FLAC tracks | Classical | 01:18:02 | 212 MbWith the Sonata in E-flat Major, Op.

7, published by Artaria “for harpsichord and piano” in 1797, Beethoven expands the scope of keyboard technique and structural proportions.

Indeed, some of the passagework in the outer movements must have been prohibitive to most amateur pianists; and the length of the sonata, at the time, made it the longest work for piano ever published, and the second longest sonata Beethoven composed (the record goes to the Sonata in B-flat Major, Op.

106 “Hammerklavier”).

Metric displacements and violent dynamic contrasts inform the opening movement, while the prayer-like Adagio is possibly one of the most extraordinary achievements of Beethoven’s youth.

The Allegro that follows, light and playful, is interrupted by a stormy “minore” section that was most likely the inspiration for the first of Schubert’s Klavierstücke, D 946.

The melodious but challenging Rondo closes the sonata, unexpectedly, in a murmur.

Tracklist:1. Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major Op. 7 “Grand”: I. Allegro molto e con brio (9:06)2. Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major Op. 7 “Grand”: II. Largo con gran espressione (7:38)3. Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major Op. 7 “Grand”: III. Allegro (5:21)4. Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-Flat Major Op. 7 “Grand”: IV. Rondo. Poco allegretto e grazioso (7:55)5. Piano Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Op. 14 No. 1: I. Allegro (7:11)6. Piano Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Op. 14 No. 1: II. Allegretto (3:32)7. Piano Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Op. 14 No. 1: III. Rondo. Allegro comodo (3:51)8. Piano Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 14 No. 2: I. Allegro (7:28)9. Piano Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 14 No. 2: II. Andante (4:54)10. Piano Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 14 No. 2: III. Scherzo. Allegro assai (3:53)11. Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-Flat Major, Op. 81a “Les adieux”: I. Das Lebewohl. Adagio – Allegro (7:42)12. Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-Flat Major, Op. 81a “Les adieux”: II. Abwesenheit. Andante espressivo (3:17)13. Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-Flat Major, Op. 81a “Les adieux”: III. Das Wiedersehen. Vivacissimamente (6:21)