String Quartet Month

In January, I started a project to go along with my Beethoven Sonata project, I am listening to a String Quartet a day. Every month will be a new genre of piece. My February is already programmed for an Instrumental Sonata for every day. Here is a list for January.

1. Jan 1: Haydn - String Quartet Op. 33, No. 2 "The Joke"

2. Jan 2: Mozart - String Quartet No. 19 in C major, K. 465 "Dissonance"

3. Jan 3: Beethoven - String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Op. 18

4. Jan 4: Beethoven - String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131

5. Jan 5: Haydn - String Quartet Op. 76, No. 3 "Emperor"

6. Jan 6: Schubert - String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, D. 804 "Rosamunde"

7. Jan 7: Schubert - String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810 "Death and the Maiden"

Week 2: Romantic Explorations

8. Jan 8: Mendelssohn - String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80

9. Jan 9: Brahms - String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51, No. 1

10. Jan 10: Brahms - String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51, No. 2

11. Jan 11: Dvořák - String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96 "American"

12. Jan 12: Borodin - String Quartet No. 2 in D major

13. Jan 13: Tchaikovsky - String Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 11

14. Jan 14: Smetana - String Quartet No. 1 in E minor "From My Life"

Week 3: 20th Century Masterpieces

15. Jan 15: Debussy - String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10

16. Jan 16: Ravel - String Quartet in F major

17. Jan 17: Bartók - String Quartet No. 4

18. Jan 18: Shostakovich - String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110

19. Jan 19: Prokofiev - String Quartet No. 1 in B minor, Op. 50

20. Jan 20: Janáček - String Quartet No. 2 "Intimate Letters"

21. Jan 21: Britten - String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 36

Week 4: Diverse Styles and Modern Gems

22. Jan 22: Villa-Lobos - String Quartet No. 6

23. Jan 23: Carter - String Quartet No. 1

24. Jan 24: Ligeti - String Quartet No. 1 "Metamorphoses nocturnes"

25. Jan 25: Ginastera - String Quartet No. 1, Op. 20

26. Jan 26: Barber - String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11 (featuring the "Adagio for Strings")

. Jan 27: Philip Glass - String Quartet No. 3 "Mishima"

28. Jan 28: George Crumb - Black Angels

Week 5: Return to Classics

29. Jan 29: Beethoven - String Quartet No. 9 in C major, Op. 59, No. 3 "Rasumovsky" P

30. Jan 30: Haydn - String Quartet Op. 20, No. 4 in D major

31, Jan 31st Beethoven String Quartet no.1 in F Major, op.18

This has been an enlightening experience. I find that as I am at a different part of my life, I find it freeing not to have to play to survive and make money. I do 1 or 2 higher paying jobs and spend the rest of my time playing and practicing music that I want to learn. Thus, the Beethoven project remains strong. Along, with my daily practice, my daily listening and of course, reading has grown in such a profound way. Life is too short to be listening, learning, and playing music that doesn’t serve my growth as a musician.

Practice on the Beethoven 6th sonata in F Major, op. 10, no. 2 has been enlightening. I am preferring a slower more deliberate tempo. I had been playing at a brisker tempo for the humorous, quasi “haydnesque” quality in the music. As I really get to know the music, a relaxed but still Allegro tempo is correct for the musical line. I must remind myself that the musical line is always of the utmost importance. It still has the humor and lightness but has the Beethoven line that cant be denied.This is fast becoming one of my favorites.

Sonata 6 in F Major, op.10, no.2

In the bright, buoyant measures of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10, No. 2, there is an unmistakable sense of joy. It has been a change to be practicing this sonata after a month of the Moonlight and the 3rd sonata which is not as dark but leads me into interpreting it with less joy but more determination and maybe even some fits of defiance. Beethoven’s music will always have multi-textured layers of emotion. So this is not a naive or surface-level happiness that we find in the 6th sonata. This joy—playful, dynamic, and sometimes even mischievous—is deeply rooted in the complexity of the human spirit. As I’ve worked on this sonata, I’ve found myself reflecting on how Beethoven’s music invites us to explore joy not as a fleeting feeling but as a theological and spiritual process.

The opening movement, Allegro, feels like a conversation between lightheartedness and determination. Beethoven’s rapid shifts in mood and texture mirror the rhythm of daily life—moments of ease followed by challenges that demand resilience. In theological terms, it reminds me of how joy is often born out of tension. It is not the absence of struggle but the ability to find delight and gratitude even amidst the push and pull of life. Joy, then, is not a passive gift but an active posture, much like the precise and intentional choices required to bring Beethoven’s music to life.

The Allegro’s melodic interplay also calls to mind the relational nature of joy. The themes pass back and forth like dialogue—a reminder that joy is rarely a solitary experience. Music invites a communal response. Though the sonata is a solo work, its energy and vitality beg to be shared, resonating with both the player and the listener.

The Allegretto second movement shifts the mood. It’s slower, more reflective, yet still light on its feet. Here, Beethoven seems to explore the quieter, more contemplative side of joy. This movement reminds me of the kind of joy found in stillness—a joy that comes not from exuberance but from peace. The Allegretto’s gentle interplay of melody and harmony seems to echo this divine stillness, offering space to pause and reflect.

And then there’s the final movement, Presto, a whirlwind of exuberance. It’s fast and fiery, brimming with energy. But even here, Beethoven’s joy is not without nuance. The movement’s playful nature is tempered by its technical challenges, demanding precision and focus. It’s a reminder that joy, at its fullest, requires participation.  The last movement makes me want to laugh and let the audience in on the joke. As a person who spent his life preparing for an organ career and could play Bach for hours on end, the finale satisfies that longing. But its whimsical like Haydn and Beethoven writes it as if the hands go out of control and get lost and then come back together while keeping a perpetual presto pushing to the end. The final movement is one of Beethoven’s finest creations—a playful, scampering, almost orchestral masterpiece. While it never adheres to the strict form of a fugue, it evokes the essence of one, interspersed with moments of radiant, translucent beauty. When we finally get to the end, its so satisfying.

Keeping Up!

It has been a crazy summer! I have been performing and traveling more for concerts and work. The practice and the study of these sonatas has not slowed down though. I was asked to perform the Sonata in C-sharp minor, op.27, no.2 “Moonlight” and had the opportunity to play it in front of a few hundred people.

The Moonlight Sonata, originally known as ‘Sonata quasi una fantasia’, reminded a poet of a moonlight scene over a lake and so a publisher placed a a picture of a moonbeam on the cover of the music and sales soared and we have then “Moonlight” Sonata.

This piece is played by every beginning pianist who loves the music. Honestly, very few people dislike this piece. The difficulty that lies within this piece is the control that one must have to make it sing beautifully and bring out the poetic and somewhat profound moments of the music. Strive to bring out the color of the piece without it devolving into a quasi version of a Chopin nocturne. In performing Beethoven and in experiencing his music, the performer must demand a higher attention span out of the audience. His music is not just beautiful, it is not just a lovely, pretty tune, His music is spiritual and demands the soul’s attention.

Alas, my next recital program has been set. I wanted to finish my Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms recital. The program is such

Beethoven: Sonata No. 25 in G major, Op. 79
J.S. Bach: English Suite No. 2 in A minor, BWV 807

Intermission

Brahms: 7 Fantasien, Op. 116

Beethoven: Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 "Moonlight"

The recital is planned for Spring of 2025.

More to come!

Making Progress!

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks. It makes such a difference to be practicing regularly. The F minor, op.2 is feeling very good. I have found that many of these sonatas are playable, but the hard work is the control to ensure evenness of tone. I have some silly E major scales in the 9th sonata which are a piece of cake. But I won’t perform that sonata unless the sixteenth note passages are as clear and even as possible. I hear a few notes that jump out. Some of the hard work has not been learning the notes of some of the harder sonatas, the hard work comes from taking the easier sonatas which are playable but so exposed to any small technical glitch. The final movement of op. 14, “Moonlight” is feeling prepared. The “Moonlight” needs to be prepared for an upcoming concert. I have discovered a psychological issue coming into play with my practicing. It seems as though I find myself knowing how difficult certain sonatas are like the “HammerKlavier” and I set an overall tone of Micro-control that I need when practicing but I forget to let go of the Micro-control and need to try to live in the Macro-performance or mind set on some of the Sonatas that I have learned,

The issue is, some of the Sonatas are not technically difficult, but all of them really do have quite a bit to say. Some sonatas need a simpler approach that I feel is needed to enhance the complete picture of what Beethoven wants to say in certain sonatas. His 10th Sonata in G major is delightful and sings with a lighter approach. In the past two weeks, the Sonatas that have been most prevalent have been the Sonata 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 14, and 17. It has been a productive week.

I continue to practice Bach French and English Suites. I forgot how much I love Bach. I have returned to listening to my beloved Bach on a near daily basis. Melodies of his B -minor Mass swirl through my head in the mornings along with the sunny disposition of the E-major French Suite or an Orchestral Suite. I used to listen to the Brandenburg Concerti often and overplayed them but my spirit is longing for that home feeling I have when living with Bach.

I continue to practice Chopin, Spanish music and addded some Brahms in for some fun. I forgot hom much I love playing his OP. 116 fantasies and also his Op. 79, no.1 and 2 Rhapsodies. Anyway, most of the time is spent on the Beethoven and I am terribly content with that. I performed the 1st Piano Concerto in C, op.15 years ago and I plan on bringing that back out also.

If you are reading this blog, go and find a recording of Beethoven’s music and enjoy!

Until next time.

Sean

Another Practice Session

I am feeling much better with my practice sessions. Today was some warmups with Technique, i.e. scales and relaxation. Today’s session consisted of Bach’s English Suite in A Minor, some sections of Joaquin Turina’s Cinq Danses Gitanes. (I have a Spanish recital coming up) and the Haydn E flat Makor Sonata Hob, XVI: 49. This Sonata is at a place where it is ready to perform. It was a joy to come back to it. As far as the Beethoven is concerned, I spent quite a bit of time on the 1st Sonata in f-minor, the 9th Sonata in E- Major. Both are at performance level. I worked on shaping phrases and relaxation techniques. I spent quite a bit of time learning the 5th Sonata in C Minor, Preparing the 10th Sonata in G major for performance and then a quick run of the hardest sonata of all 32, the 29th(Hammerklavier)…..arggh! I know it is doable with ALOT of time and practice. Hey, I have a few years to undertake this. I find myself wanting to immerse myself into the music and life of Beethoven more and more. Every time I sit and practice, I begin to find more definable qualities in Beethoven’s music. What I mean by that is that, he has certain Chord progression and Enharmonic changes. From early on in Beethoven’s music, I hear a constant theme of overcoming adversity and yet in the sharp edges of some of his music comes some incredibly humorous and joyful qualities.

Music can always embody the journey of the human spirit and experience. But Beethoven, his music is deeply philosophical in nature. How do I explain that? I dont know, its just something that I deeply feel as I delve into his music. Tonight, I am going to listen to his Violin Romances as I get ready for bed. I love the Menuhin with Furtwangler. I also have the David Oistrahk. Such beautiful works!

What a month!

What a month! It’s been a whole month since my last blog. Concerts, traveling throughout the Northwest. Practicing has been low! I have been playing for hours every day. I haven’t been practicing the Beethoven, unfortunately. Besides the concerts in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, there have been some very unfortunate and sad family losses and many changes at the church with our homeless shelter.

The good news has been that my studying of the material and Beethoven’s life has not stopped, and I knew I wasn’t able to practice so I spent any free time, away from the piano, reading and studying scores and books about Beethoven.

The other good news is that I practiced nearly 3 hours today and it is good to get back into my routine. I found that the time away has not been all bad. Some of those areas that were tricky practice spots needed some time away from the keyboard and they were cleaner, without tension, and more musical. That’s a positive sign. I practiced the 1st sonata, the 1st movement of the 2nd sonata, areas of the 9th sonata, and areas of the 5th and the 8th sonatas. I chose the easier sonatas for this practice session to get me back into my focus and discipline.

I also discovered that it helps to warm up with some Bach. Today, I warmed up with a few movements of the Bach “French Suite in C minor”. I have learned many of the French and English suites and I forgot how MUCH I miss playing Bach. When I was a professional organist, I used to play Bach any time I could. I used to listen to Bach’s music any time I could. I plan on writing my sermon for tomorrow’s service and the Bach B-minor Mass is coming out. What a GLORIOUS piece of music. A wonderful masterpiece that never gets old for me.

The Beethoven project is incredibly satisfying. I have found it interesting to realize that the notes for some of these sonatas are not complicated or technically difficult, it is the characterization and finding just the right dynamics and shading that I find so difficult on some of these easier sonatas. Making sure the dynamic markings are steady and not explosive when needed and making sure the explosive dynamics have the element of surprise but keeping the overall structure and infrastructure in place.

I used to listen to Barenboim all the time and will continue to enjoy his words and thoughts on Beethoven. I have found myself drawn to Claudio Arrau, who is markedly slower and heavier. It’s such a fascinating approach. He doesn’t veer into shameless romanticism, but I wonder if he has found an interesting medium where Beethoven was in. One foot in Haydn’s door and one foot out in a door that was just being discovered and he was trailblazing the lead.

I am tired and hopefully I will write more and take better care with sentence structure and punctuation. Hope to be back on here soon

Happy listening!

Jascha Heifetz and John Coltrane were right!

“If I miss a day of practice, I notice it. If I miss two days of practice, my audience notices it.” This often-recited quote has been attributed to many different artists including the Classical Violinist Heifetz and the master Jazz Saxophonist Coltrane. I’m feeling it today. I had 9 days off from practicing the Beethoven. Ive been on a well-needed vacation and giving concerts.

I sat down to play one of the sonatas and i am leaving frustrated. I am reminded that Beethoven’s music can be technically very difficult and can also be very easy technically, the emotional depth and intellectual thought that goes into interpreting Beethoven is something that I will need to work daily to maintain. My focus was lacking and my 2 hours of practice had more frustration than accomplishment today. Dont get me wrong, there were still some nice moments but the philosophical detail was lacking today. Oh well, we will always have our bad days.

I listened to Claudio Arrau play Chopin, Beethoven and Debussy this past week. Wow! this man has both emotional and intellectual RIGOR. One of my new heroes next to Barenboim. His poetry at the piano is beautiful and inspired. More to come this week.

Practice Sessions

It’s 06-13-2024, It’s been refreshing to continue to study and practice every day. My plan is to have the Sonata in f minor ready for performance by the end of June. This sonata is technically an easy sonata, but I have heard some pianists play this as if it was a child’s piece or it is performed without the sense of gravitas that Beethoven put in all of his music. The Minuet and Trio is technically the easiest, but it also has some of the most interesting shifts between legato, staccato, forte, piano, static and a lovely, shaped line. The movement has a distinct play between agitato and espressivo. I have noticed this is a hallmark of Beethoven’s music.

I practice this Sonata and I can play , although there are a few times that I find myself wondering with a movable metronome beat. Sometimes it works and sometimes it loses its urgency as the beat needs to remain steadfast. I find it utterly frustrating as I should know better. I know I could perform it now but if I’m going to learn these, I am going to do the best to be technically sound and musically sound but also, hopefully musically inspiring.

Right now, I am practicing Sonatas 1, 3, 9, 10, 14. Most of these are somewhat learned and need touch up or cleaning up. The 3rd sonata in C Major has a wicked section of triple trills so it requires some good technique and I have decided to redo my Practice syllabus and include some technical exercises devised from certain sections of the different Sonatas.

Speaking of Sonatas, I took a break from Beethoven in different sections of my rehearsal and have pulled out the music for Dello Joio’s Sonata no.3. This is so beautiful. There are so many moments where the music is such a part of my own musical language that I can see sections of my life in moments of this Sonata. The music is poignant, carefree, and downright beautiful. I need to perform this complete Sonata. I performed only the first movement in College. The Sonata has been a friend and companion of mine since. Glad to have you back in my life Norman Dello Joio Sonata no.3!

Hopefully, I wont be so long in getting a blog up next time. Talk soon!

Sean

My Encounters with Beethoven

Today it is June 4th, 2024.

This is my new Blog. A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to complete a bucket list item. I wanted to learn and perform all 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas. When Covid hit, I hit the pause button on this journey and decided to do some other projects. Beethoven’s music has always had a stronghold on me. so, after a month’s worth of compiling scores, pre-planning the map to accomplish this goal and putting myself on a health regiment to help accomplish this goal, I have started!

The 32 piano sonatas of Beethoven constitute an amazing amount of music. The famous 19th-century pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow called them the “New Testament” for pianists, the Old Testament being Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. I have played many of the Well-Tempered Clavier, but have shied away from Beethoven with exception to his First Piano Concerto and a few of his youthful sonatas out of the 32 sonatas.

I am back to practicing several hours a day. I play every day and study every day. I have since I was a young man around 7 years old when I heard my first Beethoven sonata. It wasn’t the “Moonlight” ,”Pathetique”, or “Appassionata”. It was the 25th sonata in G major, op.79. I was so taken with it. I learned the whole sonata for my first full length Organ and Piano recital when I was around 12 or 13 yrs. old. Even though a typical performance lasts somewhere around 10-11 minutes, mine was probably closer to 15 minutes as I didnt have enough skill or coordination to play Presto alla tedesca. As a child, I was so moved by this little sonata, I knew I had to listen to Beethoven’s music and that is what has started my love affair with his music.

At age 54, I decided that this project must be finished. It is less of a project and more of a lifetime dream or maybe, the next step in life as I have studied and loved his music since I was a small child. I have always felt comfortable is Beethoven’s musical universe. I come to these sonatas with 11 sonatas under my belt. My hope is to share many steps of my journey in climbing this musical “Mount Everest” of piano music. This blog is a way for many friends and followers to know what is happening and also a written record of the journey.

I hope you enjoy!

Sean