now playing, trying out more of Hewitt's Beethoven

start of Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 17 in D Minor, Op. 31 No. 2 "Tempest"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4jpwJRtLOA&list=OLAK5uy_mlC1EHrTiMb7LN4cY06NmAEDYVD_8kyx4&index=2

start of Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-Flat Major, Op. 27 No. 1 "Quasi una fantasia"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeuRA-S5wTw&list=OLAK5uy_mlC1EHrTiMb7LN4cY06NmAEDYVD_8kyx4&index=5

start of Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79 "Cuckoo"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn0aqSU63io&list=OLAK5uy_mlC1EHrTiMb7LN4cY06NmAEDYVD_8kyx4&index=9

start of Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxdNPP82DOk&list=OLAK5uy_mlC1EHrTiMb7LN4cY06NmAEDYVD_8kyx4&index=11

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mlC1EHrTiMb7LN4cY06NmAEDYVD_8kyx4

While having the sonatas divided between these volumes outside of chronological order can make it annoying if you're trying to find a specific piece to listen to, it does, as the performers who do this kind of thing often state, have the benefit of freeing the music from its usual and familiar contexts, and allowing each piano sonata to be enjoyed on its own terms. For example, sometimes when listening to a complete set with chronological order, any trio of piano sonatas can often blend together, becoming formally conflated and influencing each other emotionally -- the 7th and 9th become tied up with the 8th, Pathetique, for example. But when split this way, they become disassociated from those contexts, allowing each to shine and heard the in new lights -- the 13th is no longer "the one before Moonlight," it's now it's own distinctive, singular masterpiece. Anyway, hope it's good!