Three Piano Sonatas, WoO 47 (Beethoven)
Encyclopedia
The Three Early Piano Sonatas, WoO 47, "Kurfürstensonaten" were composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...

 in 1783 when he was just thirteen years old. Though lacking a distinct musical identity, the sonatas show a certain level of precocity and serve as a precursor to the masterworks he later produced. They are dedicated to the Elector (Kurfürst) Maximilian Frederick.

Overview

Like Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

, Beethoven's musical gifts were recognized at a young age, and it is in these three sonatas
Piano sonata
A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement , two movements , five or even more movements...

 that we are given an early glimpse of the composer's talents, as well as his boldness. Even at his young age, Beethoven was writing in a form usually attempted by older, more mature composers, as the sonata was a cornerstone of Classical
Classical period (music)
The dates of the Classical Period in Western music are generally accepted as being between about 1750 and 1830. However, the term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and especially from the sixteenth or...

 piano literature.

No. 1 in E-flat major

  1. Allegro cantabile
  2. Andante
  3. Rondo
    Rondo
    Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also to a character-type that is distinct from the form...

     vivace

No. 2 in F minor

  1. Larghetto maestoso - Allegro assai
  2. Andante
  3. Presto

No. 3 in D major

  1. Allegro
  2. Menuetto
    Minuet
    A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular...

     - Sostenuto
  3. Scherzando
    Scherzo
    A scherzo is a piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata. The scherzo's precise definition has varied over the years, but it often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or...

    : Allegretto, ma non troppo

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