# Which Beethoven sonata should I learn next?



## Manok

I want to learn another after I finish with Moonlight, I have played Noctuelles by Ravel, so I figure pretty much most of Beethoven should be fairly easy compared to that, it's only a matter of deciding which of the other 31 I want to go with next. I just can't decide. I was thinking major key for the next one, but beyond that I'm not certain. Any ideas?


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## Fugue Meister

Manok said:


> I want to learn another after I finish with Moonlight, I have played Noctuelles by Ravel, so I figure pretty much most of Beethoven should be fairly easy compared to that, it's only a matter of deciding which of the other 31 I want to go with next. I just can't decide. I was thinking major key for the next one, but beyond that I'm not certain. Any ideas?


Why not attempt the fairly short and severely underrated No. 22 in F, I enjoy it a great deal and its also very humorous.


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## Tchaikov6

If you want a challenge, try No. 30 in E Major. Around the level of the Moonlight Sonata would be No. 13 in E-flat Major or No. 22 in F, mentioned by Fugue Meister.


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## Bettina

Since you're currently working on Op. 27 no. 2 (Moonlight Sonata), you might enjoy exploring the first half of that opus: Op. 27 no. 1. It's an unfairly neglected work with some interesting similarities to the Moonlight Soanta. It seems to me that Beethoven conceived of them as a unified pair, since he published them under the same opus number and both of them have first movements titled "quasi una fantasia." You might find it interesting and useful to experience these two sonatas in relation to each other.


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## ST4

8......................29?


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## MarkW

The C major Opus 2 no. 3 is an early gem that few people play -- tuneful, medium difficulty, chock full of all the little obsessive things that Beethoven experimented with all his life.


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## Holden4th

For some fun and humour try Op31/1


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## Manok

MarkW said:


> The C major Opus 2 no. 3 is an early gem that few people play -- tuneful, medium difficulty, chock full of all the little obsessive things that Beethoven experimented with all his life.


That's one of my personal favorites, been considering that one, and there's no real rush, I'm still working on the 3rd movement of Moonlight. I'll wait and see if something else piques my interest here.


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## shangoyal

Go for #10 in G major. It is a short, delightful work.


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## Animal the Drummer

MarkW said:


> The C major Opus 2 no. 3 is an early gem that few people play -- tuneful, medium difficulty, chock full of all the little obsessive things that Beethoven experimented with all his life.


Good summary provided the player can cope with the stretch of a tenth in the left hand which he or she is required to make, without splitting it, in the first few bars.


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## Bettina

Animal the Drummer said:


> Good summary provided the player can cope with the stretch of a tenth in the left hand which he or she is required to make, without splitting it, in the first few bars.


Do you mean the tenth between G and B in measure 3? The pianist doesn't need to be able to stretch a tenth to manage that measure. The B can easily be taken with the right hand. That's how I do it - I play the bass G with my left hand, and I play B-D-F with fingers 1-3-5 in my right hand. I continue holding the B with my right thumb all the way through the measure.


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## Animal the Drummer

If you can do that *and* play the rest of the notes in the right hand in the measure in question, I can see why you're a piano teacher! Just as a matter of interest, what fingering do you use for those other right-hand notes?


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## Larkenfield

Manok said:


> I want to learn another after I finish with Moonlight, I have played Noctuelles by Ravel, so I figure pretty much most of Beethoven should be fairly easy compared to that, it's only a matter of deciding which of the other 31 I want to go with next. I just can't decide. I was thinking major key for the next one, but beyond that I'm not certain. Any ideas?


 If I'm understanding correctly, according to some of your other posts, you're not exactly done working in the Moonlight and yet you're already looking ahead to the next Sonata. _O...K_? Some serious teachers of the piano might say that you are _scattering your forces_ that is often the prescription for mediocrity, and by so doing you will not do the current sonata you're working the justice it deserves... I wonder how you would rate your performance of the Moonlight on a scale from 1 to 10? I would hazard a guess but I don't think it would be fair to mention online. I doubt if anyone is expecting you to sound like Vladimir Horowitz, or that you are yourself, but I would think that a person in your position who obviously has some measure of talent, taking you at your word here, would want to rate an eight or a nine, or at least a seven, according to your own standards, before looking beyond it. It can be very detrimental to one's development to look ahead when the current project is not sufficiently mastered... Just a thought, and wishing you the best of success.


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## Mandryka

Bettina said:


> Since you're currently working on Op. 27 no. 2 (Moonlight Sonata), you might enjoy exploring the first half of that opus: Op. 27 no. 1. It's an unfairly neglected work with some interesting similarities to the Moonlight Soanta. It seems to me that Beethoven conceived of them as a unified pair, since he published them under the same opus number and both of them have first movements titled "quasi una fantasia." You might find it interesting and useful to experience these two sonatas in relation to each other.


It's an interesting thought, it's never occurred to me before because I have the vague and probably superficial impression that they're very different. I like op 27/1 a lot by the way. If anyone has anything to say about the idea that they're a pair in some interesting "poetic" sense I'd like to hear it.


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## Pugg

Manok said:


> I want to learn another after I finish with Moonlight, I have played Noctuelles by Ravel, so I figure pretty much most of Beethoven should be fairly easy compared to that, it's only a matter of deciding which of the other 31 I want to go with next. I just can't decide. I was thinking major key for the next one, but beyond that I'm not certain. Any ideas?


Take the sheet music first and look closely at it, see what feels most comfortable and on you go.


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## Bettina

Animal the Drummer said:


> If you can do that *and* play the rest of the notes in the right hand in the measure in question, I can see why you're a piano teacher! Just as a matter of interest, what fingering do you use for those other right-hand notes?


Thanks for the compliment...because I love Beethoven so much, I've put a lot of energy into making his piano music fit with my (fairly small) hand size. For that measure, I use right hand 1-3-5 on the first chord (B-F-D). Then 2-4, 3-5, 2-4, 3-5, 3-5, 2-4. It's a bit tricky to jump from the 3-5 on D-F to the 3-5 on E-G. But I manage to do it while still holding the B with my thumb...true love overcomes every difficulty!


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## fluteman

How about the subtle and introspective no.28 in A, Op. 101? In my opinion one of the greatest pieces in all western music, and it isn't even considered one of the more difficult ones from a technical standpoint.


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## Bettina

Mandryka said:


> It's an interesting thought, it's never occurred to me before because I have the vague and probably superficial impression that they're very different. I like op 27/1 a lot by the way. If anyone has anything to say about the idea that they're a pair in some interesting "poetic" sense I'd like to hear it.


It's true that Op. 27/1 and Op. 27/2 are very different in terms of their moods and emotional effects. I was thinking more along the lines of structural similarities, in the sense that both of them have fantasia-like elements. This is signaled in the subtitle "quasi una fantasia" for both, and also in some musical aspects that resemble the improvisatory genre of the fantasia.

In Op. 27/1, the fantasia elements show up with the sudden shifts between slow and fast sections in the first movement, and the cadenzas which give the sense of an improvisatory digression. Similarly, Op. 27/2 has moments of improvisational freedom, such as the middle section of the first movement, and lots of cadenza-like figuration in the last movement. Of course, these features can be found in many other sonatas by Beethoven, but they seem to be more prominent in these two sonatas (or maybe I'm just noticing them more because of the "quasi una fantasia" subtitle!:lol


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## Alydon

When I was seriously into learning as many pieces as possible on the piano two Beethoven sonatas were favourites (although attempted very badly) op.7 in E flat major & the beautiful op.28 in D major, the Pastoral. I have to say from a playing point of view the Pastoral is the easier of the two though the coda of the 4th movement is a killer to get right. Good luck anyway with whatever you go for next.


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## Tchaikov6

fluteman said:


> How about the subtle and introspective no.28 in A, Op. 101? In my opinion one of the greatest pieces in all western music, and it isn't even considered one of the more difficult ones from a technical standpoint.


No, Op. 101 is one of the hardest Beethoven sonatas. The only sonatas harder are Hammerklavier and Op. 111.


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## arnerich

The tempest sonata is a joy to play, difficulty is moderate but the music is wonderful.


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## Manok

Part of the reason I chose Moonlight, was I remembered the rhythm being very different from what I am used to playing and the harmonies as well. I want something that is a moderate to difficult challenge, but may also be relatively unplayed, I've been listening to the sonatas since I was a kid, but that doesn't mean I remember every one of them off the top of my head. Also to the person who asked, no I am not a Horowitz, I simply do not practice enough that is one of my failings as a pianist. I did manage to learn the first two movements of Moonlight very quickly all things considered. The movements are not perfect, but I'll keep working at it. I compulsively have to plan ahead, it's just in my nature.


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## Animal the Drummer

You'll need to put in a good deal of focused practice on that finale to reach a respectable standard with it. It's doable, but at a price, and the price is hard work.


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