The Beethoven piano sonatas

November 1, 2006 6:30 PM

Andras Schiff's lecture-recitals on Beethoven's piano sonatas
posted by Gyan (16 comments total)

Wonderful - great find.
posted by twsf at 7:07 PM on November 1, 2006

Holy crap, how great is this? Thanks for posting, Gyan!
posted by LooseFilter at 7:13 PM on November 1, 2006

Looks filthy. I'd like to hear stuff about Bach's as well, since I got a little intro to him in college and was intrigued. I almost got to see Schiff at the Seattle Symphony, I think, but it sold out. Thanks for this.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 7:33 PM on November 1, 2006

This is very good.
posted by event at 8:09 PM on November 1, 2006

2:23am on the highway number 10 out of Brampton. The rough, bucking horses beneath the Chevy's hood were straining with all their might to bring us to the bright future we knew lay across the horizon, if we could just get there before it moved again. Twice we had seen the sun rise and set from the cabin of that old truck, and twice we had traded seats and hammered the pedal with renewed vigor. Twice, we had tried to stop for a quick bite, some sloppy eggs and week-old hash-browns, but each time we had left before the food arrived out of fear that the horizon was going to outpace us as we rested.

At 2:23am, Sharon turned on the radio. Typical commercial shit, some yokel going on about how his lady got knocked up and left him for his brother, or another stupid pop bitch spouting erotic nothings for the world to hear. Finally, she turned the knob until it found something else entirely. It took a moment to register after the brash stomp and clang of contemporary music, as though it was almost defined by it's lack of these things -- and the peace that same tranquility brought -- rather than by the crude sounds of strings and twigs of wood woven together. There were violins and instruments too many to name, working together to produce crescendos and ebbs that anyone could recognize as the rhythm of lovemaking in a way that completely transcended the individual instruments themselves. I looked over at Sharon, and for the first time since I met her she smiled. I smiled too, at that, and at the peace I could feel settling over me like a gentle winter's snowfall.

It was at 2:23am, on the highway number 10 out of Brampton, that Sharon and I realized we had found where we had been trying to get for so long. And it took Johann Sebastian Bach to lead us there.
posted by kfx at 8:30 PM on November 1, 2006

I like his Bach better than Gould's. Thanks for the post.
posted by jam_pony at 9:39 PM on November 1, 2006

kfx, is that a quotation, or can you write?!
posted by jam_pony at 9:43 PM on November 1, 2006

Thanks, Gyan, this is excellent!
posted by tentacle at 9:03 AM on November 2, 2006

I don't know about really being able to write, but it is not a quotation.
posted by kfx at 10:22 AM on November 2, 2006

Wowow!
posted by BobsterLobster at 6:12 AM on November 3, 2006

FYI, the next four parts have now been posted:

Sonata № 5 in C minor Op.10 № 1
Sonata № 6 in F major Op.10 № 2
Sonata № 7 in D major Op.10 № 3
Sonata № 8 'Pathétique' in C minor Op.13
posted by Rhomboid at 5:01 PM on November 10, 2006

How did you know that? I don't see the links anywhere on the website. It would be good to know where the next set of links are going to appear.
Thanks for the heads up!
posted by BobsterLobster at 2:35 PM on November 11, 2006

I agree that their website is really confusing and poorly designed. I somehow stumbled upon the podcast feed for the lectures, and those entries just appeared on it so I expect the rest of them will be posted there too.
posted by Rhomboid at 6:39 PM on November 11, 2006

The next five parts have been posted, this time things are somewhat out of sequence.

Sonata № 19 in G minor Op.49 № 1
Sonata № 20 in G major Op.49 № 2
Sonata № 9 in E major Op.14 № 1
Sonata № 10 in G major Op.14 № 2
Sonata № 11 in B_b major Op.22

See also this page which lists links to all parts in one place.
posted by Rhomboid at 3:21 AM on November 17, 2006

Sonata № 12 in A_b major Op.26
Sonata № 13 'Quasi una Fantasia' in E_b major Op.27 № 1
Sonata № 14 'Moonlight' in C_# minor Op.27 № 2
Sonata № 15 'Pastorale' in D major Op.28
posted by Rhomboid at 6:16 AM on November 23, 2006

Sonata № 16 in G major Op.31 № 1
Sonata № 17 'Tempest' in D minor Op.31 № 2
Sonata № 18 'The Hunt' in E_b major Op.31 № 3
Sonata № 21 'Waldstein' in C major Op.53
posted by Rhomboid at 11:42 AM on November 30, 2006