I suppose a coarse yet hopefully functional metaphor is we get to fly "in the cockpit". Mr Biss guides the student through the inner workings of pieces covered, points to some of the the twists and turns and plants the seeds of perhaps a lifelong contemplation of some of the motivations, feelings and hopes embedded into their architecture. As great as the source material is, I would like to add that Mr Biss is a very eloquent, warm and insightful guide. This journey into rich sonic landscapes, is doubtlessly something not to be missed. One of the best life experiences available on Coursera, highly recommended.

An ear-opening series of lectures, in which a gifted pianist generously shares his knowledge. Jonathan Bliss concentrates on form, bringing out how the powerful emotional effects of the piano sonatas are in large part due to Beethoven's misuse of sonata form. I worried that listening more intellectually might diminish the sonatas' emotional effects, but the opposite is true: with understanding comes intensification. A profound thank you to all who made this series possible.

If you are looking to increase your appreciation of music, and specifically of Beethoven's piano sonatas, this is the course to take! It does not require highly technical knowledge, other than a tiny understanding of harmonic progressions. However, Professor Bliss love and knowledge of Beethoven's music, coupled with his ability to explain its beauty, provides the fuel to push the student to the next level of love and appreciation for classical music.

Jonathan Biss taught me a lot about listening to music. In 14 years of lessons none of my piano teachers ever taught me about chords, etc. On March 24 2020 I am taking my grandson, age 11, to the Perlman Center in Philadelphia to listen to Mr. Biss. This will be my gson's birthday gift. I hope we will get to chat with Mr. Biss after the concert in the green room. Carol Riley

Mr. Biss' presentations and playing were excellent throughout. I gained more insight into the sonatas, Beethoven's compositional technique, his life, and music composition in general. I cannot praise this course highly enough!

I will be revisiting the course since many things require re-re-re-revising over and over again. The way Mr. Biss explains the sonatas is concise and yet manages to bring into words the inexplicable.

This is an outstanding course due to Mr. Biss' extensive knowledge and passion for the Beethoven sonatas. I can only dream that someday he'll conduct a course on the Beethoven piano concertos too.

An excellent course beautifully presented by Jonathan Biss. I learned a lot and found it immensely enjoyable. It gave me an appetite to learn more about Beethoven and the sonata form.

This is an excellent class. It is a great continuation of the first part of the lecture series and ties into them nicely. I would highly recommend taking this class.

Exceptional throughout. Beautifully played, analysed and discussed at both detailed and structural levels with reverence and deep appreciation. Highly recommended.

Excellent, highly recommend. Mr Biss is a magnificent instructor and amazing performer. Thank you.

Jonathan Biss is brilliant. I would love to watch him lecturing about absolutely anything!

A deeper and better organized course that Part 1. Thoroughly enjoyable and instructive.

Amazing! Excellent delivery of content and virtuosic playing at the same time

Thank you for the lessons, immensely grateful for the classes.

Excellent material and instructor.

Very enlightening and inspiring!

Excelent, how about Mozart

Strongly recommend!

Excellent as ever.

Buen curso

wonderful

E

The problem with this course as with all evaluations of musical works is that there is just not the vocabulary to deal with his greatness. It might be insightful to a professional musician to point out all the key changes, tricks with the sonata form, chord progressions, etc., but for an amateur, these technical tricks add nothing to the music itself. The mystery remains why, with all their technical expertise and cleverness, no analyst of Beethoven's works has ever explained just WHERE he got his themes and melodies from. Biss tries his best, but, after a while, if you don't play the piano, it isn't very satisfying to learn (in a cursory way) about the construction of Beethoven's sonatas, no more than it would be to learn the grammar of Tolstoy's novels.