Which of Beethoven's Sonatas do you think is the easiest, and which do you think is the hardest? I am not really familiar with the sonatas, so I cannot answer this question.
easiest op.49 no.2, hardest op.106 " hammer klavier "
Are you sure Richard did not observe it before Liszt?
Beszt,ALisztair
It will be interesting to read the replies, but I'll bite first...Aside from the Op. 49 sonatas -of which there is seldom any argument that they're the easiest of the lot- the Op. 13, 14 #1 & 2, 79 and possibly 90, though the latter is generally thought to be much harder than it looks. I've read through it and didn't find it all that difficult, but I've never formally studied it.The hardest? This is where the going gets rather tough and also where the arguments arise.Let me just say that the final sonata I studied at uni was the Op. 53 (Waldstein), and it was the hardest work I ever attempted and ultimately performed in recital. To play it correctly and musically up to speed is a killer exercise in intellectuality and endurance. Don't ever, ever underestimate its difficulties.The last group of sonatas (those from Op. 101 through 111) are historically considered the hardest with the Op. 106 grabbing the spotlight. One can understand the rarified realms these sonatas inhabit, but no less than Charles Rosen (who has written brilliantly about Beethoven) has made a case that the Op. 57 (Appassionata) is as hard as the Op. 106. He's played them all, I haven't. Several years back I asked a pianist who had played and performed all the Beethoven sonatas if he thought that were true. He thought for a moment, then said 'yes, one could make a case for that.'So make of it what you will. Frankly, no Beethoven is easy. There are just too many musical and technical demands at every juncture. The previous Beethoven I studied to the Op. 53 -Op. 27 #1- was a bloody challenge, and there were things there that I never encountered in my subsequent study of the Op. 53.
Hamerklavier
Appasionata
I've heard (of) these sonatas by Beethoven.
The easiest is, of course, the Piano Sonata No.20, Op.49 No.2, in G major - Leichte Sonata.The hardest of all is the Piano Sonata No.29, Op.106, in Bb major - Hammerklavier.See this list of the sonatas, organised by difficult (made by bulow/lebert). The first one is the easiest and the last one is the hardest. 1. Piano Sonata No.20 in G, Op.49 No.2 ("Leichte Sonata") 2. Piano Sonata No.19 in G minor, Op.49 No.1 ("Leichte Sonata") 3. Piano Sonata No.25 in G, Op.79 ("Cuckoo") 4. Piano Sonata No.9 in E, Op.14 No.1 5. Piano Sonata No.10 in G, Op.14 No.2 6. Piano Sonata No.1 in F minor, Op.2 No.1 ("Little Appassionata") 7. Piano Sonata No.5 in C minor, Op.10 No.1 ("Little Pathétique") 8. Piano Sonata No.8 in C minor, Op.13 ("Pathétique") 9. Piano Sonata No.7 in D, Op.10 No.3 10. Piano Sonata No.6 in F, Op.10 No.2 11. Piano Sonata No.15 in D, Op.28 ("Pastorale") 12. Piano Sonata No.3 in C, Op.2 No.3 ("Little Waldstein") 13. Piano Sonata No.12 in Ab, Op.26 ("Funeral March") 14. Piano Sonata No.18 in Eb, Op.31 No.3 ("The Hunt") 15. Piano Sonata No.11 in Bb, Op.22 16. Piano Sonata No.4 in Eb, Op.7 ("Grand Sonata") 17. Piano Sonata No.14 in C♯ minor, Op.27 No.2 ("Moonlight") 18. Piano Sonata No.13 in Eb, Op.27 No.1 ("Quasi una fantasia") 19. Piano Sonata No.17 in D minor, Op.31 No.2 ("The Tempest") 20. Piano Sonata No.2 in A, Op.2 No.2 21. Piano Sonata No.22 in F, Op.54 22. Piano Sonata No.24 in F♯, Op.78 ("A Thérèse") 23. Piano Sonata No.27 in E minor, Op.90 24. Piano Sonata No.26 in Eb, Op.81a ("Les adieux") 25. Piano Sonata No.16 in G, Op.31 No.1 26. Piano Sonata No.21 in C, Op.53 ("Waldstein") 27. Piano Sonata No.23 in F minor, Op.57 ("Appassionata") 28. Piano Sonata No.28 in A, Op.101 29. Piano Sonata No.32 in C minor, Op.111 30. Piano Sonata No.31 in Ab, Op.110 31. Piano Sonata No.30 in E, Op.109 32. Piano Sonata No.29 in Bb, Op.106 ("Hammerklavier") I think that there isn't an "easy" Beethoven Sonata. Of course, there are some sonatas that aren't too difficult - for some people. The "easiest" should be consider the "less difficult". I can play Op.49 No.2, and I took a long time to do it. Now, I think it very easy, but I think that all 32 Sonatas are really, really difficult. Beethoven, once, said: "The genius is composed of 2% of talent and 98% of persevering application". If you really apply yourself, even Hammerklavier will be easy. But, until there, any of the sonatas will be difficult.
op.49 no.2 easiest...others are all hard... playing them musically doubles it,giving the right feeling, passion....
Yeah, I agree, op. 49 no. 2 is the easiest- it's the one I first started out with
The Op. 49 sonatas were published without Beethoven's consent and actually are the first two piano sonatas he composed. Collections of the sonatas even today misnumber them - perhaps out of tradition - and don't list these correctly as being sonatas #1 and #2.Mvh,Michael