Piano Sonata No. 17 (Beethoven)

Beethoven in 1801; painted by Carl Traugott Riedel

The Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2, was composed in 1801–02[1] by Ludwig van Beethoven. The British music scholar Donald Francis Tovey says in A Companion to Beethoven's Pianoforte Sonatas:[2]

"With all the tragic power of its first movement the D minor Sonata is, like Prospero, almost as far beyond tragedy as it is beyond mere foul weather. It will do you no harm to think of Miranda at bars 31–38 of the slow movement... but people who want to identify Ariel and Caliban and the castaways, good and villainous, may as well confine their attention to the exploits of Scarlet Pimpernel when the Eroica or the C minor Symphony is being played."[2]

  1. ^ "Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, op. 31, No. 2, "The Tempest"". pianolessonsindianapolis.com. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
  2. ^ a b Tovey, Donald Francis (1976) [1931]. A Companion to Beethoven's Pianoforte Sonatas (revised ed.). New York: AMS Press. p. 128. ISBN 0-40413-117-4.