Piano Sonata No.5, Op.10 No.1
Sonata · in C minor · Op. 10 No. 1
Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827
C minor
Key
Sonata
Form
Allegro molto e con brio
Tempo
Op. 10 No. 1
Catalogue
Score
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Themes & character
Early C minor drama·Three movements·Foreshadows the Pathetique·Composed 1798
At a glance
- Catalogue
- Op. 10 No. 1
- Key
- C minor
- Tempo / character
- Allegro molto e con brio
- Form
- Sonata
Movements
I
Allegro molto e con brioC minor
A terse, upward-rocketing opening figure sets a stormy tone.
II
Adagio moltoA♭ major
A serene, richly ornamented slow movement.
III
Finale: PrestissimoC minor
A compressed, agitated finale that ends abruptly and quietly.
About the piece
Published in 1798 as the first of three sonatas dedicated to Countess Anna Margarete von Browne. C minor was the key Beethoven reserved for his most turbulent music, and this early sonata already shows the pattern that would culminate in the Pathetique and the Fifth Symphony.
Compact and hard-edged, it compresses considerable drama into three tightly written movements, ending not in triumph but in a sudden, unresolved hush.
The composer
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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