1799 - Beethoven's Sonate Pathetique

German composer Ludwig van Beethoven published Piano Sonata No. 8 (Opus 13) [the Sonate Pathetique].

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a German composer.  He is generally regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of music, and was the predominant figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music.  His reputation and genius have inspired – and in many cases intimidated – ensuing generations of composers, musicians, and audiences.  While primarily known today as a composer, Beethoven was also a celebrated pianist and conductor, and an accomplished violinist.

Born in Bonn, Germany, Beethoven moved to Vienna, Austria, in his early twenties, and settled there, studying with Joseph Haydn and quickly gained a reputation as a virtuoso pianist.  In his late twenties, Beethoven began to lose his his hearing gradually, and yet he continued to produce notable masterpieces throughout his life, even when his deafness was almost total.  Beethoven was one of the first composers who worked as a freelance – arranging subscription concerts, selling his compositions to publishers, and gaining financial support from a number of wealthy patrons – rather than being permanently employed by the church or by an aristocratic court.

Beethoven was born at Bonngasse 515 (today Bonngasse 20) in Bonn, Germany to Johann van Beethoven (1740-1792) of Flemish origin and Magdalena Keverich van Beethoven (1744-1787) of Slavic ancestry.  Beethoven was baptized on December 17, but his family celebrated his birthday on December 16.

Beethoven’s first music teacher was his father, a musician in the electoral court at Bonn, who was apparently a harsh and unpredictable instructor.  Johann would often come home from a bar in the middle of the night and pull young Ludwig out of bed to play for him and his friend.  Beethoven’s talent was recognized at a very early age.  His first important teacher was Christian Gottlob Neefe.  In 1787, young Beethoven traveled to Vienna for the first time, where he may have met and played for Mozart.  He was forced to return home because his mother was dying of tuberculosis.  Beethoven’s mother died when he was 16, shortly followed by his sister, and for several years he was responsible for raising his two younger brothers because of his father’s worsening alcoholism.

Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792, where he studied for a time with Joseph Haydn, though he had wanted to study with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who had died the previous year.  He received additional instruction from Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (Vienna’s preeminent counterpoint instructor), and Antonio Salieri, the legendary rival of Mozart.  Beethoven immediately established a reputation as a piano virtuoso.  His first works with opus numbers, a set of three piano trios, appeared in 1795.  He settled into the career pattern he would follow for the remainder of his life.  Rather than working for the church or a noble court (as most composers before him had done), Beethoven supported himself through a combination of annual stipends or single gifts from members of the aristocracy, income from subscription concerts, concerts, and lessons, and proceeds from sales of his work.

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. 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.