Cross hands, play the bottom B flat with RH, then proceed as printed.
I'm wondering if someone already has a problem with the first two chords of a Sonata (which are rather easy to play), how he will be able to play the rest of the piece...
But crossing hands looks sooo stupid! The gesture is the most important thing about the opening. It is supposed be hard, just practice it with your eyes closed and in all keys instead of being lazy! Also practice it with bigger leaps by moving the chord or Bb up an octave. It's only a 2nd inversion Bb major chord! I mean how hard can it possibly be to miss? You have to think like that! It's just a stupid mental problem people have. Plus playign it with 2 hands will make you play it to fast if you are not careful. AND it has to be ONE gesture, one arm mvt. With 2 hands it is obviously 2. And to make it even easier, use 5 2 1 on the chord, and keep the 2nd finger flat instead of curved, and you can't possibly miss it!
Okay, Left-Handers-Alone, well reasoned and certainly what Beethoven wrote. But, now: The Real World of Performance.You've actually had the boldness to learn this monster sonata. You've even memorized it. You walk out on stage fully aware that you are going to be scaling Mt. Everest -- and , unlike mountaineers, you're doing it before an audience. You've practiced this opening a billion times and rarely missed. But, now you're nervous and if you're not nervous about this challenge before you, you are certifiably insane. You have nearly insurmountable technical and interpretative challenges ahead of you. Not to mention memory. With all that pressure do you want to deal with the possibility of missing that chord? It's exactly that kind of screw-up that looms before performers when they sit down at the instrument. Remember Horowitz's clunker at the outset of his Carnegie Hall return concert? Why court disaster? You're hardly violating the spirit and soul of Beethoven here.The "gesture is the most important thing about the opening." What? No, the right notes are and conveying the same effect with crossed hands to ensure accuracy when you are at your most nervous is just prudent.
Chopin double 3rds etude..start with 2 hands?
How about Beethoven op. 2 no. 3, arranged?
And, yes, I actually do begin the double 3rds Etude with both hands! At least, I have the pleasure of playing it (my way, not Chopin's, of course) instead of mooning over recordings by my superiors.
No, the point of playing the opening note RH and the chord LH is that you have complete freedom to play all four notes (one solo B flat, three notes in the chord) at the dynamic you like, in the time you like, with no distractions like moving your arm. Plus you get to play the important notes (solo B flat, top note of the chord) with strong fingers. Why mess about? You screw that opening up, you've lost the audience for the whole first page.
It's not becasue the score says it, it's because of the sound. Stop being lazy. You've even admited you're an amateaur pianist, so stop trying to claim you are right when you are not. Fair enough if YOU want to play it 2 hands, your not exactly going to walk out into royal festival hall and play the thing are you??
Well, you're certainly passionate about theatricality! Bravo! As for the two-hand cheats, I know lots of concert pianists who do it -- most notably in Chopin's A-flat Polonaise, Op. 53 -- at the entrance of the octave pattern, many use two hands there to conserve on energy. That bothers you, I'm sure. It's not a pure world and to get some jobs done, you gotta do what you gotta do.
I'll spoil it for you, he uses one hand.
Barenboim uses one hand simply because his page turner traditionally takes the low B-flat for him.
Who is Richard Black?
bollox.
I have never understood people who don't want to make playing the piano as easy as possible. I have never played this sonata, but a few minutes messing with the opening bar, for me would indicate that it is far easier using 2 hands.I do not agree with this "if you can't play it with your left hand you should not be playing it at all" bollox. My view is "if you can't work out easier ways of playing it you should not be playing it at all".Thal
if only Beethoven knew anything about internet discussion fora he'd surely be killing himself laughing about the passion and earnestness with which a debate on so minor an issue has developed here
The thought of using two hands for the opening had never occurred to me. If I saw a pianist play the opening with two hands in a concert, I'd find it hard not to laugh.If it is really that difficult to do it left hand only, good heavens you're in trouble when it comes to the end of the 6th Hungarian Rhapsody.
And coming full circle on this highly entertaining thread we have this to report:A Haitian friend of mine, a voodoo priestess, contacted Beethoven himself on The Other Side and asked HIM what we should do about this opening.Quoth The Master: "I'm not getting royalties on this bloody thing anymore so you can whack that low B-flat with a dead mackerel for all I care." Guess that settles it.
Topic: hammerklavier opening. 