🎼 Week 1: Pick Your Piece
Welcome to Week 1 of the Beethoven Challenge!
This week is all about choosing the piece you’ll work on for the month.
Here are a few ideas to help you land on a good fit:
Beginner Options
1. “Ode to Joy” (any simple solo arrangement)
2. Ecossaise in G major, WoO 23
3. Ecossaise in E-flat major, WoO 86
4. German Dance in C major, WoO 8 No. 1
5. Minuet in G major (attributed to Beethoven), WoO 10 No. 2
Intermediate Options
1. Bagatelle in G major, Op. 119 No. 1
2. Bagatelle in A minor, Op. 119 No. 9
3. Bagatelle in C major, Op. 33 No. 5
4. Six Variations on a Swiss Song, WoO 64
5. Bagatelle in E-flat major, Op. 126 No. 6 (first half only)
6. Sonatina in F major, Anh. 5 No. 2
7. Ecossaise in D major, WoO 83 No. 5 or No. 6
Feel free to pick any piece though -
When you’ve picked your piece, post it below so we can all see where everyone’s starting!
118 replies
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My approach to TB Challenges is to review everything relevant in the TB library during the course of the challenge. This may not be possible in just one month given that it's Beethoven. This challenge flows from the recent Schubert challenge when I played through the first page of the A major sonata, which then prompted me to delve into the TB library on Beethoven Sonatas, which I shall now pursue more deeply.
My choice(s) may change as the weeks progress but I am starting with the chromatic run at the end of the Grave section of the start of the Pathetique sonata into the first section of the Allegro di molto e con brio, i.e., up to where the LH hands crosses over the RH. Dominic mentioned in the livestream that there is a useful passage elsewhere for crossing hands so I shall do that too before moving farther into the Allegro...con brio.
I rely heavily on Penelope Roskell's 'The Art of Piano Fingering' so this is an opportunity to study her suggestions for different chromatic fingerings, as I am almost there with the speed of the last section of chromatic in Bar 10 of the Grave section.
Also, I have yet to finish Dominic's lesson on Schubert's G flat Impromptu so this will be an accompanying study for me.
Also, apologies about the livestream earlier this week. We were in a hotel in London and the Wifi was less than good and kept buffering so I intend to re-run the video over the coming weekend.
Good luck to all with this lovely challenge!
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I will choose either a movement of Op 10 no 2 or a movement of the Op 31 E Flat (maybe just a partial movement of the E Flat - it’s brand new to me.)
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I have a question regarding this Challenge and other similar events here. To join any of these events is it mandatory to submit video recordings? I would like to join many things but I've always assumed that I couldn't because I'm unable to submit a recording. I plan to learn how to do this in the future but I'm not sure how to record myself just yet.
If I'm able to participate here though I just started the Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28. And on odd days for variety, because its just a flip of a few pages back, I also started the 3rd movement of the Op. 27, No. 2.
For the purposes of this Challenge, I'll only focus on either the Allegro or the Scherzo of the Pastoral.
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Hello to everyone, I may be going too big for me, so I will attempt to play the IV movement of the oP. 2, Nr. 3 Sonata
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Hi there. It has been hard to participate, but I will sign in with Beethoven's op. 31 no. 3. I will do my best to fit this work into a hectic schedule.
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Hi everyone, you got me with Beethoven!! My favourite.....
I have always wanted to play sonata no. 26 op81a Les Adieux.
So I will give it a try on the 1st movement for now.
Hope to be able to follow-up with you over the coming weeks!!
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I will attempt this challenge with sonata #6, op 10 no 2, the Presto movement. There are some cool things going on in this movement. My biggest challenge will be getting this up to speed. Hopefully I’ll have time to really work on this.
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Sonata C# minor Op 27 #2 Allegretto Trio