Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonata 8 (Pathéthique)
in C Minor, Op. 13
In his eighth piano sonata, Beethoven’s bold, revolutionary approach to the piano becomes truly evident.
Year: 1798
Period: Classical
Piano score: PS Urtext 
Audiovisual Study Tool
The start of a new piano era
The first, dramatic and almost aggressive movement of the Pathétique starts with a massive, loud c minor chord that must have come as a shock to contemporary listeners. The ensuing Grave section requires interpretative maturity and careful considerations of the complex rhythms. The slow introduction gives way to a fast and explosive rising staccato motif, with a very fast broken octave accompaniment in the left hand. A third theme, which returns slightly transformed in the last movement of the sonata, has the right hand jumping back and forth from treble to bass.The second movement in A-flat major, far more familiar to the casual listener, is a soothing contrast. Here great attention is needed to voicing the thick textures in order to bring out the beautiful cantabile melody, one of Beethoven’s most beloved creations. The third movement is a driving, energetic rondo with long, complex phrases, requiring careful articulation and inflection. It contains elements of the first two, thereby tying the entire sonata together in a way that represents a significant development in the history of the piano sonata.
Background
Beethoven’s eighth piano sonata, in c minor, is one of the few works that the composer himself named, officially calling it Grande sonate pathétique. It is interesting to note that there are several similarities between the Pathétique Sonata and Mozart’s C minor sonata K. 457, as well as Bach's C minor Partita. For instance, the main theme of the slow movement of the Pathétique sounds remarkably similar to a theme in the slow movement of the Mozart sonata.Forum posts about this piece:
Repertoire suggestions for background music by wiegenlied
Hello, I am wondering if anyone can suggest some classical repertoire to play for family and friends, and also as background music at a rest...
Hidden Gems for a Wedding by shashasha
Hello everyone :) I hope that you've all been well. I haven't posted in years, but my screen name was musicsdarkangel for any ...
Relative Difficulties of Beethoven's 7th and 8th Sonatas by flyusx
Hello, Would you all consider Beethoven's Opus 10 №3 (Sonate #7) or Opus 13 (Pathetique) more difficult relatively speaking? I...
Undergrad Audition Repertoire at a Decent Canadian School by bwl_13
Hey everyone, I've decided to change my pace and switch from being a film student to a music student. I am extremely excited but also ...
How long time should it take to learn a piece? by slurred_beat
Hi all, I'm wondering how long it should take to learn a new piece. Say I open a book with the Beethoven patetique, how long should it ...
What happens at the end of the development section of the Pathetique Sonata? by jlmap
What happens at the end of the development section of the first movement of Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata, at measure 167? It seems som...
Why has piano notation recently moved to hands being split across staves? by carrot_cake
I started learning the piano in the late 80s, just over 30 years ago. At this point almost all the editions used notation that separated han...
Auditioning for Precollege by complexnote
I'm planning on auditioning for Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music Precollege programs. My repertoire: 1. Bach Fantasia in C Min...
Rondo Pathétique (3rd Movement) or Tempest sonata 3rd Movement by fredchopin
Hello Everybody, I would like to commence either of the 3rd movements of my 2 favourite sonatas (Pathetique and Tempest). I have played rev...
Recital Repertoire Suggestions by aaaaaa
Hi everyone! My teacher is having me hold a solo recital next year. I currently don't have enough repertoire to comprise a whole recit...
20th Century Repertoire for My Level? by aaaaaa
Hi everyone! I've been looking for contemporary/20th century repertoire lately as a way to fulfill competition requirements for next y...
Audition Repertoire by pianoplayer8
Hello! I’m working on compiling my collegiate audition repertoire, and I could use some advice. I’m auditioning for both state schools ...
Ideas for repertoire in my masters by hannapiano
I am going to be starting graduate school in the fall for piano pedagogy and performance. I am still currently in my undergrad but working f...
Help with interpreting Sonata Op 13 (Pathetique) by kawwai
2nd movement is fine, I mainly need help with 1st and 3rd. For the 1st, with all the chords, should I bang them and make sure they're ...
University Audition Pieces? by kawwai
Hello everybody, I am a late starter (started at 13 1/2 years old, am now 15 1/3 years old in my freshman year) I really fell in love with t...
Does anyone here have experience teaching previously self-taught pianists? by ranjit
I'm really worried about this from a personal standpoint, being self-taught since several years. What has your experience been teaching...
Triceps fatigue while playing left-hand tremolos by ggpianogg
Hi, I'm learning Beethoven's Pathetique (1st movement). It's the first time I'm exposed to fairly fast octave tremolos....
Pathetique 2nd movement - how to make the transition sound good by henrikbe
Hi, in bar 36 of the 2nd movement of Beethoven's Pathetique sonata, there is a change of rhythm, from 16th to 16th triplets. When I pl...
Help with Pathetique Sonata 1st movement measures 4 and 10!! by rovis77
Hi, I just have a doubt with these measures. There are a lot of 64th notes in these measures. Should they be measured mathematically or a bi...
Building left hand technique by bernadette60614
My left hands seems to be only 1/3 as "nimble" (best word I can think of at this moment) than my right. I'm working on the R...
Member's recordings of piece:
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 “Pathetique” by lucascpiano
Hi everyone, here is my recording of Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata. youtu.be/UtkTqgKhPLc...
My rendition of Beethoven's famous "Pathétique" Sonata! Thoughts always welcome by gregwer
youtu.be/D0QEHldBdpc Hey guys, I hope you like the second sonata in the series of four that I'll be posting (last one was the Waldstei...
[Video] Beethoven: Piano sonata no. 8 "Pathétique" op. 13 - 1st movement by samuel.saarikivi
Hi :) Here's my performance of Beethoven's Pathetique sonata 1st movement (played in March). Hope you'll like it! I didn&...
VIDEO: Beethovens Piano Sonata Op. 13 "Pathetique" by torandrekongelf
Hi. I read the rules and I know acustic recordings are preferable. I don't have access to any acustic instruments. Being autistic and n...
This piece is composed by Ludwig van Beethoven and was published in 1798. Title: Sonata 8 (Pathétique), Op. 13 in C Minor from Sonatas. The difficulty level if graded by ABRSM would be approximately 8+ and it belongs to the Classical period.