Piano Sonata No. 13 (Beethoven)

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 1, composed in 1800–1801, has four movements:

  1. Andante - Allegro - Andante in ternary form, ABA. In E-flat major, middle section in C.
  2. Allegro molto e vivace In C minor.
  3. Adagio con espressione In A-flat major.
  4. Allegro vivace

Beethoven included the phrase "Quasi una fantasia" (Italian: Almost a fantasy) in the title because the sonata does not follow the traditional sonata pattern where the first movement is in regular sonata form, and the movements are arranged in a fast-slow-fast sequence. A typical performance lasts 15 minutes.

The second movement, is also in ternary form, but is more often regarded as compound ternary form, a form in which the individual sections have forms of their own. The second movement is written with a melody of mostly quarter notes in parallel octaves. After that, it is similar to the first section, but everything the right hand does is offset half a beat later, probably as a joke by Beethoven to emphasize the technical difficulties. The movement concludes abruptly on the dominant chord of F minor (C major), similar to the ending of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 5. The overall form of this movement is similar to the second movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 6.

The fourth movement is sometimes considered part of the third movement; after the Allegro vivace section, there is a section labeled "Tempo I", and is quite similar to the third movement (although in E-flat), and after that is a very short Presto section.

External links

Nos. 1 – 10
(Opus 2 – 14)
Nos. 11 – 20
(Opus 22 – 49)
Nos. 21 – 32
(Opus 53 – 111)