PractisPractis

Sonate pathetique : op. 13

in C minor · Op. 13

Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827
C minor
Key
Grave, Allegro di molto e con brio
Tempo
Op. 13
Catalogue
Score
First page of Sonate pathetique : op. 13

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Themes & character
Dramatic contrast·Songful slow movement·Youthful defiance·Storm and calm

At a glance

Catalogue
Op. 13
Key
C minor
Tempo / character
Grave, Allegro di molto e con brio

Movements

I
Grave, Allegro di molto e con brioC minor

A weighty slow introduction, its heavy dotted rhythms returning twice more to interrupt the fiery Allegro, a device almost unheard of at the time.

II
Adagio cantabileA-flat major

One of Beethoven's most loved melodies, a serene song floating over a gently pulsing accompaniment.

III
Rondo: AllegroC minor

A restless rondo that keeps circling back to its plaintive main theme, closing the sonata in quiet unease rather than triumph.

About the piece

Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, published in 1799 under the title Grande sonate pathetique, likely suggested by his publisher and, unusually, approved by Beethoven himself. It was dedicated to his patron Prince Karl von Lichnowsky and was one of the works that made the young composer's name in Vienna. It opens with a slow Grave whose dotted rhythms keep breaking back into the fiery Allegro that follows, a structural surprise for its time. The central Adagio cantabile is one of the most loved slow movements he ever wrote, and the closing rondo is restless and questioning 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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