Sonata #8 (Patetica) Opus 13
(Dedicata al Principe Carlo von Lichnowsky)
written by: Ludwig van Beethoven
tracked by: Azo
This is by far my favorite Beethoven solo piano work, spanning the piano
from top to bottom with massive chords, quick finger work, thundering
melodies, and subtle diminishment. Written in 1798, this is still one of
the most popular performance pieces ever, and a milestone for any pianist
daring enough to test his or her endurance.
I first heard this piece during one of my weekly piano lessons when I was
six or seven. An advanced student was trying desperately to accomplish
the monster octaves through the Allegro molto con brio section. I fell in
love with the first movement immediately, but did not pursue it for years
to come. While in 8th grade, my teacher and I were searching for a
suitable competition piece, and this one came to mind. With little time
to prepare, we began working. As you will notice in this track, the first
movement is over six minutes long. In the competition I was entering, a
soloist had no more than six minutes. I spent ten hours a day speeding up
my performance, so that I would not be disqualified. On competition day,
not only did I make it in under six minutes, I also won the State level
trophy for my performance.
I have not performed the second or third movement of this piece, though I
would like to challenge the third someday. A close friend of mine once
performed the third movement in competition, and was unanimously voted the
winner.
I know that the piano instrument used does not completely offer justice to
this track, but I can find none better currently. All I can do is try my
best to offer a solid interpretatin of a classic piano solo with limited
tools. The score was taken from a Belwin Mills book, edited by Artur
Schnabel. I did not follow the markings exacly in the book, as I didn't
particularly care for some of his interpretation, especially in the
dynamic markings. Also, there are several notes that I noticed in this
book that I have not seen in other scores. For instance, patterm 96,
channel 01, line 56 shows a D4, where most other scores of this particular
piece leave that out. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that this is not
a run-of-the-mill interpretation. I have taken license in many areas,
including tempo variations, dynamics, styling, and harmony. So, whatever
you think of this, I'd like to know.
Jesse (A.K.A. Azo)
email: jworley@airmail.net
Release Date: 3-26-99
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Additional Information
The score that I tracked this from had much different markings that those
I remember from previous scores, but this is a breakdown of the different
sections, organized by pattern. Most of these marking are directly from
the score, though some are my own. I did not follow these markings
directly, so this is only a partial breakdown of what you're hearing.
Movement Patterns Time
-------- -------- ----
First Movement 000-083 6:38
Second Movement 084-110 4:40
Third Movement 111-153 3:38
Total Time 000-153 14:56
Patterns Markings Dynamics Special Instructions
-------- -------- -------- --------------------
000-003 Grave p-ff serioso
004-008 Grave p-ff dolce, quieto, pesante
009-017 Allegro molto e con brio pp-fff non troppo legato
018-027 Leggierissimo pp-mp appasionato ma ritmico
027-038 Legato p-ff non stringendo, agitato
039-042 Grave fp-p-pp sonore
043-060 Allegro molto e con brio p-ff semplice, pesante
061-068 Leggierissimo pp-mf leggiero, calmare un poco
069-073 Legato p-fff quieto, articolato
074-076 Allegro f-sf artiolato
077-080 Grave pp-sf semplice, espressionado
081-083 Allegro molto e con brio p-ff pesante
084-091 Adagio cantabile pp-p legatissimo, sereno
092-097 Tranquillo pp-p ma con sentiment
098-101 Adagio cantabile ppp-p dolce, con abbandono
102-105 Tranquil pp-fp egualmente
105-110 Cantando pp-fp poco calando, articolato
111-118 Allegro p-mp-f delicato,leggiero
119-123 Leggierissimo p-mp-mf leggiero, distinto
124-133 Legatissimo p-mf-ff tranquilo, dolce
134-149 Allegro p-mf-fff delicato, calando
150-153 Semplice pp-ff non troppo legato, breve
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Thanks for listening! Hope you enjoyed it!
Greets out to Damien, LittleElk, hang0wer, velocity, DeepJ, Sergei, Zola,
Semtex, SLH, Divion, Virt, The Nuke, Crimson, and anyone else I forgot to
mention.