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Piano Sonata No.27, Op.90

Sonata · in E minor · Op. 90

Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827
E minor
Key
Sonata
Form
Op. 90
Catalogue
Score
First page of Piano Sonata No.27, Op.90

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Themes & character
Only two movements·German tempo markings·Late-period threshold·Composed 1814

At a glance

Catalogue
Op. 90
Key
E minor
Form
Sonata

Movements

I
Mit Lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und AusdruckE minor

With liveliness and throughout with feeling and expression. Terse, urgent, and full of abrupt silences.

II
Nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar vorgetragenE major

Not too quickly and delivered in a very singing manner. A long, flowing rondo of great tenderness.

About the piece

Composed in 1814 and dedicated to Count Moritz Lichnowsky, this compact two-movement sonata marks the threshold of Beethoven's late period. He gave the movements German rather than Italian tempo markings, part of a broader turn toward his own language in these years. Beethoven's assistant Anton Schindler claimed the two movements depicted a struggle between head and heart, and then a conversation with the beloved, referring to Lichnowsky's controversial marriage. Schindler is now known to have invented many such stories, so the account is best treated with caution.

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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