Two Sonatas in G minor, G major op. 49 - Beethoven

One must look long and hard to find a piano pupil who hasn’t studied Beethoven’s two “sonate facile” op. 49.
They are not only relatively easy to play but highly lyrical and effective, ideally combining joy in music-making with a mastery of early classical literature. The two works were composed much earlier than the opus number suggests. Beethoven wrote them around 1797/98, during a time when he also worked on one of his most important sonatas, the “Grande Sonate pathétique” op. 13.

Jonathan Del Mar, currently one of the most renowned Beethoven scholars, stands for a meticulously edited Urtext edition on the basis of an intensive study of all sources. Performers are presented with a musical text which is based on the latest research findings and whose fine engraving and practical page turns facilitate the study of these works. This Urtext edition includes an informative Introduction and valuable notes on historical performance practice. Here the pianist will also find information regarding the dynamics of the second sonata whose sources contain hardly any dynamic markings at all. Source discrepancies and editorial principles are discussed in the detailed Critical Commentary.