BEETHOVEN’S “WALDSTEIN” SONATA

Abstract

             Everyone knows who Ludwig van Beethoven was and agrees that he was a genius.  In order to understand the composer’s ingenuity, one has to study his works.  The purpose of this article is to help audiences and pianists understand Beethoven’s creativity in terms of his uses of registers, dynamic and rhythmic values, structures pedaling, hand-crossing techniques, trill techniques, and glissando techniques, through the study of one of his most well-known piano works, Piano Sonata Op. 53, also known as “Waldstein” Sonata.  Not only that, the article also covers the tips on how to execute some of the technically difficult passages in the pieces, in which the author had acquired through intensive studying and performing, and being guided by several famous pianists, such as Dr. Dean Kramer, Dr. Claire Wacther, and Dr. Bennett Lerner, for pedagogical purpose and for anyone who would like to play this virtuosic piece.