Piano Sonata No. 24 (Beethoven)

Beethoven in 1815; painted by Joseph Willibrord Mähler (1778–1860)
I. Adagio cantabile – Allegro ma non troppo
II. Allegro vivace
Played by Artur Schnabel in 1932
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The Piano Sonata No. 24 in F♯ major, Op. 78, nicknamed "à Thérèse" (because it was written for Countess Thérèse von Brunswick) was written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1809. It consists of two movements:

  1. Adagio cantabile — Allegro ma non troppo
  2. Allegro vivace

A typical performance takes about 8-9 minutes. The common practice of leaving out long repeated sections, such as the development and recapitulation in the first movement, would make two or three minutes' difference to the total duration. The second movement is a variation to the ending of the popular patriots song "Rule, Britannia!" (which Beethoven wrote a set of variations for piano in 1803).

According to Carl Czerny, Beethoven himself singled out this sonata and the "Appassionata" Sonata as favourites (once written, the "Hammerklavier" Sonata" would also become one of Beethoven's favourites).[1][2]

  1. ^ Forbes, Elliot (1967). Thayer's Life of Beethoven. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp. 297, 407. ISBN 0-691-02717-X.
  2. ^ Solomon, Maynard (1977). Beethoven. Shirmer Books. ISBN 9780028724607.