Piano Sonatas 8, 14 & 23

Beethoven's Sonatas Probably the best known of Beethoven's sonatas are the Pathetique, Moonlight and Appassionata. Only the first name was given by the composer. The Moonlight Sonata has it's name from the inspiration of the poet Rellstab (whose verses were to be set to music by Schubert). Writing in 1832 he likened the sonata to the wild scenery bordering Lake Lucerne, seen from a boat by moonlight. The French romantic composer Berlioz, on the other hand, preferred to see sunlight in the sonata, and other writers have been equally imaginative. Sonata No.8 in C Minor, Op. 13 "Pathetique" The Sonata pathetique was written in 1798 and 1799, and was published in the latter year with a dedication to Prince Lichnowsky, the nobleman who had travelled to the court of Berlin with Mozart in 1789. The work, Opus 13, is in C Minor, and is described as a "Grande" Sonata, music suitable for public performance by the composer, who was at this time one of the most distinguished keyboard-players in Vienna. Sonata No.14 in C Sharp Minor 'quasi una fantasia' Op. 27, No.2 "Moonlight" The Moonlight Sonata is more properly described by it's title Sonata quasi una fantasia, Opus 27 No.1, in the key of C Sharp Minor. The imaginative writer Arnold Schering, already referred to, found a literary parallel with Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, but others have chosen to find in the sonata romantic notions of a different kind. It was completed in 1801, and dedicated, at the last minute, to Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, a young pupil of Beethoven. Sonata No.23 in F Minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata" Sonata in F Minor, Opus 57, the Appassionata, was considered by Beethoven to be among his best piano sonatas. It's nick-name, although not chosen by the com- poser, is an apt one, although Schering's parallel with Shakespeare's MacBeth may appeal to us less. Dedicated to the Countess of Brunswick, the sonata was completed in 1805 and published two years later.