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Piano Sonata No.12, Op.26

Sonata · in A♭ major · Op. 26

Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827
A♭ major
Key
Sonata
Form
Andante con variazioni
Tempo
Op. 26
Catalogue
Score
First page of Piano Sonata No.12, Op.26

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Themes & character
Funeral march movement·No sonata-form movement·Opens with variations·Composed 1801

At a glance

Catalogue
Op. 26
Key
A♭ major
Tempo / character
Andante con variazioni
Form
Sonata

Movements

I
Andante con variazioniA♭ major

A gentle theme and five variations, an unusual way to open a sonata.

II
Scherzo: Allegro moltoA♭ major

A brisk, sharply accented scherzo.

III
Marcia funebre sulla morte d'un EroeA♭ minor

Funeral march on the death of a hero. Later orchestrated and played at Beethoven's own funeral procession.

IV
AllegroA♭ major

A light, continuously flowing finale that seems almost to shrug off the march before it.

About the piece

Composed in 1800 and 1801, this sonata is remarkable for containing no movement in sonata form at all. It opens instead with a set of variations, an idea Beethoven likely took from Mozart's A major sonata, K. 331. Its heart is the third movement, a funeral march on the death of a hero, written years before the similar movement in the Eroica Symphony. Beethoven later orchestrated the march, and it was played in the procession at his own funeral in 1827.

The composer

Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
1770–1827

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer, conductor, and pianist. Regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music, he was mentored during the Classical period, and his musical style was a key driver of the transition to Romantic music, and the expansion of instrumental forms such as the symphony, the piano sonata and the string quartet. His compositions have attracted extraordinary casual and scholarly interest, and remain among the most performed in the world.

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