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Piano Sonata No.23, Op.57

Sonata · in F minor · Op. 57

Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827
F minor
Key
Sonata
Form
Allegro assai
Tempo
Op. 57
Catalogue
Score
First page of Piano Sonata No.23, Op.57

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Difficulty
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Themes & character
The Appassionata·Middle-period summit·Relentless finale·Nickname not his own

At a glance

Catalogue
Op. 57
Key
F minor
Tempo / character
Allegro assai
Form
Sonata

Movements

I
Allegro assaiF minor

A hushed, ominous opening theme that repeatedly erupts into violence.

II
Andante con motoD♭ major

A calm set of variations on a hymn-like theme, leading without pause into the finale.

III
Allegro ma non troppo, PrestoF minor

A relentless perpetual-motion finale that accelerates into a furious presto coda.

About the piece

Composed between 1804 and 1805 and dedicated to Count Franz von Brunsvik, this is one of the three great sonatas of Beethoven's middle period, alongside the Waldstein and Les Adieux. The nickname Appassionata was not his: a Hamburg publisher attached it decades later, in 1838, to a four-hand arrangement. The work is unrelenting. Its outer movements are among the most violent music written for the piano to that point, and unusually the finale, rather than the first movement, carries the sonata's tragic weight, refusing any consoling resolution right to the end.

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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