Beethoven's 32 Piano Sonatas

Stewart Gordon is a Professor of Keyboard Studies at the Thornton School of Music of the University of Southern California. He is the author of Etudes for Piano Teachers, Mastering the Art of Performance, Planning Your Piano Success, and A History of Keyboard Literature. He has edited the thirty-two Beethoven piano sonatas, the Debussy etudes, and is preparing an edition of the Mozart piano sonatas.

• PrefaceMeasure NumberingPart IConsiderationsChapter One: SourcesChapter Two: Beethoven and the PianoChapter Three: Performance PracticesChapter Four: Beethoven's Expressive LegacyChapter Five: The Windmills of Beethoven's Mind Part IIThe Sonatas The Opus. 2 setOpus 7The Opus 10 setOpus 13 "Pathétique"The Opus 14 setOpus 22Opus 26 The Opus 27 set: sonatas like a fantasy; no. 2 "Moonlight";Opus 28 "Pastoral"The Op. 31 set: no. 2 "Tempest;" no. 3 "Hunt"The Op. 49 set: Two "Easy" sonatasOpus 53 "Waldstein"Opus 54Opus 57 "Appassionata"Opus 78Opus 79 "alla Tedesca"Opus 81a "Lebewohl"Opus 90Opus 101Opus 106 "Hammerklavier"Opus 109Opus 110Opus 111Bibliography

Although there are moments, here and there, that synthesize research and approaches to the sonatas (especially chapters 1-3), the rest of the book presentsan expanded version of the author's excellent and thoughtful critical edition combined with Romantic commonplaces about the universality of music, debatable claims about Beethoven's intentions, and peripheral background information. In order to appreciate Gordon's observations about Beethoven, performers and readers would be best served by paying careful attention to the extensive commentary.