Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Favorite Beethoven Sonata

Bump...

(109 for me)

Hammerklavier. Second place belongs to Waldstein.

impossible to answer, hence: op.7

111

Interesting pick!

Could well go in the "Underrated" thread.

It has my favourite slow movement of the whole 32.

Yes, the word 'favorite' is inadequate for the task.

Perhaps a better prompt would have been 'which Beethoven sonata are you?' because while it still may have many 'correct' answers that are indistinguishable, it would at least offer an interesting moment of reflection.

As 'favorite' is too loose in this context. 'Favorites' might have been a better prompt as well.

There is not one favorite sonata. The following are examples.
Sonata to listen to: op.57 (aka Appassionata)
Sonata to play: op.27/2 (aka Moonlight)

Favorite sonata has always been the "Waldstein" and favorite movement is the last one:

I agree !!

I was assigned the first movement of Opus 7 by my teacher during my freshman year in college. Don't know what he was thinking, as he clearly underestimated the work's difficulty. I didn't get very far with it and dropped the piece after a few weeks.

Fast forward eight years to grad school. Assigned the Opus 7 again by another teacher and performed it on my Masters recital. The second movement was a joy to play. Still love it after all these years.

I was assigned the second movement of this sonata almost 60 years ago by my piano teacher at Columbia who regularly assigned slow movements of Beethoven Sonatas to me. Why he was doing this I don't know but back them we didn't question our teachers. I thought of him as very severe and not particularly complimentary compared to the much younger teacher I had before going to college. I think I cancelled about half my lessons with him since I didn't want to go unprepared or wasn't disciplined enough to practice much. Columbia had only one or two practice rooms at that time. The thing I can still remember is how he started singing along near the end of the movement when the melody switches to the LH.

Don't laugh, but....

Moonlight.

What's your fav?

I figured that first I'd look back and see what I said originally on here.

And, holy moly, I didn't!
Because (holy moly!) this thread was from before I even came on here.
(Which was about 1492.)

I guess Opus 110.

Hammerklavier for me, but all of the last five are contenders.

Op 101, but op 78 is a VERY close second for me.

My second also.

But then again I have a bunch of other seconds too.

Or I guess let's call them thirds.
All of these are tied for third:

Moonlight (sorry) (I join Joe Townley and PatH)
Pathetique (sorry again)
Appassionata
Op. 28 (Pastorale)
Op. 111
Op. 109
Op. 101
Op. 31 no. 2 (Tempest)
Op. 27 no. 1

Op. 31 No. 3 "The Hunt". Second Movement is my favorite of the Sonata.

Moonlight, Appassionata, Waltz Time, Op. 101, 109, 110, 111.

Richard Goode once said something like: If you imagine all the sonatas have personalities, the person I'd like to meet most is like 101.

I bet my paycheck that no one would pick Op, 54 in F major . . . and I was right.