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A Beethoven Cycle: The Complete Piano Sonatas: Home

Pianist Jiayan Sun will explore Beethoven's masterworks chronologically in a series of eight recitals during the 2018-2019 season.

The Smith College Department of Music presents pianist Jiayan Sun in a series of eight recitals on Thursdays at 8 PM in Sweeney Concert Hall. The concerts are free and open to the public. To support this series of recitals, Josten Performing Arts Library and the Smith College Libraries have created a LibGuide to facilitate study and access to introductory sources on Beethoven’s life and works in the Smith College Libraries and beyond, including program notes by Smith Professor Emeritus, Peter Bloom.

Jiayan Sun - Iva Dee Hiatt Visiting Artist in Piano (2017-2020)

"A Series of Some Magnitude"

"Performances of the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas are always special events, and it is rare to hear them programmed in chronological order - this cycle may well be a first for this area. Sun considers that “presenting the pieces chronologically not only enables us to trace the magnificent evolution of Beethoven’s style, but offers unexpected variety and coherence in each program.”

Concert Dates (see also Program Notes)

I. Thursday, September 20, 2018: Sonatas 1 - 4

II. Thursday, October 18, 2018: Sonatas 5 - 8 & 19 - 20

III. Thursday, November 8, 2018:  Sonatas 9 - 11 & 3 Kurfürstensonaten performed by Smith students

IV. Thursday, November 29, 2018: Sonatas 12 - 15

V. Thursday, January 31, 2019: Sonatas 16 - 18 & 21

VI. Thursday, February 21, 2019: Sonatas 22 - 26

VII. Thursday, March 21, 2019: Sonatas 27 - 29

VIII. Thursday, April 18, 2019: Sonatas 30 - 32