Cameron University professor Hyunsoon Whang will present “Beethoven Sonata Cycle 9,” the ninth in a series of piano recitals in which she performs select Beethoven sonatas. The recital is set for Tuesday, November 19, at 7:30 p.m. in the McCutcheon Recital Hall.
Tickets purchased at the door are $10 for adults and $8 for senior citizens, members of the military and non-CU students. Cameron University students, faculty and staff receive one free admission with their CU I.D. Tickets can be reserved by calling the box office at 580-581-2346. Tickets can also be purchased in advance online at https://www.cameron.edu/art-music-and-theatre/events/buy-tickets. (Taxes and processing fees apply.)
In September 2019, Whang set the goal of performing the entire cycle of Beethoven’s 32 sonatas, which are considered one of the most important collections of works in the history of music, over the next few years.
The program will open with Piano Sonata No. 20 in G Major, Op. 49 No. 2. One of two short sonatas published in 1805 (although actually composed a decade earlier), this sonata is considered the easiest of Beethoven’s piano sonatas. Piano Sonata No. 20’s two movements – Allegro ma non troppo and Temp di Menuetto – are both in G Major, making the sonata homotonal.
“Op. 49 No. 2 is a delightful early sonata,” Whang says. “The first movement resembles music of Haydn or Mozart with Beethoven’s sudden dynamics and a splash of virtuosity. The second movement is unusually graceful for Beethoven’s music. This short sonata makes a perfect beginning of a recital program.”
Whang will follow that piece with Sonata No. 27 in E Minor, Op. 90.
“Op. 90 is the first sonata written during his late period,” she says. “Performance directions/indications are in German for the first time instead of the usual Italian. The first movement has quick changes of characters from majestic to tender and defiant to tragic. This movement seems to reflect Beethoven’s inner struggles as he was becoming more philosophical at his late stage of life. The second movement is a lovely rondo which reminds you of the music of Schubert.”
Written in the summer of 1814, this sonata was dedicated to Prince Moritz von Lichnowsky, a friend and benefactor. The two movements are Mit Lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck ("With liveliness and with feeling and expression throughout") and Nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar vorgetragen ("Not too swiftly and conveyed in a singing manner").
Sonata No. 11 in B-Flat Major, Op. 22 will close the program.
“Op. 22 is a four movement, virtuosic sonata in a symphonic scale,” Whang says. “Once Beethoven moved to Vienna, he wanted to establish himself as a virtuoso to the Viennese audience, and this is one of the examples of his early piano sonatas through which he could accomplish that goal. It opens with a brilliant first movement followed by a deeply felt, almost opera aria-like slow movement followed by a whimsical scherzo, then a sunny, warm rondo finale.”
Composed in 1800 and published two years later, Beethoven regarded this as the best of his early sonatas.
Prominent musicologist Donald Francis Tovey has called this work the crowning achievement and culmination of Beethoven's early "grand" piano sonatas (the "grand" modifier was applied by Beethoven to sonatas with four movements instead of three.)
Korean American pianist Hyunsoon Whang began her piano studies at the age of 4 and has been performing publicly for nearly 50 years in hundreds of concerts. She has performed in most states in America, Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia. Some of the highlights of her recent performances included solo and chamber music appearances in Reykjavik, Cleveland, Kansas City, Jacksonville, Salt Lake City and Fort Wayne. Next February, she will appear with the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra performing Beethoven’s Chorale Fantasy. She especially enjoys playing for audiences in her home state of Oklahoma.
A dedicated educator, Whang has taught and nurtured generations of students. Her students have won competitions, and garnered scholarships and fellowships from prestigious institutions. She presents interactive recitals for rural public-school children, fostering a love of music for the youth. She teaches at the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan during the summer. She is a recipient of the Oklahoma Governor’s Arts in Education Award and a member of Cameron University’s Faculty Hall of Fame.
Whang studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts, the St. Louis Conservatory, The Juilliard School, and earned a doctorate from Indiana University under the tutelage of the legendary Hungarian pianist György Sebők. She is a professor of piano at Cameron University in Lawton, where she holds the McMahon Endowed Chair in Music. Besides teaching and playing the piano, she enjoys reading, hiking, following Major League Baseball and being a supermom to her daughter Courtney, a fourth-year veterinary student at the University of Minnesota. She lives in Medicine Park with Callie, a rescue Pit bull mix.
- ###
PR#24-157
