It has been more than six years since Cameron University music professor Dr. Hyunsoon Whang embarked on a personal goal, that of performing the entire cycle of Beethoven’s 32 sonatas. This month, she will reach that goal, performing the twelfth – and final – concert of that cycle on Sunday, April 12, at 3 p.m. in the University Theatre.
The Beethoven sonatas are considered one of the most important collections of works in the history of music.
“Beethoven is a central figure to all musicians, especially for pianists,” Whang said. “He was a phenomenal pianist, and piano was always close to his heart. He wrote 32 sonatas for his own, beloved instrument throughout his life.”
In Fall 2019, Whang set out to learn and perform all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas. At this point, she has performed of them in 11 recitals, interrupted only by a pause in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic. For this final concert, Sonatas No. 4 and No. 32 will complete the program.
The two sonatas are vastly different in character and structure, which showcased Beethoven’s development as a composer. Sonata No. 4, Op. 7 is an early work composed in 1796-97 in the style of Haydn and Mozart that he inherited. Its four movements follow the classical four-movement format: Allegro in the first movement, a slow and lyrical second movement, a minuet movement, followed by a rondo finale.
“I find this work unusually sunny and happy for Beethoven,” Whang noted.
Sonata No. 32, Op. 111 is the last piano sonata Beethoven wrote, consisting of only two movements – and the contrast between the two is astonishing. The first movement is defiant, angular, angry, dramatic with moments of beauty. The second movement is a set of variations. It is a heavenly meditation on a simple, lilting theme that has been referred to as “nirvana” by some. Interestingly and fittingly, he concludes his last sonata very softly with a feel of profound resignation.
“It has been a gratifying, challenging, satisfying and rewarding journey to survey the 32 sonatas by perhaps the greatest composer in history of music,” Whang said. “I wish to thank my faithful audience for accompanying me on this journey.”
The Korean American artist began her piano studies at the age of four and has performed in Europe, Canada, Australia, Asia and nearly all 50 states. Equally versatile as a soloist and a chamber musician, she has collaborated with noted musicians including Alexis Weissenberg, Leonard Slatkin, Joel Revzen, Miriam Burns, Jon Kalbfleisch, Michael Tree and David Kim. She is on the Oklahoma Touring Artist roster and is a frequent guest artist with the Florida Chamber Music Project.
Her most recent recording, “Johannes Brahms In Twilight,” was released in 2024 and is a collaboration with clarinetist Daniel McKelway and features Brahms’ later works, “Sonata for Clarinet and Piano Op. 120” and “Klavierstücke, Op. 119.”
A dedicated educator, Whang has taught and nurtured generations of piano students. She has given masterclasses in several countries and adjudicated many state and national competitions. She regularly presents interactive recitals for rural public-school children, fostering a love of classical music for the youth. She is a recipient of the Oklahoma Governor’s Arts in Education Award.
Whang studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts, the St. Louis Conservatory, The Juilliard School, and received a doctorate from Indiana University. A professor of piano at CU, she holds the McMahon Endowed Chair in Music. She also teaches at the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan each summer.
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.)
PR#26-028
