Piano Sonata No. 24 (Beethoven)

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

Beethoven in 1815

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.

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]

Structure

I. Adagio cantabile – Allegro ma non troppo

II. Allegro vivace

Notes

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.

External links

• A lecture by András Schiff on Beethoven's piano sonata Op. 78
• Piano Sonata No. 24: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Recording by Paavali Jumppanen, piano from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum