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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] .
- Piano Sonata No. 17
Beethoven in 1801; painted by Carl Traugott Riedel. The...
- Piano Sonata No. 23 (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven 's Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op....
- Piano Sonata No. 1 (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven 's Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2...
- Piano Sonata No. 21 (Beethoven)
Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, known as...
- Piano Sonata No. 27 (Beethoven)
Piano Sonata No. 27 (Beethoven) Opening bars as they appear...
- Piano Sonata No. 17
Ludwig van Beethoven 's Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 (colloquially known as the Appassionata, meaning "passionate" in Italian) is among the three famous piano sonatas of his middle period (the others being the Waldstein, Op. 53 and Les Adieux, Op. 81a); it was composed during 1804 and 1805, and perhaps 1806, and Beethoven dedicated it ...
Ludwig van Beethoven 's Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 No. 1, was written in 1795 and dedicated to Joseph Haydn. It was published simultaneously with his second and third piano sonatas in 1796.
- Classical Period
Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, known as the Waldstein, is one of the three most notable sonatas of his middle period (the other two being the Appassionata, Op. 57, and Les Adieux, Op. 81a).
- Pathétique
- The Moonlight
- Waldstein
- Appassionata
- Hammerklavier
- Piano Sonatas, Opp.109, 110, 111
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 opening chord breaks once and for all with Haydn and Mozart. You are in Beethoven’s world now. Among Beethoven’s few clos...
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]. For the first time he put the slow movement first (something neither Haydn or Mozart ever did). Just like the opening bars of the Fifth S...
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. That was not Beethoven’s original intention. The middle movement was a long complete piece with an instantly catchy tune. He realised it w...
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. The entire work has such nobility and passion it is small wonder the publisher gave it the name by which...
We come to the most monumental of all the Piano Sonatas, the Hammerklavier. This was the work that Beethoven composed at the height of the traumatic court case, when he was composing little else. What spurred him to do it? More than likely the thoroughly prosaic fact that at the beginning of the year he had received a remarkable gift. The famous Lo...
The Hammerklavier is often taken to signify the start of Beethoven’s Late Period. Certainly everything that now follows – Missa Solemnis, Ninth Symphony, Piano Sonatas, String Quartets– are on an entirely different plane to what has gone before. Profoundly deaf, deeply miserable, failing health – and the greatest works of all. The final set of Pian...
Piano Sonata No. 27 (Beethoven) Opening bars as they appear in Beethoven's completed manuscript. Ludwig van Beethoven 's Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor, Op. 90 was written in the summer of 1814 – Beethoven's late Middle period – and dedicated to Prince Moritz von Lichnowsky, a friend and benefactor who was also the dedicatee of the Eroica ...
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Ludwig van Beethoven wrote 32 mature piano sonatas between 1795 and 1822. Although originally not intended to be a meaningful whole, as a set they comprise one ... English
