Six Bagatelles by Beethoven

Author: (German) Beethoven
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-04-03
Features: The six small sonatas of Beethoven (1770-1827) from his youth: The first and second were composed between 1788 and 1790, the third between 1791 and 1792, and the last three between 1782 and 1782. These works are concise and cheerful, yet already possess a certain degree of the grandeur of the sonata form to varying extents. They have long been used by piano teachers as basic teaching materials and as preparation for playing piano sonatas. For the convenience of teaching, the six small sonatas in this book are arranged not in the order of creation but in the order of increasing difficulty. In Beethoven's six small sonatas, the monothematic sonata form appears more than once; for example, in the F minor third movement and the D major movement, the secondary themes are derived from the main themes. In Beethoven's mature works, this is a performance technique with specific meaning, but it can already be seen in his youthful works. This derived theme not only appears in the same movement but can also appear in different movements; in Beethoven's mature works, the basic theme is developed throughout the movements, especially with profound meaning, while in the small sonatas, it is merely a preliminary attempt.