Ludwig van Beethoven

Three Piano Sonatas WoO 47

Ludwig van Beethoven left us 35 piano sonatas actually. The three sonatas from his days in Bonn, published in 1783, do not have an opus number and therefore do not appear in the canon of 32 sonatas. However, these demanding early works are not to be underestimated. Their piano technique is challenging, particularly because of their differentiated articulation while their compositional technique points far ahead into his Viennese days. The main theme of the Second Sonata in F minor (1st movement) already presages the allegro theme of the Grande Sonate pathétique. The present edition draws on the first edition and an extant composer's copy of the first edition with Beethoven's corrections as well as on the reprint in Haslinger's complete edition in which the sonatas are numbered as Nos. 1-3 of all piano sonatas by Beethoven, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.