Is Beethoven’s music great? How do we know? Piano department chair Bruce Brubaker encourages curious concertgoers to celebrate and reconsider Beethoven’s music and legacy.

75 NEC pianists present every work for piano that Beethoven ever wrote over the course of 13 recitals in spring and fall 2020. Hear well-known favorites like the “Moonlight” Sonata alongside rarely-performed works and decide for yourself: what does Beethoven mean today?

A virtuoso pianist himself, Beethoven composed dozens of works for the fortepiano, often making use of the new musical resources of the instrument as it developed rapidly throughout the composer’s lifetime. Approximately 1/3 of each concert program will feature rarely performed sets of variations that may offer insight into Beethoven’s own performances as an improviser.

The NEC Piano Department dedicates this Beethoven 2020 project to Distinguished Artist-in-Residence Russell Sherman who celebrates his ninetieth birthday in 2020.  Mr. Sherman was the first American musician to record all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas and concertos. He has been a member of the New England Conservatory faculty since 1967.

Program:

Sonata No. 27 in e Minor, op. 90 (1814)
I. Mit Lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck
II. Nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar vorgetragen

Sonata in D Major, WoO 47 no. 3 (1782-83)
I. Allegro
II. Menuetto: Sostenuto
III. Scherzando: Allegretto, ma non troppo

Sonata No. 22 in F Major, op. 54 (1804)
I. In tempo d'un Menuetto
II. Allegretto

Eight variations on "Tändeln und Scherzen" from Franz Xaver Süssmayr's opera Soliman II, WoO 76 (1799)

Prelude in F Minor, WoO 55 (1803)

Sonata No. 23 in F Minor ("Appassionata"), op. 57 (1805)
I. Allegro assai
II. Andante con moto
III. Allegro ma non troppo - Presto