Is this peice too hard to play?

[ivorybabe247]

I really want to play the first movement of Waldstein by beethoven for my senior performance, it is quite lengthy so i would have to downsize it in some areas. I am a sophomore in high school. I'm very drawn to this peice.  I am playing scherzo by medelshon this year and Chopin's Waltz in A flat major next year. if i start on waldstien next year, playing it for two years, should i be able to pull this off??

[thalbergmad]

it is quite lengthy so i would have to downsize it in some areas.

If you need to this, I would suggest you leave it alone.

Thal

[hansscherff]

I really want to play the first movement of Waldstein by beethoven for my senior performance, it is quite lengthy so i would have to downsize it in some areas. I am a sophomore in high school. I'm very drawn to this peice.  I am playing scherzo by medelshon this year and Chopin's Waltz in A flat major next year. if i start on waldstien next year, playing it for two years, should i be able to pull this off??

If you are going to dedicate two years to a single piece, i think chances are big you will detest it once you can play it.

[birba]

You're going to down-size the waldstein in order to play it at a senior performance?!?!  What school, may I ask do you attend?  The short-cut tricks school of the performing arts?!

[richard black]

Yes, it's too hard.

[ivorybabe247]

You're going to down-size the waldstein in order to play it at a senior performance?!?!  What school, may I ask do you attend?  The short-cut tricks school of the performing arts?!

It's not a school performance, its a recital but im not the only one playing. the length of the peice cant be over about 8 minutes

[birba]

But I'm assuming it's in a music school?  I doubt if they would accept a "down-sizing" of the Waldstein.  At least I HOPE they wouldn't.

[thalbergmad]

Just play the first 6 pages and the last 6 pages and leave out everything in the middle.

Thal

[keyboardclass]

Why not practice the arpeggios as an exercise? - make sure you get the technique right though.

[lontano]

It's not a school performance, its a recital but im not the only one playing. the length of the peice cant be over about 8 minutes

If you really love this great sonata, give it the respect it deserves and find another piece to play at your recital. Work on the Waldstein and perform it intact when you are ready. Anything else would do Beethoven, the sonata and you a disservice.

[katydid_mlad]

There are SO many fabulous Beethoven sonatas to choose from--are you sure you want to take up one that you have to "downsize" to handle??   And by "downsize", do you mean that you would play only the first mvt., or that you would make cuts within movements?

A couple of things to consider:

[katydid_mlad]

Oops, that one got away....

A couple of things to consider:
* The "Waldstein" is deceptive:  it's not that difficult to read (way under tempo), but it's VERY difficult to play really well at performance tempo.  There are control issues, voicing issues, pedaling issues, countless interpretive issues....  In addition, unless your analytical skills are good, there's a lot of important stuff (thematic relations, harmonic and key relations, to name just a few) that you'll likely overlook or underestimate the significance of.
* There is nothing unnecessary or uninteresting that you could cut from the "Waldstein" (or any other Beethoven sonata, for that matter).  Every measure--indeed every note of the "Waldstein"--is absolutely essential.  If you make cuts, you do serious damage to the structure and meaning of the movement.
* If you have to ask whether you could *learn*--as opposed to truly mastering it to a high level--in two years, it's almost certainly too hard for you...right now.  Surely you want a sonata that you can really do justice to, no?   It would be far better to choose a somewhat less demanding one that you could play beautifully and convincingly, than to give a half-baked performance of the "Waldstein".   
* Sounds from your answers to other posters like you will only be able to play one movement of a sonata (what a shame!).   If you have no choice whatsoever in that matter... listen to these sonata mvts, with score in hand (they are listed more or less in order of increasing difficulty).  Maybe one of them will really grab you (before somebody flames me for suggesting single mvts., let me say that if you have ANY choice in the matter, you should perform a complete sonata--every mvt. sheds light on every other mvt. in these works, and knowing all the mvts. will affect how you perform any individual mvt..  So at least study all mvts. of whatever sonata you choose, even if you can't perform them all in the recital!
Op. 49/1 in G minor, last mvt.
Op. 2/1 in F minor, lst or last mvt.
Op. 14/2 in G major, 1st mvt.
Op. 10/1 in C minor, 1st mvt. (the last mvt. is a bear!)
Op. 10/2 in F major, 1st or last mvt

[ivorybabe247]

Oops, that one got away....

A couple of things to consider:
* The "Waldstein" is deceptive:  it's not that difficult to read (way under tempo), but it's VERY difficult to play really well at performance tempo.  There are control issues, voicing issues, pedaling issues, countless interpretive issues....  In addition, unless your analytical skills are good, there's a lot of important stuff (thematic relations, harmonic and key relations, to name just a few) that you'll likely overlook or underestimate the significance of.
* There is nothing unnecessary or uninteresting that you could cut from the "Waldstein" (or any other Beethoven sonata, for that matter).  Every measure--indeed every note of the "Waldstein"--is absolutely essential.  If you make cuts, you do serious damage to the structure and meaning of the movement.
* If you have to ask whether you could *learn*--as opposed to truly mastering it to a high level--in two years, it's almost certainly too hard for you...right now.  Surely you want a sonata that you can really do justice to, no?   It would be far better to choose a somewhat less demanding one that you could play beautifully and convincingly, than to give a half-baked performance of the "Waldstein".   
* Sounds from your answers to other posters like you will only be able to play one movement of a sonata (what a shame!).   If you have no choice whatsoever in that matter... listen to these sonata mvts, with score in hand (they are listed more or less in order of increasing difficulty).  Maybe one of them will really grab you (before somebody flames me for suggesting single mvts., let me say that if you have ANY choice in the matter, you should perform a complete sonata--every mvt. sheds light on every other mvt. in these works, and knowing all the mvts. will affect how you perform any individual mvt..  So at least study all mvts. of whatever sonata you choose, even if you can't perform them all in the recital!
Op. 49/1 in G minor, last mvt.
Op. 2/1 in F minor, lst or last mvt.
Op. 14/2 in G major, 1st mvt.
Op. 10/1 in C minor, 1st mvt. (the last mvt. is a bear!)
Op. 10/2 in F major, 1st or last mvt

wow thanks you so much for your input! once i really tried to hash it out i realized it could give me tendinitis so i have decided to not play it for a performance after all. thank you for the input on the other movements  i haven't ever heard any of them but i am looking into them!

[becky8898]

hi : Question, have  you done  any other beethoven Sonata's. at least in my opinion you should have something like the pathetique well in hand. Im just finishing my first memorization on the Waldstein and I already had five other beethoven sonata's i could perform before starting it. I love this piece also. But, i would never dream of butchering it  by cutting out parts. 

I dont mean to sound negative or nasty, ( maybe to blunt)  - but there are so many other compositions to choose from of shorter length - that sounds like they would be a better fit. 

best of luck

Cheers, Becky

[ch101]

do not i repeat do NOT cut anything from it.   
as becky said try working up to it with another sonata. have you tried op2 no 1?  that is a great one to actually try before you rush waldstein
this is a very difficult sonata.