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Ludwig van Beethoven wrote 32 mature piano sonatas between 1795 and 1822. (He also wrote 3 juvenile sonatas at the age of 13 [1] and one unfinished sonata, WoO. 51.) Although originally not intended to be a meaningful whole, as a set they comprise one of the most important collections of works in the history of music. [2]
- Pathétique. To single out just a few. The most important of the early Sonatas is the Pathétique. For the first time Beethoven uses a slow introduction, and an introduction of such weight you know something truly significant is going on.
- The Moonlight. The most famous movement of any of the 32 Piano Sonatas is the opening movement of The Moonlight – the Sonata he composed for the woman he wanted to marry, Giulietta Guicciardi [see Chapter 6, Beethoven’s Women].
- Waldstein. We already know the origin of the Waldstein from Chapter 3, The Spaniard. The gloriously spacious theme of the final movement is prefaced by a mysterious, fragmented middle movement, which presages it perfectly.
- Appassionata. Wagner’s favourite was the Appassionata. He loved playing it, and marvelled at the theme of the first movement rising from the depths. Once again, as with the Pathétique, the middle movement is simplicity itself, almost a theme on a single note.
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Beethoven Piano Sonatas, compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven. Although he was far from the first great composer to write multi-movement compositions for solo piano, he was, nonetheless, the first to show how much power and variety of expression could be drawn forth from this single instrument.
- Betsy Schwarm
Piano Sonatas, Ops 10 & 13. Deux-Elles DXL1161. Louis Lortie. Even Beethoven’s Op.2, his first acknowledged sonatas, which are explicitly Haydnesque sonatas, are filled with wonderful new things. Listen to the slow movement of Op.2, No.3, which at first is reminiscent of Bach: Beethoven gives you a simple chorale but then mixes in strange ...
Jul 23, 2020 · For music-making at home, the most prestigious form of serious music was the Beethoven piano sonata. Except for The Well-Tempered Clavier, the works of all other composers could seem light-weight, and Bach was too academic, too learned, to sustain the rivalry of the drama and emotion of the Beethoven sonata. Even more than the string quartet ...
Ludwig van Beethoven 's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, commonly known as Sonata Pathétique, was written in 1798 when the composer was 27 years old, and was published in 1799. It has remained one of his most celebrated compositions. [1]
Apr 5, 2024 · Excerpt from the first movement, “Adagio sostenuto,” of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor: Quasi una fantasia, Op. 27, No. 2 (Moonlight); from a 1954 recording by pianist Yves Nat. (more) Moonlight Sonata, solo piano work by Ludwig van Beethoven, admired particularly for its mysterious, gently arpeggiated, and seemingly ...
