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DipABRSM in Performing
At DipABRSM level you can expect questions on:
Basic biographical information about each composer.
Context: each work in the life and compositional output of the composer and in
the general musical trends of the era with details of commission if any, process
of composition and first performance.
Musical language and form of each work. The place of the work in the context
of the instrument itself: developments, idiom, core repertoire and technical
demands.
Your interpretation of the items including aspects of style, technique and
ensemble.
The Pathtique hails from the early part of Beethovens career: the late 1700s, a time when the
traditions of the Classical period were still dominant and Beethoven himself was largely content
to compose within these constraints. For the best part of two hundred years, musicians have
debated the true reason for its nickname. Some sources suggest Beethoven himself added the
subtitle Pathtique, while others imply it was the work of his publisher, albeit with the composers
blessing.
The key of C minor often a perfect vehicle for tragic, deeply emotive music is Beethovens key
of choice here, leading many to believe it was directly inspired by Mozarts Piano Sonata No.14,
composed in the same key less than two decades previously. While there might be links, many of
these are arguably tenuous. The music is undeniably Beethovens, and shows a young composer
already thoroughly at ease with the concept of sonata form and clearly able to use it to convey
deep meaning.
Read more at http://www.classicfm.com/composers/beethoven/music/ludwig-van-beethovenpiano-sonata-no8-c-minor-path/#efKB2WCEEXD0sf9X.99
Beethoven wrote the Pathetique sonata in 1798, when he was 27 years old. It
was his 8th piano sonata.
He published it properly the next year as his Opus 13, with a dedication to his buddy the
Austrian Prince Karl von Lichnowsky.
The composer wrote the sonata at a rather interesting time in musical history...
Back in 1798, it was still the glory days of the 'Classical era'. Composers at the time were
spinning out highly technical, exquisitely formal musical trinkets in the styles perfected
by the likes of Mozart (click for biography) and Haydn.
But Beethoven was already showing a gleam of his future rule-smashing self. The
Pathetique follows all the composing rules of the day, but has an extra dimension of
expression and emotion which strikes the heart. Beethoven the 'master of passion'
is starting to emerge!
It was this melancholy character that inspired the piece's nickname. Pathetique wasn't
actually Beethoven's idea - his publisher invented it, coming up with the extravagant
titleGrande Sonate Pathetique. The name stuck.

Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, commonly known as Sonata
Pathtique, was written in 1798 when the composer was 27 years old, and was published
in 1799. It has remained one of his most celebrated compositions. [1] Beethoven dedicated the
work to his friend Prince Karl von Lichnowsky.[2] Although commonly thought to be one of the few

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works to be named by the composer himself, it was actually named Grande sonate pathtique (to
Beethoven's liking) by the publisher, who was impressed by the sonata's tragic sonorities. [3]
Prominent musicologists debate whether or not the Pathtique may have been inspired
by Mozart's piano sonata K. 457, since both compositions are in C minor and have three very
similar movements. The second movement, "Adagio cantabile", especially, makes use of
a theme remarkably similar to that of the spacious second movement of Mozart's sonata.
[4]

However, Beethoven's sonata uses a unique motif line throughout, a major difference

from Haydn or Mozarts creation.

Unlike most of the nicknames given to his works, Grande sonate pathtique (in the sense of
emotional) is thought to be the designation Beethoven himself gave as the title of the first edition of
his Sonata no. 8 in C minor, op. 13. Although its far from the first piece he wrote in the key of C minor,
it is the earliest of those that truly manifest the sort of drama Beethoven would later invest in such
other C minor works as his Symphony no. 5 or his Coriolanus Overture.
Beethoven had moved from Bonn to Vienna in 1792 in order to study with Haydn, a crucial first step in
mastering his eras classicism. Though Beethoven was a student of Haydn for about a year thereafter,
the elder master had decreasing patience for the rough-hewn youngster. Within a few years, however,
Beethoven was a celebrated pianist dominating the musical soires of the Esterhzys, Prince
Lobkowitz, Count Waldstein, and Prince Lichnowsky with his improvisations and his compositions.

Published in 1799, but probably written the year before, the Piano Sonata Op. 13 became
rapidly one of Beethovens most popular compositions. Its somber atmosphere and the title
Grande Sonate pathtique gave it an air of mystery that had an immediate appeal to the
public. The title appears in the original edition and was probably inserted by the publisher
with Beethovens approval. The early popularity is indicated by the many ensemble
arrangements that appeared, including versions for wind nonet, string quartet, string quintet
and piano four-hands. Beethoven dedicated the Sonata to Prince Carl von Lichnowsky, an
enthusiastic supporter of Viennas musicians and one of Beethovens most dependable patrons
in his early days in that city. In fact, it was through an introduction from Haydn that
Beethoven stayed at the Princes house when he first arrived in Vienna in 1792. The Sonata
had its detractors as well as its fans. Its extreme contrasts and violent energy puzzled and
shocked Viennas more conservative listeners. The young pianist and composer Ignaz
Moscheles, who later became Beethovens student, was warned by his teacher in 1804 to stay
away from such eccentric music. The work opens with a slow introduction, an unusual feature
in Beethovens sonatas. Its dark mood sets the tone for an almost hysterical first theme, a
series of short breathless phrases in an ascending chromatic sequence. The second theme,
while more lyrical, maintains the same nervous energy, enhanced with a pounding repeated
chord underlying the melody a figural device Beethoven used repeatedly in his piano
sonatas. The black mood of the introduction reestablishes itself throughout the movement,
reappearing before the recapitulation and again before the coda. For this movement, the term
pathtique might be translated as manicdepressive. The slow movement, Adagio
cantabile, is in ternary form and opens with a beautiful lyrical theme, with a multi-voiced
polyphonic accompaniment. A middle section maintains the lyrical mood and leads back to
the opening theme. The Rondo finale was probably the first part of the sonata to be written,
and early sketches indicate that it was originally meant as a duet, probably for violin and
piano. Its main theme is identical to the start of the second theme of the first movement and
Beethoven subsequently recalls the theme from the second movement as well.

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This Sonata represents one of the few cases in which the
popular title came from the composer himself - its full name is
'Grande sonate pathtique' (pathetic in the sense of 'suffering',
rather than the English sense of 'pitiful'). It was written in
1798, a time when Beethoven was beginning to become aware
of his encroaching deafness and yet was leading a relatively
contented domestic life.
Six years earlier he had arrived in Vienna and was taken in as a
member of the family by Prince Karl Lichnowsky, who at once
introduced him to Austrian aristocratic society, where he found
enduring friends and benefactors and soon forged for himself a
reputation as a virtuoso improviser at the keyboard. Beethoven
dedicated the Pathtique Sonata to Lichnowsky, who in return
gave him a valuable quartet of Italian string instruments and
shortly afterwards secured for him an annuity of 600 florins.
The dramatic Grave introduction to the Pathtique is the most
powerful opening to any of his sonatas to this date and its
music becomes an intrinsic part of the movement through its
reappearances at the beginning of the development and coda.
There is an almost 'orchestral' texture to much of the piano
writing, with chords marked forte-piano at the opening and a
timpani-like left-hand accompaniment to the Allegro's main
theme.
The Adagio cantabile is in one of the simplest of forms: three
statements of a heartfelt theme separated by short episodes
and followed by a brief coda - there is no attempt at
development as such. The Sonata ends with a straightforward
rondo that, despite its minor key, only recaptures the general
character of the rest of the work in the sforzando chords of the
coda, the remainder being more delicate and even humorous.
Baron von Swieten, Count and Countess von Browne, Prince Lobkowitz,
Archduke Rudolph, Prince Lichnowsky - the list goes on, the names of the
aristocracy of Vienna and Beethoven's patrons in the symbiotic
relationship which made the life of a performer/composer possible.
Certainly Beethoven's first years in Vienna, following his arrival from Bonn
in 1792, were spent consolidating his reputation as the city's leading
pianist and improviser. But performances would not pay the bills. Concerts

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as we know them did not exist in Beethoven's day, and performances were
not frequently given in front of ticket-buying public audiences. Rather they
took place in the private homes and estates of the wealthy nobility.
Beethoven's fame was forged in the salons of the rich and titled.
Patronage was the rule, either in the form of a stipend (in cash or in kind)
that provided a living, or in occasional payments made in compensation
for a high-profile dedication. Income was also generated from the
publication and subsequent sale of a steady stream of new works. Often,
on the elaborate cover pages of the first editions of Beethoven's scores,
the name of the dedicatee received equal if not greater typographical
billing than the composer himself.
Beethoven's prowess opened many lofty doors immediately upon his
arrival in Vienna, and one of his earliest and staunchest boosters was
Prince Carl Lichnowsky, who provided Beethoven with his first home in the
city and received the dedication of Beethoven's Op. 1, a set of three piano
trios. Travels to Prague and beyond would also take place in the Prince's
company, and the dedication of the final sonata on this program, among
other major works, would bear Lichnowsky's name.
The conspicuous appearance of patron and composer on published sheet
music was beneficial to both parties. The composer received the
imprimatur of a leading member of society, and the patron shared by
association in the glory gathering around the leading musical figure of the
day. In later years, as Beethoven's fame spread beyond Vienna and across
Europe, potential dedicatees competed for important commissions as
much as publishing houses did to sign-on Beethoven's latest best-selling
creation.
A disappointing year of study with Haydn may not have greatly widened
Beethoven's musical skills, but the older master may have shared some of
his business savvy with the newcomer. Beethoven seemed never to avoid
a chance to play one publisher against another, but he seemed to
understand and cooperate when the nature of the business required it. The
genre of the piano sonata was not, during the late 17th and early 18th
centuries, intended as a vehicle for the concert platform. It was an
intimate form, imagined for small gatherings in private rooms. In fact, no
sonata of Beethoven's was given a public performance (by the composer
or anyone else) during the composer's lifetime, save for one obscure semiprofessional effort by another musician.
The sonata was a calling card - to demonstrate the composer's skill and
artistry, and publication and sale of the scores disseminated the evidence.
Talented amateurs could try their hand at the music that Beethoven had
recently played to wow his wealthiest admirers. Bundling sonatas into
groups of three, as were the sonatas of Op. 2 heard in the first concert of
this series and the sonatas of Op. 10 we hear tonight, displayed by
proximity the intensity of the contrasting emotional and compositional

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expressions the composer commanded. The set was also more attractive
to potential buyers than might be a single shorter work. This fact was not
lost on either the composer or his publisher.

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