Beethoven Sonata op 28

[mikeyg]

Hey all.  I was listening to a CD of this the other night, and the second movement really moved me, so I was inderested in learning it.  I was wondering how this movement ranked in terms of difficulty (I have the score in front of me, and it doesn't look all that ridiculous.)  I guess the hardest part would be bringing out the correct musical tone, but I was wondering which parts are the most technically difficult.

Gracias

    -Michael

[steinwayguy]

Technical difficulties of the Andante:
1. legato right hand with staccato left hand (a real pregnant dog if you ask me)
2. in the contrasting d major section, it was always very difficult for me to to first off, get from the d major chords up to the g-sharp/a and get an acceptable tone. the next thing was to achieve a perfect evenness and lightness of the staccato right hand while maintaing a melodious quality. Basically, you should use your entire arm to manage the leaps and calculate how strong a forearm action you need to play the staccato notes to your liking.
3. The variation starting in bars 47 and ending in 53 is hard to keep even and quiet.
4. Then, the sudden piano in bar 55 takes some thinking.
5. The variation starting in bar 69- it's hard to keep the 32nd notes legato without having to use the pedal to much because it's uncomfortable to play.

That's about it. It's a very difficult movement, in my opinion.

[haarmonika]

Hey all.  I was listening to a CD of this the other night, and the second movement really moved me, so I was inderested in learning it.

I feel the exact same way as you!  I recently chose to learn this piece simply bcuz I loved the 2nd movement so much. I'm looking forward to it tell me how it goes - if you choose to learn it.