我总是注意这种无关紧要的东西
强人回答“best Beethoven sonata”，总结得很精辟啊：
There are a few ways you can measure the 'best' sonata: which one is most popular among the common music-ignorant people? or which one has been most popular and most played by musicians, ameture and professional, or which one is considered the hardest and the most technically/structurally brilliant?
If you're concerned with what people at large think, it would be a close race between the Opus 27 No. 1 (Moonlight) and Opus 13 (Pathétique). While a lot of people probably like the 14th better, the opening bars of the 8th are pretty much universally recognized in the west. Sadly, the rest of the Pathétique, past the introduction, is pretty much neglected. There are two whole other movements, not to mention the parts of the first movement that no one has heard. The 14th gets a lot of hype for the first movement, evocative of moonlight on lake Lucerne, and for the third movement being so difficult. Really, it's not that hard; C sharp minor fits the hand's shape naturally, and there are faster passages/movements even within the next few Beethoven sonatas.
If you're interested in what the 'music world' thinks (and by this, I mean anyone who has bothered to take an interest in Beethoven's sonatas, not just professionals), the answer is probably #23, the Appassionata. Among the people who have heard of it, and therefore consider themselves in the know, it's commonly refered to as Beethoven's hardest piece also. It's much more difficult than opus 27, I'll admit, but not the hardest by far.
For musicians who perform or study Beethoven regularly, the undisputed champion for categories 'hardest', 'most intricate/structurally brilliant' and 'greatest' goes to Opus 106, #29, the Hammerklavier. The last movement is what fascinates most Beethoven scholars, and it's what makes the sonata so hard; a three-voice fugue that's written in Beethoven's symphonic-piano style. The one you'd be interested in is the Adagio. An NPR writer once said of it "An entire line of development...springs from this music." Indeed, it is unprecedented; usually the minor-key adagio of a sonata is short in preportion to the major-key outer movements. Here, though, the adagio is about 18 minutes, while the first and fourth are only 10 and 12. It's often considered Beethoven's first full-blown romantic composition.
Now that you have all the boring music-talk, I'll just give you my personal favorites.
One is the second movement (andante) of the Opus 28, the Pastorale. It was actually one of Beethoven's personal favorites. It's pretty easy, and the theme is ingeniusly woven.
There's also the Tempest sonata, No. 17 or Opus 31 no. 2. The first movement is a volatile, passionate piece, while the last is a dark, rocking evocation of a storm. The piece was actually supposed to be 'based on' the Shakespeare play of the same name, so it's too far to state for sure that the third is based on the actual tempest scene, but it's hard not to hear a boat rocking on waves and thunder crashing across water.
The 12th sonata, opus 26, gets its subtitle 'Funeral March' from the 3rd movement 'Maestoso Andante, marcia funebre sulla morte d'un eroe'. If you don't speak Italian, that's 'funeral march for the death of a hero'. It's written in A-flat minor (difficult key; only written that way because the sonata as a whole is in A-flat major), and it's widely believed to anticipate the funeral march that would come in Beethoven's later 'Eroica' Symphony.
A good one for anyone is No. 5, of Opus 10. It's in C sharp minor, and thus has the nickname of 'Little Pathétique', foreshaddowing the 8th. It's not quite as romantic and symphonic in nature as the later ones of Beethoven's middle period, but it's still a good minor piece.
Just as an afterthought; there are two movements of two sonatas that are often neglected for the ease, but are still little gems of saddness. They are #19 movement 1, and #25 movement 2. Both in G minor, both fairly short, but good pieces nonetheless.
其实让我得瑟的是，老贝的最爱也是我的最爱啊（闭嘴，人家是“之一”)，维基百科上也是这么说的，我就自我催眠深信不疑了嘿嘿。一百多个乐章里面挑一个出来，几率可不高吧，况且并不是特别出名的作品，灭哈哈灭哈哈~~~~
咳，讨论这个不比讨论哪个钢琴家弹得最好有意思多了，youtube上一样聚集着各国的NC。。
There are a few ways you can measure the 'best' sonata: which one is most popular among the common music-ignorant people? or which one has been most popular and most played by musicians, ameture and professional, or which one is considered the hardest and the most technically/structurally brilliant?
If you're concerned with what people at large think, it would be a close race between the Opus 27 No. 1 (Moonlight) and Opus 13 (Pathétique). While a lot of people probably like the 14th better, the opening bars of the 8th are pretty much universally recognized in the west. Sadly, the rest of the Pathétique, past the introduction, is pretty much neglected. There are two whole other movements, not to mention the parts of the first movement that no one has heard. The 14th gets a lot of hype for the first movement, evocative of moonlight on lake Lucerne, and for the third movement being so difficult. Really, it's not that hard; C sharp minor fits the hand's shape naturally, and there are faster passages/movements even within the next few Beethoven sonatas.
If you're interested in what the 'music world' thinks (and by this, I mean anyone who has bothered to take an interest in Beethoven's sonatas, not just professionals), the answer is probably #23, the Appassionata. Among the people who have heard of it, and therefore consider themselves in the know, it's commonly refered to as Beethoven's hardest piece also. It's much more difficult than opus 27, I'll admit, but not the hardest by far.
For musicians who perform or study Beethoven regularly, the undisputed champion for categories 'hardest', 'most intricate/structurally brilliant' and 'greatest' goes to Opus 106, #29, the Hammerklavier. The last movement is what fascinates most Beethoven scholars, and it's what makes the sonata so hard; a three-voice fugue that's written in Beethoven's symphonic-piano style. The one you'd be interested in is the Adagio. An NPR writer once said of it "An entire line of development...springs from this music." Indeed, it is unprecedented; usually the minor-key adagio of a sonata is short in preportion to the major-key outer movements. Here, though, the adagio is about 18 minutes, while the first and fourth are only 10 and 12. It's often considered Beethoven's first full-blown romantic composition.
Now that you have all the boring music-talk, I'll just give you my personal favorites.
One is the second movement (andante) of the Opus 28, the Pastorale. It was actually one of Beethoven's personal favorites. It's pretty easy, and the theme is ingeniusly woven.
There's also the Tempest sonata, No. 17 or Opus 31 no. 2. The first movement is a volatile, passionate piece, while the last is a dark, rocking evocation of a storm. The piece was actually supposed to be 'based on' the Shakespeare play of the same name, so it's too far to state for sure that the third is based on the actual tempest scene, but it's hard not to hear a boat rocking on waves and thunder crashing across water.
The 12th sonata, opus 26, gets its subtitle 'Funeral March' from the 3rd movement 'Maestoso Andante, marcia funebre sulla morte d'un eroe'. If you don't speak Italian, that's 'funeral march for the death of a hero'. It's written in A-flat minor (difficult key; only written that way because the sonata as a whole is in A-flat major), and it's widely believed to anticipate the funeral march that would come in Beethoven's later 'Eroica' Symphony.
A good one for anyone is No. 5, of Opus 10. It's in C sharp minor, and thus has the nickname of 'Little Pathétique', foreshaddowing the 8th. It's not quite as romantic and symphonic in nature as the later ones of Beethoven's middle period, but it's still a good minor piece.
Just as an afterthought; there are two movements of two sonatas that are often neglected for the ease, but are still little gems of saddness. They are #19 movement 1, and #25 movement 2. Both in G minor, both fairly short, but good pieces nonetheless.
其实让我得瑟的是，老贝的最爱也是我的最爱啊（闭嘴，人家是“之一”)，维基百科上也是这么说的，我就自我催眠深信不疑了嘿嘿。一百多个乐章里面挑一个出来，几率可不高吧，况且并不是特别出名的作品，灭哈哈灭哈哈~~~~
咳，讨论这个不比讨论哪个钢琴家弹得最好有意思多了，youtube上一样聚集着各国的NC。。
