Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, op. 13, commonly known as Pathétique, was published in 1799, though written the year before, when the composer was 27 years old. Beethoven dedicated the work to his friend Prince Karl von Lichnowsky. Although commonly thought to be one of the few works to be named by the composer himself, it was actually named by the publisher, to Beethoven's liking ^[1] “Beethoven” redirects here. ... Also see: C major, or C-sharp minor. ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Karl Alois Johann-Nepomuk Vinzenz, second Prince Lichnowsky (1761-1814) was a chamberlain at the Imperial Austrian court. ...

The Pathétique Sonata is perhaps the earliest of Beethoven's compositions to achieve widespread and enduring popularity. It is widely represented on the concert programs and recordings of professional pianists^{[citation needed]}. As one of the more famous Beethoven pieces, it has been incorporated into several works of popular culture^{[citation needed]}. A short grand piano, with the lid up. ... Popular culture (or pop culture) is the widespread cultural elements in any given society that are perpetuated through that societys vernacular language or lingua franca. ...

In its entirety, encompassing all three movements, the work takes approximately 19 minutes to perform. In music, a movement is a large division of a larger composition or musical form. ...

Movements

The sonata is comprised of three movements:

1. Grave (Very slowly, with solemnity) - Allegro di molto e con brio (Quickly, with much vigor)
2. Adagio cantabile (Slowly, in a singing style)
3. Rondo: Allegro (Quickly)

For other uses, see Tempo (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Tempo (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Tempo (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Musical terminology. ... a rondo is played between episode which are played by non solo people Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also in reference to a character-type that...

Grave - Allegro di molto e con brio

The first movement is in sonata form. It includes a slow introductory theme, written in Grave, that is reminiscent of the Baroque period, specifically Bach's Partita No. 2 in C minor.^{[citation needed]} This first theme begins at the start of the Allegro section. This main section is in 2/2 time in the home key of C minor, modulating, like most minor-key sonatas of this period, to the mediant, E flat - however Beethoven makes use of unorthodox mode-mixture, as he presents the second subject in e-flat minor rather than its customary parallel major. The return of the slow theme may have been inspired by Joseph Haydn's "Drumroll" Symphony, completed three years earlier in 1795.^{[citation needed]} Beethoven extends Haydn's compositional practice by returning to the introductory material, not once but twice - at the beginning of the development section as well as in the coda. This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750. ... “Bach” redirects here. ... Partita was originally the name for a single instrumental piece of music (16th and 17th centuries), but Johann Kuhnau and later German composers (notably Johann Sebastian Bach) used it for collections of musical pieces, as a synonym for suite. ... Also see: C major, or C-sharp minor. ... A minor scale in musical theory can be viewed as the sixth mode of the major scale. ... For mediant in mathematics, see Mediant (mathematics) In music, the mediant is the third degree of the diatonic scale. ... E-flat major is a major scale based on E-flat, consisting of the pitches E-flat, F, G, A-flat, B-flat, C, D, and E-flat. ... E-flat minor is a minor scale based on E-flat, consisting of the pitches E-flat, F, G-flat, A-flat, B-flat, C-flat, D and E-flat (harmonic minor scale). ... In music, the parallel minor of a particular major key (or the parallel major of a minor key) is the key which has the same tonic and a different key signature, as opposed to relative minor (or major, respectively). ... “Haydn” redirects here. ... Joseph Haydns Symphony No. ... Coda sign Coda (Italian for tail; from the Latin cauda), in music, is a passage which brings a movement or a separate piece to a conclusion through prolongation. ...

Interestingly, Beethoven does not specify where the first movement's repeat should begin. Traditionally, most pianists start their repeat at the beginning Allegro, but some choose to start from the beginning of the piece (Grave). This latter option also makes musical sense as Beethoven begins his Development with the slow theme.^{[citation needed]}

Musicologist Donald Francis Tovey suggests leaving out the repeat altogether^[2] , and some performers follow this practice.^{[citation needed]} A musicologist is someone who studies musicology. ... Wikisource has original works written by or about: Donald Francis Tovey Sir Donald Francis Tovey (July 17, 1875 – July 10, 1940) was a British musical analyst, musicologist, writer on music, composer and pianist. ...

Adagio cantabile

The Adagio movement opens with the famous cantabile ("in a singing style") melody. This theme is played three times, interspersed with two modulating episodes: the first going from F minor to E flat major, the second from A flat minor to E major. With the final return of the main theme, the accompaniment becomes richer and takes on the triplet rhythm of the second episode. The brief coda's stylistic diversity is arresting: four bars of Romantic transcendence followed by a strikingly conventional 18th-century close. Also see: F major, or F-sharp minor. ... Also see: E-flat minor, or E major. ... A flat minor is a minor scale based on A flat, consisting of the pitches A flat, B flat, C flat, D flat, E flat, F flat, G flat. ... Also see: E minor, or E flat major. ... In music a tuplet is a note value whose relationship with the next larger note value is more or less than (not equal to) half as long as the next higher note value, usually indicated with a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) bracket with a number. ... Look up coda in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The expression romantic music and the homophone phrase Romantic music have two essentially different meanings. ...

Another interesting feature of the Adagio is its range in texture. After having a thick four-voice texture in the principal theme, Beethoven temporarily reduces the texture to one voice near the closing of the B section. The same kind of textural reduction takes place in the opening and last measures of the coda.

Rondo: Allegro

The sonata closes with a 2/2 movement in C minor. The main theme strongly resembles the second theme of the Allegro of the first movement, being identical to it in its pitch pattern for the first four notes and in its rhythmic pattern for the first eight. It follows a version of sonata rondo form that includes a coda; see Sonata rondo#Codas for this structure. The three rondo episodes are in E flat, A flat, and C major. The common use of sforzandos create a forceful effect, although overall the rondo is relatively lightweight compared to the first movement. Sonata rondo form was a form of musical organization often used during the Classical music era. ... E-flat major is a major scale based on E-flat, consisting of the pitches E-flat, F, G, A-flat, B-flat, C, D, and E-flat. ... A flat major is a major scale based on A flat, consisting of the pitches A flat, B flat, C, D flat, E flat, F, G, and A flat. ... C major (often just C or key of C) is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Its key signature has no flats/sharps (see below: Diatonic Scales and Keys). ... “Fortissimo” redirects here. ...

Beethoven's notes show that he originally planned the movement as a rondo for piano accompanied by another instrument, perhaps a violin.^{[citation needed]} For the Anne Rice novel, see Violin (novel). ...

Notes

Media

Image File history File links Beethoven-Pathetique. ...

See also

• Beethoven and C minor

In the compositions of Ludwig van Beethoven, C minor is commonly regarded as a special key. ...

External links

• The William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University School of Music has posted a scan of the Ricordi edition of the score.
• A public domain engraving of the score using GNU LilyPond and MIDI files are available from the Mutopia Project in several formats.
• Brief analysis of the Pathétique Sonata and free score on the All About Ludwig van Beethoven Pages.
• A YouTube video of this sonata played by Freddy Kempff.
• Piano Sonata No. 8 (Beethoven) was available at the International Music Score Library Project.