Week 1: Beethoven Birthday Challenge ā Choose Your Piece! 
Welcome to the first week of our Beethoven Birthday Challenge! In celebration of Beethovenās genius, we invite you to select a piece from his repertoire to explore and perform this week. Whether youāre drawn to his sonatas, variations, or shorter works, the choice is yours! Letās dive into his music and share our progress throughout the week.
Happy practicing, and may the spirit of Beethoven inspire you!
Challenge:
- Pick your Piece!
- Share your first video with us - it could be sight reading, playing, or talking about why you love the music!
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Hey guys!
For this Challenge, I am looking forward to revisiting Beethoven "Moonlight Sonata" a work that I dearly love and am excited to take to the next level.
In particular, looking forward to exploring the pedal markings in the 1st movement and finding greater contrast in 2nd and 3rd movements!
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Dominic Cheli thank you for addressing the pedal markings in the first movement. I am looking forward to this tutorial.
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Dominic Cheli Looking forward to it
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I will be working on the sister sonata to Moonlight- another sonata quasi una fantasia- Op 27/1 in E flat major. I was drawn in by the simplicity and calmness of the opening melody. This sonata is dreamy, warm, romantic and of course dark and turbulent at times as well. I am sure I will be playing it long after this challenge is over.
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Vidhya Bashyam I'm looking forward to hearing you play this, Vidhya!
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Iāve selected Op. 28 because it has simply been on my bucket list for ages.
Iām mesmerized by the incessant heartbeat of repeated Dās in the first mvt , morphing into the Andante Aās that carry the listener through to the minor key second mvt. You almost feel like youāre hypnotized into hearing Beethovenās own pulse propelling you through the whole sonata.
And who wouldnāt like a nice Scherzo before a Rondo that wraps things up with a faster-than-a-speeding-bullet Presto ending?
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Gail Starr Ooh, this sounds like fun, Gail! Looking forward to hearing you play this.
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Michelle R Thanks, Michelle. Canāt wait to hear YOU, too
. Iāll hop on to Tonic to practice, so Iāll see (well, hear) you there. -
Gail Starr Lovely choice!
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Gail Starr Oh that one's a beauty. Looking forward to hearing it.
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I'll be playing a German Dance in C Major (WoO 8). I've selected it because I want to participate in the challenge - I've missed the fun of working alongside all my Tonebase Buddies - and it's one option my teacher offered to me. He said Beethoven's works aren't great pedagogically for me right now.
That will change soon enough, I hope! -
Michelle R Yeah! Glad you have time to join this challenge!
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I have selected Beethovenās Sonata No. 24 in F sharp Major (Opus 78). As Henle points out in the description āthis work strikes a new and lyrically cantabile toneā - I guess thatās what made me fall in love with this sonata when I heard it for the first time.
Besides, F sharp Major is very unusual, so it will for sure make me practice scales again. And the sonata has only two movements, therefore making it a shorter work with the second movement - Allegro vivace - only around 3 minutes long.
Today, I started to work with my piano teacher on the first movement: so kind of a perfect start for this challenge.-
Ursina Boehm Such a beautiful sonata! Canāt wait to hear you!
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Ursina Boehm The F# Maj key is really a brain teaser! Such an interesting contrast with the two movements - I look forward to hearing how you approach them.
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Iām going to work on the Moonlight Sonata, op. 27, no. 1. Iāve learned and taught the first movement, but only ever dabbled in playing the 2nd and 3rd movements. But I would really like to finally add this to my repertoire.
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Hi everyone, Iām currently working on the Pathetique Sonata and would like to play the slow movement for this challenge!
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Hi all!
I will present the 1st movement of sonata op 101
I worked on this a few months ago , so hope to bring it back up to speed quickly. I love this piece , I find it very lyrical.
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Hi everyone! I'd like to join with Andante Favori (WoO 57), which I've wanted to learn/record for a long time. It's also a great excuse to spend some time looking at the Waldstein sonata, which is too hefty for me to learn at the moment, but can still help me better understand why Beethoven originally intended Andante Favori as the 2nd movement.
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I am going to do a cover of the Moonlight Sonata- Mov 1. I know, many people have picked that topic, but I'm 90% there and this birthday challenge is going to be an opportunity for me to hit 100% and make a fun sketch out of it for my YouTube channel - Sketch Piano, where I combine Piano with comedy/ photography/ dance/ art to present it with more context.
https://www.youtube.com/@sketchpiano2710-
prathamvarshney I just subscribed! You are awesome
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Would you like to see a past video of the 1st movement of the sonata op 2 no 3?
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Angelina Tan With pleasure. Ludwig forever and whenever! :-)
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Yay, Ludwig! I will be celebrating your special day with the first movement of Op. 10 No 3.
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Like Gail, Iāll be working on the Pastoral Sonata op. 28. Looking forward to learning and celebrating with all of you!
