Piano Sonata No. 8 (Beethoven)
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Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, op. 13 was titled "Pathétique" by Beethoven himself. It 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.
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.
The work takes approximately 19 minutes to perform.
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[edit] Movements
The sonata is comprised of three movements:
- Grave: allegro di molto e con brio
- Adagio: cantabile
- Rondo: allegro
The first movement is in standard first movement sonata form. It includes a long Grave introduction, which delays the primary theme until the exposition at the start of the Allegro section. This main section is in 2/2 time in the key of C minor, modulating like most minor-key sonatas of this period to the relative major, E flat. A striking event in the movement is the return of the slow introduction. This may have been inspired by Joseph Haydn's "Drumroll" symphony, completed three years earlier in 1795. 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.
An interesting point about the first movement is that Beethoven does not specify where its repeat should begin. Traditionally, most pianists start their repeat at the beginning Allegro, but some performers choose to start from the beginning of the piece. This is because at the end of the repeat is another slow section that is similar to the opening section. Tovey suggests leaving out the repeat altogether, and some performers follow this practice.
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.
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.
The sonata closes with a 2/2 movement in C minor. The main theme strongly resembles the second theme 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 standard sonata rondo form (ABACABA), with the three episodes being in E flat, A flat, and C major. The common use of sforzandos create a forceful effect, although overall the rondo is relatively lighthearted compared to the heavy first movement.
Beethoven's notes show that he originally planned the movement as a rondo for piano accompanied by another instrument, perhaps a violin.
[edit] The "Pathétique" in popular culture
As the sonata is one of the more famous of Beethoven's works, it has not surprisingly been incorporated from time to time into works of popular culture. For a list of such works, see Pathétique Sonata in popular culture.
[edit] See also
[edit] 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 recent, public domain engraving of the score using GNU LilyPond is available from the Mutopia Project in several formats.
- Analysis of the Pathetique Sonata and free music sheet on the All About Ludwig van Beethoven Pages
| Piano Sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven |
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| Op. 2 No. 1 | Op. 2 No. 2 | Op. 2 No. 3 | Op. 7 | Op. 10 No. 1 | Op. 10 No. 2 | Op. 10 No. 3 | Op. 13 (Pathetique) | Op. 14 No. 1 | Op. 14 No. 2 | Op. 22 | Op. 26 | Op. 27 No. 1 (Quasi una fantasia) | Op. 27 No. 2 (Quasi una fantasia — Moonlight) | Op. 28 (Pastoral) | Op. 31 No. 1 | Op. 31 No. 2 (Tempest) | Op. 31 No. 3 | Op. 49 Nos. 1 and 2 | Op. 53 (Waldstein) | Op. 54 | Op. 57 (Appassionata) | Op. 78 | Op. 79 | Op. 81a (Les adieux) | Op. 90 | Op. 101 | Op. 106 (Hammerklavier) | Op. 109 | Op. 110 | Op. 111 |
