BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van
Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110
I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo
Joaquín Soriano, guest professor
Cathal Breslin, student
At the beginning of the class, Professor Soriano asks the student the reasons for maintaining the bass notes at the beginning and agrees that it is more consistent that way, but it is advisable to move the pedal and not make the moderato too slow.
The professor also suggests that the attack should be deep and the motifs should be well differentiated legato from those that are not. He also makes indications regarding dynamics and phrasing, fingering and expressiveness (singing more without decreasing the tempo, being very natural but molto espressivo).
Joaquín Soriano makes other recommendations on the use of the pedal, attention to the voices and the color, phrasing, articulation… At a certain point, the left hand must be more legato (it is like a cello) and the musical thought should go ahead of the fingers, without making it heavy or slow.
Finally, he advises the student to define a general tempo in which to perform all the musical aspects he wants, for which it is advisable to play with a metronome.
Language: English
