Piano Sonata in B-flat major Op.22 (Grande Sonata)

Beethoven Piano Sonata in B-flat major Op.22 (Grande Sonata)

Composed in 1800 and published as a “Grande Sonate”, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in B-flat major Op.22 marks the end of his first creative period.  The only surviving handwritten source is a copyist’s manuscript that served as an engraver’s copy but which conflicts in many details with the original print.  Beethoven held this sonata in especially high regard, proudly calling it “a real challenge” in a letter of 15 January 1801 to his publisher Franz Anton Hoffmeister.  Indeed, it manifests the quintessence of classical formal principles: its proportions are balanced, its four-movement structure consummately designed.  It poses high demands on flawless technical brilliance and lightness of execution.

For his new Urtext edition the world-renowned Beethoven scholar Jonathan Del Mar has examined meticulously all available sources and presents a reliable musical text.  The elegant layout and advantageous page turns further add to the quality of the edition which also includes a detailed Critical Commentary, an informative Preface, and indispensable information on performance practice (ties and slurs, dynamics, accents).

- Scholarly-critical Urtext edition at the cutting edge of scholarship

- Optimal page turns

- Informative Introduction with valuable suggestions on period performance practice (Eng/Ger)

- Includes a Critical Commentary (Eng)