Buy Now AED 171 + VAT

Monthly Subscription Starting at AED 99 + VAT

Exploring Beethoven's Piano Sonatas
  • Level Foundation
  • Duration 18 hours
  • Offered by

About

Our relationship to Beethoven is a deep and paradoxical one. For many musicians, he represents a kind of holy grail: His music has an intensity, rigor, and profundity which keep us in its thrall, and it is perhaps unequalled in the interpretive, technical, and even spiritual challenges it poses to performers. At the same time, Beethoven’s music is casually familiar to millions of people who do not attend concerts or consider themselves musically inclined. Two hundred years after his death, he is everywhere in the culture, yet still represents its summit.

This course takes an inside-out look at the 32 piano sonatas from the point of view of a performer. Each lecture will focus on one sonata and an aspect of Beethoven’s music exemplified by it. (These might include: the relationship between Beethoven the pianist and Beethoven the composer; the critical role improvisation plays in his highly structured music; his mixing of extremely refined music with rougher elements; and the often surprising ways in which the events of his life influenced his compositional process and the character of the music he was writing.) The course will feature some analysis and historical background, but its perspective is that of a player, not a musicologist. Its main aim is to explore and demystify the work of the performer, even while embracing the eternal mystery of Beethoven’s music itself. This season's Curtis courses are sponsored by Linda Richardson in loving memory of her husband, Dr. Paul Richardson. The Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation supports Curtis's lifelong learning initiatives.

Modules

Notes from the Instructor

    • 3 Readings
Show info about module content

3 Readings

  • Welcome to Part 5 of Exploring Beethoven's Piano Sonatas!
  • Syllabus
  • Getting to Know You

Op. 27, No. 1

    • 9 Videos
    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • Final Quiz – Op. 27, No. 1 Quiz

9 Videos

  • The “Moonlight’s” Unjustly Neglected Sibling
  • Bridging the Gap Between Fantasy and Sonata
  • 1st Movement: Unusual Form; Unusual Harmonic Stability
  • 1st Movement: A Joyous Disturbance of the Peace
  • 2nd Movement: A Scherzo of Extreme Economy and Drama
  • 2nd and 3rd Movements: A Magical “attacca” Transition
  • 3rd Movement: Less a Movement than a Setting of the Stage
  • 4th Movement: The Rondo the Sonata Has Been Heading Towards
  • 4th Movement: Further Blurring the Lines Between the Movements

Op. 31, No. 1

    • 11 Videos
    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • Final Quiz – Op. 31, No. 1 Quiz

11 Videos

  • Humor and Harmonic Innovation
  • 1st Movement: Playing Poor Coordination for Laughs
  • 1st Movement: A Radical Move to the Mediant
  • 1st Movement: Obsessing Over his own Joke…
  • 1st Movement: …And Milking it for All It’s Worth
  • 2nd Movement: An Affectionate Wink at Italian Opera
  • 2nd Movement: Embellishment as Parody
  • 2nd Movement: From Parody to Profundity
  • 3rd Movement: Rondo as Riddle
  • 3rd Movement: Inspiring Schubert
  • 3rd Movement: A Coda filled with Surprise

Op. 106: Hammerklavier (Part 1)

    • 11 Videos
    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • Final Quiz – Op. 106 Part 1 Quiz

11 Videos

  • A Work of Astonishing, Unprecedented Scope
  • Putting the “Hammer” in “Hammerklavier”
  • A Massive Work Unified by Two Motivic Fixations
  • 1st Movement: An Exposition that Establishes the Work’s Scope and its Principal Concerns
  • 1st Movement: A Fugal Development and a Return that Breaks Every Rule
  • 1st Movement: The Work’s B/B flat Conflict, Front and Center
  • 1st Movement: A Titanic Coda for a Titanic Movement
  • 2nd Movement: A Compact, At Times Riotous Scherzo
  • 2nd Movement: The Thirds Fixation, at its Most Concise
  • 2nd Movement: A Trio that Moves from Mysterious to Maniacal…
  • 2nd Movement: …and a Coda that is Yet More Maniacal

Op. 106: Hammerklavier (Part 2)

    • 13 Videos
    • 1 Assignment
Show info about module content

1 Assignment

  • Final Quiz – Op. 106 Part 2 Quiz

13 Videos

  • 3rd Movement: Tragedy on an Unequaled Scale
  • 3rd Movement: Setting the Scene with One Measure – and One Third
  • 3rd Movement: Giving the Work’s Main Ideas a Tragic Affect
  • 3rd Movement: Moments of Consolation amidst Despair
  • 3rd Movement: A Short, Loaded Development; A Return that Embellishes and Further Intensifies the Opening
  • 3rd Movement: Not Hope, but the End of Hope
  • 4th Movement: A Half-Step as a Way Forward
  • 4th Movement: Finding the Way to Order by way of Chaos
  • 4th Movement: A Labyrinthine Subject for a Dizzyingly Complex Fugue
  • 4th Movement: Turning the Subject Stubborn through Augmentation
  • 4th Movement: More Madness; Another Prominent Half-Step; The Subject in Retrograde
  • 4th Movement: A Brief Oasis of Calm
  • 4th Movement: Craggy, Ambiguous and Defiant to the End

Post Course Survey

    • 1 Readings
Show info about module content

1 Readings

  • Stay in Touch with Curtis Institute

Auto Summary

Discover the profound world of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas with a performer’s insights. This 1080-minute Arts & Humanities course, led by Coursera, delves into Beethoven’s intense and influential compositions. Perfect for foundational learners, it combines analysis, historical context, and performer perspectives to demystify Beethoven's genius. Enjoy flexible subscription options and enrich your musical journey today.