Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) was a German
composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the
transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in
Classical music, he remains one of the most recognised
and influential of all composers. His best-known
compositions include 9 symphonies; 5 piano concertos; 1
violin concerto; 32 piano sonatas; 16 string quartets;
a mass, the Missa solemnis; and an opera, Fidelio.
Beethoven was born in Bonn, then the capital of the
Electorate of Cologne a...(+)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) was a German
composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the
transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in
Classical music, he remains one of the most recognised
and influential of all composers. His best-known
compositions include 9 symphonies; 5 piano concertos; 1
violin concerto; 32 piano sonatas; 16 string quartets;
a mass, the Missa solemnis; and an opera, Fidelio.
Beethoven was born in Bonn, then the capital of the
Electorate of Cologne and part of the Holy Roman
Empire. He displayed his musical talents at an early
age and was taught by his father Johann van Beethoven
and composer and conductor Christian Gottlob Neefe. At
the age of 21 Beethoven moved to Vienna, where he began
studying composition with Joseph Haydn and gained a
reputation as a virtuoso pianist. He lived in Vienna
until his death. By his late 20s his hearing began to
deteriorate, and by the last decade of his life he was
almost completely deaf. In 1811 he gave up conducting
and performing in public but continued to compose; many
of his most admired works come from these last 15 years
of his life. Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8
in C minor, Op. 13, commonly known as Sonata
Pathétique, was written in 1798 when the composer was
27 years old, and was published in 1799. It has
remained one of his most celebrated compositions.
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 Grande sonate pathétique (to
Beethoven's liking) by the publisher, who was impressed
by the sonata's tragic sonorities.
Prominent musicologists debate whether or not the
Pathétique may have been inspired by Mozart's piano
sonata K. 457, since both compositions are in C minor
and have three very similar movements. The second
movement, "Adagio cantabile", especially, makes use of
a theme remarkably similar to that of the spacious
second movement of Mozart's sonata. However,
Beethoven's sonata uses a unique motif line throughout,
a major difference from Haydn or Mozart’s
creation.
The Adagio cantabile (Movement 2) exemplifies the
expressive Adagio style of many slow movements in the
classical period. The famous cantabile melody is played
three times, always in A? major, separated by two
modulating episodes; the movement is thus a simple
rondo rather than the sonata form more common for
movements of this seriousness. The first episode is set
in F minor (the relative minor of A? major), further
modulating to E? major before returning to the main
theme. The second episode begins in A? minor and
modulates 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 main
theme of this movement opens nearly identically to an
episode in the slow movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata
No. 14, K. 457.
The cantabile from this movement was used as the theme
music for radio's most widely listened-to classical
music program, Adventures in Good Music, which aired
nationally in the United States and in many other
countries from 1970 to 2007. The theme was performed by
Karl Haas, the program's host. Billy Joel used the
cantabile as the melody for the chorus of his 1984 song
"This Night" from the album An Innocent Man. The
complete movement was performed by Schroeder (actually
played by Ingolf Dahl), set to animation, in the 1969
animated film A Boy Named Charlie Brown. The cantabile
was partially performed by Schroeder (actually by
composer David Benoit) but interrupted by the "sports
mice" in the 2000 TV film It's the Pied Piper, Charlie
Brown.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._8_(Beet
hoven) ).
Although originally composed for Solo Piano, I created
this Arrangement of the Adagio from the Sonata in C
Minor "The Pathétique" (Opus 13 No. 8 Mvt. 2) for
Viola and Piano.
SHEET MUSIC