Pathétique Sonata in popular culture

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Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata Opus 13 in C minor, often called the "Pathétique," is one of the best known works of this composer. Since it is so familiar, and so memorable, it has frequently been incorporated into works of popular culture. This article is a listing of such works.

For information on the sonata itself, see Piano Sonata No. 8 (Beethoven).

Musical reworkings

Billy Joel used the main theme of the second movement as the chorus of his song This Night which appears on his An Innocent Man album.
Somewhere Out There, from the soundtrack to An American Tail, uses the main theme of the second movement.
It was used by Silvio Rodriguez in his song Oh Melancolia.
KISS employed that same theme in the chorus of their song "Great Expectations" from the Destroyer album.
Banya has a cover of the song called "Beethoven Virus" featured in the panel-based dance game Pump it Up.
Another cover of the song exists on the online rhythm game O2Jam, called "V3."
Klaus Nomi's song I Can't Help Falling in Love is based on the main theme of the second movement.

Other media

Karl Haas used the second movement as the theme song for a popular radio show he hosted.
The opening of the first movement is played in an episode of the sitcom Seinfeld, when Jerry is attending the recital of George's girlfriend.
The opening movement is featured in an episode of M*A*S*H where Dr. Winchester doubts the musical abilities of a USO performer.
The second movement appears in a Peanuts motion picture, A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969), played by the character Schroeder.
It appears in the movie , in a scene in which the computer starts playing it but Picard rejects it in favor of a mambo.
The second movement was used in the River Phoenix film Running on Empty
The second movement was used as the theme music for the Coen Brothers' film noir The Man Who Wasn't There.
It is played at a recital in the movie Gaslight.
The second movement is played in the 60th episode, "The Man who is Chosen for Victory," of the TV Anime Rurouni Kenshin.

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