Syllabus (Updated October 13, 2015)

New lectures!

In three new lectures, Jonathan Biss plays more examples and provides comprehensive insights into the
following sonatas:

Sonata No. 1, Op. 2, No. 1

Sonata No. 6, Op. 10, No. 2
Sonata No. 23, Op. 57 (Appassionata)
Sonata No. 28, Op. 101

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(Learn more here.)

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TIP: We recommend that you complete Jonathans lecture videos in the order presented to gain
maximum value.

Create Your Own Learning Goals

Your knowledge in this class can grow from various sources and interactions:

Watching lecture videos.

Using in-video quizzes to test what you have just heard.

 Participating in discussion forums with your classmates.

Exploring related material from the supplementary resources.

Further reinforcing your knowledge of lecture material through quizzes.

Listening to sonatas and exploring them more deeply on your own.

You can set your own goals for the course. Perhaps you want to build your listening skills for the next
concert you attend, or gain insight to pass along to your own students, or consider another perspective
when practicing, or make connections with other classical music listeners.

There are many ways to measure learning, and setting personal goals will enable you to reflect on your
experience and enrichment. Enjoy the music and the company along your learning journeywhich we
hope will continue long after this course.

Lecture Videos

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Additional Resources and the Learning Library

Download the Lesson Notes and Resources from the Learning Library to use as a listening guide and as
a place to take notes while viewing the lectures. This guide identifies terms and people mentioned in
lectures, along with providing context about works and links for further study. A link to lecture-specific
resources is provided with each lecture.

The Learning Library includes Jonathan Bisss own recordings of many of the Beethoven piano sonatas
discussed in this course. They are streaming for free here on Coursera for the students of Exploring
Beethovens Piano Sonatas. (Note that Jonathan has not yet recorded the sonatas discussed in the new
Lectures 6, 7 and 8.)

Suggested Readings

There are no pre-requisites for this course. For those who would like to explore the subject from a
different perspective, though, there are several terrific studies of Beethoven. Please visit Notes from the
Instructor for details.
Online Forums

Explore the sonatas further and join a worldwide community of people interested in classical music by
participating in the Curtis Online Forums. There are two active forums where you can post responses to
Jonathan's questions and comment on your classmates' remarks:

1) Use the Coursera Discussion area (found below the videos in the course), or

2) Go to the Curtis Online Forum (Google Group).

Go to the forums here.

Learn more about it here.

When reading and posting in the forums, please remember that the course is open to students of all
backgrounds. This means not only that individuals may be much more or less familiar with Beethoven's
music than you are, but that he or she may have a first language other than English.

Quizzes

After listening to the lecture video, you can reinforce what you learned by taking a multiple-choice quiz.
Quizzes may be taken more than once and are not graded.

For more about the quiz tool, refer to Coursera's Help Center.

There are no additional assignments. We hope that you take the opportunity to engage further with the
lecture materials and resources, and participate in the Curtis Online Forums.

List of Featured Works

How Things Were

The First Thirteen

Featured work: Sonata No. 4 in E-flat major, Op. 7

New Paths

Featured works:

Sonata No. 12 in A-flat major, Op. 26

Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major, Op. 27, No. 1 (Sonata quasi una fantasia)

Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (Moonlight)

Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 (Pastoral)

Crisis

Featured works:

Sonata No. 16 in G major, Op. 31, No. 1

Sonata No. 24 in F-sharp major, Op. 78

Sonata No. 26 in E-flat major, Op. 81a (Les adieux or "Lebewohl")

Fantasy, Op. 77

Towards Infinity

Featured works:

Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109

Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10, No. 1

Op. 2, No. 1, and Op. 10, No. 2

Featured works:

Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1

Sonata No. 6 in F major, Op. 10, No. 2

Op. 57 (Appassionata)

Featured works:

Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57

Op. 101

Featured works:

Sonata No. 28 in A major, Op. 101

Download the attached syllabus for offline access or printing. (PDF)