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Film, Video Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata: Two Visions

About this Item

Title

  • Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata: Two Visions

Summary

  • Pianist Adam Golka and the Verona Quartet present an intensive focus on Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" sonata: two visions of the work in back-to-back performances, with David Plylar's transcription for string quartet followed by the composer's original version for piano. Reviewing Franz Liszt's 1836 likely premiere of the sonata nearly a decade after Beethoven's death, Hector Berlioz called it "a sublime poem that until this day was but the riddle of the sphinx for nearly all pianists." Massive in scale, extraordinary in concept and design, the sonata still provides formidable challenges not only for players but for listeners, carrying harmonic and formal innovations that remain astonishing for modern audiences. Through the revelatory medium of transcription, refracting musical ideas through a prism of new timbres and techniques, our concert offers an immersive experience of the "Hammerklavier" -- perhaps still a riddle -- and illuminates a transcendant masterwork.

    Program
    Beethoven/Plylar: Sonata in B-flat major, op. 106 ("Hammerklavier," transp. to C major)
    [0:20] I. Allegro
    [12:42] II. Scherzo: Assai vivace
    [15:45] III. Adagio sostenuto
    [31:50] IV. Largo... Allegro risoluto

    Beethoven: Sonata in B-flat major, op. 106 ("Hammerklavier")
    [44:47] I. Allegro
    [56:05] II. Scherzo: Assai vivace
    [59:10] III. Adagio sostenuto
    [1:16:45] IV. Largo... Allegro risoluto

Event Date

  • December 11, 2020

Running Time

  • 1 hours 29 minutes 24 seconds

Online Format

  • video
  • image

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Credit Line: Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata: Two Visions. 2020. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-9625/.

APA citation style:

(2020) Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata: Two Visions. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-9625/.

MLA citation style:

Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata: Two Visions. 2020. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/webcast-9625/>.