thumb|upright=1.4|The beginning of the first [[movement (music)|movement]]

thumb|upright|Count Franz Brunswick

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 (colloquially known as the Appassionata, meaning "passionate" in Italian) is among the three famous piano sonatas of his middle period (the others being the Waldstein, Op. 53 and Les Adieux, Op. 81a); it was composed during 1804 and 1805, and perhaps 1806, and Beethoven dedicated it to cellist and his friend, Count Franz Brunswick. The first edition was published in February 1807 in Vienna.

Unlike the early Sonata No. 8, Pathétique, the Appassionata was not named during the composer's lifetime, but was so labelled in 1838 by the publisher of a four-hand arrangement of the work. Instead, Beethoven's autograph manuscript of the sonata has "La Pasionata" written on the cover, in Beethoven's hand.

One of his greatest and most technically challenging piano sonatas, the Appassionata was considered by Beethoven to be his most tempestuous piano sonata until the twenty-ninth piano sonata (known as the Hammerklavier). 1803 was the year Beethoven came to grips with the irreversibility of his progressive hearing loss.

An average performance of the entire Appassionata sonata lasts about twenty-five to twenty-seven minutes.

Form

The sonata consists of three movements:

I. Allegro assai

none|600px

A sonata-allegro form

The total performance time of this movement is usually between and 11 minutes.

II. Andante con moto

none|600px

A set of variations in D major, on a theme remarkable for its melodic simplicity combined with the use of unusually thick voicing and a peculiar counter-melody in the bass. Its sixteen bars (repeated) consist of nothing but common chords, set in a series of four- and two-bar phrases that all end on the tonic. (see image) The four variations follow:

The total performance time of this movement is about 7 to 8 minutes with the repeats and about to 6 minutes without them.

References

Further reading

  • Public domain score and midi file of the 2nd movement on Mutopia
  • "Program notes", Artur Pizarro – The Beethoven Sonata Cycle, BBC Radio 3