PractisPractis

Piano Sonata No.26, Op.81a

Sonata · in E♭ major · Op. 81a

Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827
E♭ major
Key
Sonata
Form
Adagio, Allegro
Tempo
Op. 81a
Catalogue
Score
First page of Piano Sonata No.26, Op.81a

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Themes & character
Programmatic farewell·Written for Archduke Rudolph·Napoleon's bombardment·German titles insisted upon

At a glance

Catalogue
Op. 81a
Key
E♭ major
Tempo / character
Adagio, Allegro
Form
Sonata

Movements

I
Das Lebewohl: Adagio, AllegroE♭ major

The Farewell. Opens with a three-note horn call over which Beethoven wrote the syllables Le-be-wohl, a departing gesture that echoes through the movement.

II
Abwesenheit: Andante espressivoC minor

Absence. Restless and wandering, never settling, leading without pause into the finale.

III
Das Wiedersehen: VivacissimamenteE♭ major

The Return. An outburst of unguarded joy, the tempo marking itself meaning "in the liveliest manner."

About the piece

Composed in 1809 and 1810 for Archduke Rudolph, Beethoven's pupil and patron, who fled Vienna with the imperial family as Napoleon's army bombarded the city. This is the only sonata to which Beethoven attached an explicit program, marking its three movements Farewell, Absence and Return. He objected strongly when his publisher issued it with the French title Les Adieux, complaining that the German Lebewohl carried a warmth of personal address that the formal French word did not. The name stuck anyway.

The composer

Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
1770–1827

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer, conductor, and pianist. Regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music, he was mentored during the Classical period, and his musical style was a key driver of the transition to Romantic music, and the expansion of instrumental forms such as the symphony, the piano sonata and the string quartet. His compositions have attracted extraordinary casual and scholarly interest, and remain among the most performed in the world.

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