Beethoven, Piano Sonata No.8 in C minor Op.13 "Pathétique" (Emil Gilels)

Описание: L.v.Beethoven's Piano Sonata No.8 in C minor Op.13 "Pathétique", with a theme-and-structure analysis and synchronized sheet music (score)
Performance: Emil Gilels (piano), 1985/06 (ⓟ 1986) Stereo (DDD), Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin
Analysis, Score Editing, Synch: ScoreMan

00:00 Movement 1: Grave - Allegro di molto e con brio
09:07 Movement 2: Adagio cantabile
14:53 Movement 3: Rondo. Allegro


OVERVIEW

Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 “Pathétique” stands as a turning point in his early career and in the evolution of the piano sonata itself.
It fuses Classical form with Romantic passion, combining rhetorical drama, lyrical beauty, and tragic grandeur in a way that profoundly influenced later composers — from Schubert to Chopin and Liszt.
Even today, it remains one of the most immediately recognizable and deeply affecting works in the piano repertoire.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Beethoven composed this sonata in his late twenties, during his early Vienna years — a period when he was establishing his reputation as both a virtuoso pianist and a bold, original composer.
The Pathétique (a name Beethoven himself approved) was published in 1799 by Eder in Vienna. This was the same era when Beethoven was beginning to assert his own voice beyond the Classical idiom of Mozart and Haydn.
Around this time, Beethoven had also begun to experience the first symptoms of his hearing loss (though he kept it secret). While his early works still reflect Classical clarity, the Pathétique hints strongly at his later dramatic, storm-like intensity — a foreshadowing of his middle-period “heroic” style.
The sonata’s expressive power, tragic C minor tonality, and emotional contrasts would have seemed astonishingly bold to late-18th-century audiences.

MUSICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Fusion of Emotion and Structure: The Pathétique combines Classical form with a new depth of personal emotion and dramatic narrative. This synthesis became a defining feature of Beethoven’s style.
Revolutionary Expression: Its intensity, the grandeur of its slow introduction, and the extreme contrasts of mood pointed directly toward Romanticism. It was a decisive step beyond Mozart and Haydn’s polite elegance.
C minor as Beethoven’s “Fate Key”: This work is one of the first major examples of Beethoven’s use of C minor for tragic, storm-filled expression — later used in the Fifth Symphony, Third Piano Concerto, and String Quartet Op. 18 No. 4.
Public and Critical Success: The sonata was immediately popular, both with the public and critics, helping solidify Beethoven’s fame as the new piano visionary of Vienna.
Emotional Universality: The Pathétique captures a complete dramatic arc — struggle, tenderness, and defiant resolution — in under 20 minutes. It remains one of the most emotionally direct of all Beethoven’s sonatas.


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