Beethoven Sonata Op. 2 No. 3 - First Movement

[pet]

Hello all!

This sonata is a working progress, and it's not as fast as it should be, but I'm more concerned about getting the notes at this point.  As you will hear, I am struggling a lot with the arpeggios, and broken octaves (especially coming down since my hand can barely reach an octave), but I'm trying my best.

I do have a question:  I don't use a lot of pedal, and I keep a strict tempo...should I be more flexible?


Thanks!

P.S.  Sorry for the background noise...my dad was cooking...lol

[mcgillcomposer]

I do have a question:  I don't use a lot of pedal, and I keep a strict tempo...should I be more flexible?

A teacher of mine once gave me a very simple, but VERY usefule piece of advice. She said, "do what you want with the piece, but make it convincing. If you don't believe in your interpretation, how do you expect others to?"

So, you can keep it fairly strict or give yourself more flexibility. Just be aware of what you're doing, and make sure that it makes musical sense in context.

[thalberg]

Wow!  Not bad at all.  You're doing well with this piece.

[pet]

Good point mcgillcomposer...I never thought of it that way!  I'll play around with it and see if I like it.

Thanks Thalberg!  Hopefully I'll play it as well as you in the future.

[kd]

Quite good already, but since you want comments...

1. It doesn't have to be much faster, just a bit (say, 138-144 to the quarter). With the repetition you would make it at 11:30, while standard performances take between 9:40-10:40.

2. Make sure you are comfortable with the thirds, especially with CE-BD-CE-BD-CE-DF (1st bar and 2 instances later). All except this one are good, but there seems to be something slightly not in order with this combination in 2 instances.
Consider using your LH for this. In all 3 cases it is possible. Or decide whether you use 14-23-14-..., 15-23-15-..., or 15-24-15-... and which option suits your hand best.

3. The trills need some practise (00:41, 00:45, 05:06). Also there should be more notes in some trills (02:28, 06:49), you play it like D-C-B-C A, but the trill should come in smaller notes, e.g. D-C-D-C-B-C A (or even D-C-D-C-D-C-B-C A) - 6 or 8 notes in the trill. I know it's difiicult to coordinate these trills in both hands, but with just 4 notes there's no feeling of a real trill.

4. The hard passage in the recapitulation (03:07-03:32) was actually quite well managed, although I would make the LH chords more powerful. I cannot complain about the arpeggios.
As for the broken octaves, yes, they need some work (especially at 02:42-02:50 and at the end). It is audible that these parts are played slower.
There's nothing wrong in not keeping the tempo very strict, but this is not a passage good for slowing it down, rather think of it in places like 01:30-01:50.

5. What is the second-to-last chord?? There's just single C (or double, if you go also to the lower register, which I do), but definitely not a full C major chord.

There are some sforzandi which weren't clear enough. This may be fully because of the recording equipment, but I'd suggest looking at the score and check if you remember where the sforzandi come.

But overall you're definitely on your way. Keep it up. Are you also going to learn the whole sonata? (I'm just finishing movement 3 and making my way through movement 4)

Good luck.

[pet]

Thank you for the very good critique kd!  You know, I was trying to think of your screen name earlier, and I was saying to myself...I hope that member says something because they give a detailed critique..lol

Quite good already, but since you want comments...

1. It doesn't have to be much faster, just a bit (say, 138-144 to the quarter). With the repetition you would make it at 11:30, while standard performances take between 9:40-10:40.

2. Make sure you are comfortable with the thirds, especially with CE-BD-CE-BD-CE-DF (1st bar and 2 instances later). All except this one are good, but there seems to be something slightly not in order with this combination in 2 instances.
Consider using your LH for this. In all 3 cases it is possible. Or decide whether you use 14-23-14-..., 15-23-15-..., or 15-24-15-... and which option suits your hand best.

3. The trills need some practise (00:41, 00:45, 05:06). Also there should be more notes in some trills (02:28, 06:49), you play it like D-C-B-C A, but the trill should come in smaller notes, e.g. D-C-D-C-B-C A (or even D-C-D-C-D-C-B-C A) - 6 or 8 notes in the trill. I know it's difiicult to coordinate these trills in both hands, but with just 4 notes there's no feeling of a real trill.

4. The hard passage in the recapitulation (03:07-03:32) was actually quite well managed, although I would make the LH chords more powerful. I cannot complain about the arpeggios.
As for the broken octaves, yes, they need some work (especially at 02:42-02:50 and at the end). It is audible that these parts are played slower.
There's nothing wrong in not keeping the tempo very strict, but this is not a passage good for slowing it down, rather think of it in places like 01:30-01:50.

5. What is the second-to-last chord?? There's just single C (or double, if you go also to the lower register, which I do), but definitely not a full C major chord.

There are some sforzandi which weren't clear enough. This may be fully because of the recording equipment, but I'd suggest looking at the score and check if you remember where the sforzandi come.

But overall you're definitely on your way. Keep it up. Are you also going to learn the whole sonata? (I'm just finishing movement 3 and making my way through movement 4)

Good luck.

1.  I'm glad it doesn't have to be much faster!!  I'm comfortable with this tempo..

2.  Yes, I am not comfortable with the thirds as yet....it has given me grey hairs!  I have tried the 14-23-14, and the first week it came out pretty clear, and now it's just not working for me....I believe it's my weak 4th finger.  I have considered using my left hand, but my hands aren't that big enough to stretch that far, and I don't want it looking awkward with me picking up my entire hand..  I'll work on the fingering some more, and if it doesn't come together, I'll just deal with using my left hand.

3.  Those trills also give me grey hairs!  I swear I was playing them correctly, but when I listened to the recording as you noticed, you don't hear them!  I'll have to work on this more slowly.

4.  I'm finally getting comfortable with this passage, and I will continue to work on it every day.  I will push myself on those broken octaves....this is the reason why I chose the piece in the first place, so I can get better at this.

5.  Yes, that isn't a chord, it's 3 C's...lol  I played the piece from memory, without being completely comfortable with playing without the music....I'll remember for next time.  I will look at the score more closely when it comes to the sforzandi.

Yes, I will be learning the entire sonata, and I just finished learning the notes of the 2nd movement.  I want to hurry up learning this movement so I can play the third...it's my favorite movement!

Have you posted any recordings of this sonata?  I would love to hear them...

Thanks again for the comments.  You would make a great teacher (if you're not one already..)

- Pet