What Is Beethoven Pathetique

Ludwig van Beethoven’s piano sonatas have proved to be among the most influential piano pieces of the Classical Period. Each and every one of his 32 sonatas has been played over and over again and has been enjoyed by pianists across the globe. But I believe that one of his Sonatas is greater than the rest, or shall I say, a personal favorite: his Pathetique Sonata Movement 1 (Op. 13 No. 8).

Ludwig van Beethoven grew up in Bonn, Germany with an abusive alcoholic father and a mother that he loved dearly, but she unfortunately died early in Beethoven’s life. Trying to escape from his father, Beethoven moved to Vienna, Austria to pursue performance and composition and to learn from Haydn who lived in Eisenstadt. Because of this transition, he wrote most of his Piano Sonatas in Vienna, and this includes his Pathetique Sonata (Op 13 No. 8), the piece that I will be discussing in depth. This piece was written in 1898, while Beethoven was in Vienna learning from Haydn.

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13 No. 8 is Daniel Barenboim. He as known as one of the greatest interpreters of Beethoven sonatas, and is famous for classical piano performance. I believe that his interpretation of the Sonata is the best out of the three that I listened to, which doesn’t surprise me considering his credentials. Barenboim does a fantastic job with the dynamical contrasts over the course of the piece. He knows how to make the piece dynamical and suspenseful at the same time and he does this by not necessarily playing too loud until it was clearly instructed to in the score and by developing a musical line by getting louder when the score indicated to play higher notes up the keyboard and to get softer when the music told to do the opposite. His articulations are also fantastic as I know that this piece has trills and mordents in difficult places, but Barenboim executes these ornaments well, as he is a