3bs]

All of the Barenboim performances are on YouTube. I actually started my "year of Beethoven" by listening to those. Barenboim and Schiff have taught me much over the last several months. I'm attempting to learn all of the piano sonatas with 3 flats.

[Peter]

All of the Barenboim performances are on YouTube. I actually started my "year of Beethoven" by listening to those. Barenboim and Schiff have taught me much over the last several months. I'm attempting to learn all of the piano sonatas with 3 flats.

Do you have a particular reason for focusing specifically on the sonatas with 3 flats?

[Michael]

I'm attempting to learn all of the piano sonatas with 3 flats.

Not an easy thing to do while living in three apartments.

[Ludwign3bs]

Eb major and C minor have long been my favorite keys. I believe a piano teacher told me that Cm was LVB's favorite key when I began learning Op 10/1. Whatever the case, I thought the sonatas would give a nice overview of LVB's entire composing style for the piano.

[Peter]

Eb major and C minor have long been my favorite keys. I believe a piano teacher told me that Cm was LVB's favorite key when I began learning Op 10/1. Whatever the case, I thought the sonatas would give a nice overview of LVB's entire composing style for the piano.

It's an interesting way of looking at it - I'm not sure he had a favourite key, only way to prove that would be to go through all the works - when it comes to the symphonies, F major's the favourite!

[Roehre]

It's an interesting way of looking at it - I'm not sure he had a favourite key, only way to prove that would be to go through all the works - when it comes to the symphonies, F major's the favourite!

Two symphonies in F is an accident.
The eighth started its life as a piano concerto in F, one of the very view works which wasn't shaped in the genre it eventually became right from the beginning of the project.

But whether B indeed had a favourite key: it doesn't really show in his output.
The first 12 piano sonatas are in 11 different keys.

And: there was astonishment among friends and colleagues of B's that what was to become op.135 was in the key of F, not in d-minor as they expected.

[Peter]

Two symphonies in F is an accident.
The eighth started its life as a piano concerto in F, one of the very view works which wasn't shaped in the genre it eventually became right from the beginning of the project.

But whether B indeed had a favourite key: it doesn't really show in his output.
The first 12 piano sonatas are in 11 different keys.

And: there was astonishment among friends and colleagues of B's that what was to become op.135 was in the key of F, not in d-minor as they expected.

That's interesting Roehre - I wasn't aware that was the origin of the 8th - however I don't think the key of F can be described as an accident because of this - B could easily have transposed his original ideas just as he did with the quartet arrangement of Op.14/1.

[Roehre]

That's interesting Roehre - I wasn't aware that was the origin of the 8th - however I don't think the key of F can be described as an accident because of this - B could easily have transposed his original ideas just as he did with the quartet arrangement of Op.14/1.

Peter:
He certainly could have, but there are some observations to be made about this:

-for most of the time B set up a scheme how to develop keys through movements or complete works - a prime example being the sketches for op.131, which gives the key structure of the whole work even before one note was sketched.
-The transposition of op.14/1 for string quartet was based on the notion that it was needed to be able to use the lowest string of the cello as dominant - a requirement to use the "instrumentation" more effectively.

That B didn't transpose the sketches of 8 to another key may be related to both these observations - a key structure had been set out already with which he was happy, even after changing the plan from a concerto to a symphony, but also: the instrumentation.
One of the features ridiculed re 8 was the use of high F-trumpets, instruments normally (until then) used in military bands. Transposing to another key would have meant that B couldn't use these instruments the way he envisaged.

[Chris]

however I don't think the key of F can be described as an accident because of this

I don't know, I'd say pretty much all keys are accidental...