Two short Ludwig van Beethoven sonata selections — for your listening pleasure while browsing Jing-reed's latest tidbits of news, gossip and trivia. Both widely popular and reflectively romantic. . .
Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, op. 13, commonly known as Pathétique, was published in 1799, though written the year before, when the composer was 28 years old. Beethoven dedicated the work to his friend Prince Karl von Lichnowsky.[1] Although commonly thought to be one of the few works to be named by the composer himself, it was actually named by the publisher, who was impressed by the sonata's tragic sonorities.
Prominent musicologists debate whether or not the Pathétique may have been inspired from Mozart’s piano sonata K. 457, since both compositions are in C minor and have three very similar movements. The spacious second movement of Mozart's sonata, especially, makes use of a theme remarkably similar to that of the second movement, "Adagio cantabile," of Beethoven's. However, Beethoven's sonata uses a unique motif line throughout quite different from Mozart’s creation.
This recording presents the Adagio cantabile played by Vladimir Ashkenazy.
The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, is popularly known as the "Moonlight" Sonata. The work was completed in 1801 and rumored to be dedicated to his pupil, 17-year-old Countess Giulietta Guicciardi with whom Beethoven was, or had been, in love. The name "Moonlight" Sonata derives from an 1832 description of the first movement by music critic Ludwig Rellstab, who compared it to moonlight shining upon Lake Lucerne.
The work is possibly the most familiar of all Beethoven's piano sonatas, and is widely performed and recorded.
This recording is of the first movement, the Adagio sostenuto, played by Sandro Biscotti.
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