The 'Appassionata' Sonata received its famous name from a four-handed arrangement published in Hamburg in 1838.
Critical Reception
Beethoven considered the 'Appassionata' Sonata to be his most significant achievement up to Op. 106, and it was admired by Czerny for its 'perfect development of a grand, gigantic idea'.
Composition History
The 'Appassionata' Sonata (Op. 57) was composed against a backdrop of political and private conflict, including the collapse of the German Reich after the Battle of Austerlitz and Beethoven's personal struggles.
Composer Biography
Beethoven dedicated the 'Moonlight Sonata' to his 17-year-old piano pupil Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, whom he described as 'a dear, enchanting girl who loves me and whom I love', while he was devastated by the onset of his hearing loss.
Cultural Impact
Maxim Gorky related the impression the 'Appassionata' made on Lenin, who remarked, 'I always think with perhaps naive pride what wonders human beings can accomplish!'
Cultural Impact
The 'Moonlight Sonata' (Sonata quasi una fantasia) received its popular name because the poet Ludwig Rellstab was reminded of Lake Lucerne gleaming in the moonlight by its Adagio sostenuto movement.
Composition History
Beethoven's 'Grande Sonate pathétique' (Op. 13) is the only sonata on this recording that Beethoven himself named.
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