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.

Movements

'''The sonata is comprised of three movements:

1. Grave; allegro di molto e con brio
2. Adagio cantabile
3. 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.

The Adagio movement opens with the famous and beautiful cantabile ("in a singing style") melody. This theme is played three times, interspersed with two modulating episodes: the first going from C 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 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. '''

Possible influences

It is possible that the "Pathétique" sonata was inspired by an earlier work of Mozart, his piano sonata K. 457 (1784). Mozart's work is likewise in C minor, has three movements in roughly the same character as Beethoven's, and in the first movement includes menacing rolling octaves for the left hand. The second movement of Mozart's sonata employs a theme of remarkable similarity to the adagio cantabile melody of the Pathétique.

Another piano sonata that the "Pathétique" resembles in mood is the Sonata in C minor, op. 35 no. 3, C. 151 by Jan Ladislav Dussek. The opening movement of Dussek's sonata, which was published in London in 1797, displays a brooding restlessness that is comparable to Beethoven's. The similarity in the extensive and imaginative use of broken octaves is especially noticeable. Dussek's last movement being folk-like, however, is quite different in character to Beethoven's.

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.

Media

See also

• Beethoven and C minor

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

by Ludwig van Beethoven

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 (A Therese) | Op. 79 | Op. 81a (Les adieux) | Op. 90 | Op. 101 | Op. 106 (Hammerklavier) | Op. 109 | Op. 110 | Op. 111

 

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