Episode details

Radio 3,20 Mar 2012,20 mins
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 'Hammerklavier' (Op. 106)
Discovering MusicAvailable for over a year
Stephen Johnson scales the extraordinary heights of Beethoven's giant among piano sonatas, the Hammerklavier. Completed in 1818, Opus 106 is the most imposing of all Beethoven's 32 sonatas for piano. The sheer scale of Beethoven's intellectual power coupled with the sonata's fearsome technical demands and length make this one of the most inspiring and challenging works in the solo piano repertoire.
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