Exploring Piano Literature - The Piano Sonata Coursera

Overview

The Exploring Piano Literature - The Piano Sonata, Specialization course offered by Coursera in partnership with University of Michigan, learners will analyze important passages and components of the piano sonata repertoire, while gaining a solid knowledge of the sonata’s inner workings and a better sense of historical developments in the genre. 

Key facts

• Across the series, learners will dive into compositions by Scarlatti, CPE Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Scriabin, Medtner, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, and others.

• These courses were filmed at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, among other locations, to showcase the depth of the sonata repertoire and the instruments that contributed to its history.

Applied Learning Project

• This course series provides a spectrum of opportunities for novice and seasoned piano literature enthusiasts. 

• More advanced learners will perform a guided analysis of piano sonata movements, identifying the key component parts, and observing the kinds of motivic connections that unify the work and grant it a stature beyond the simple following of a recipe. 

• Learners will participate in discussion forums to contribute their personal experiences and tastes to debate larger questions of style, history, and instrumentation in these celebrated works.

What You Will Learn:

• Identify specific historical time periods in which the popularity of sonatas increases or decreases and the reasons behind these trends. 

• Recognize the most influential pieces in the sonata repertoire.

• Identify sonata form