Uploaded April 2012 | Updated September 2026, 20 hours ago
Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 30 In E, Op. 109 Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109, composed in 1820, is the antepenultimate of his piano sonatas. In it, after the huge Hammerklavier sonata, Op. 106, Beethoven returns to a smaller scale and a more intimate character. It is dedicated to Maximiliane Brentano, the daughter of Beethoven's long-standing friend Antonie Brentano, for whom Beethoven had already composed the short piano trio in B flat major WoO 39 in 1812. Musically, the work is characterised by a free and original approach to the traditional sonata form. Its focus is the third movement, a set of variations that interpret its theme in a wide variety of individual ways
Analysis
The three movements of this sonata are:
Vivace ma non troppo / Adagio espressivo, E major, 2/4 time
Prestissimo, E minor, 6/8 time
Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung. Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo, E major, 3/4 time.
A performance lasts about twenty minutes, of which the third movement takes more than half. Overall, the sonata is endowed with abundant melody and interesting, complex harmony
Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 30 In E, Op. 109 Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109, composed in 1820, is the antepenultimate of his piano sonatas. In it, after the huge Hammerklavier sonata, Op. 106, Beethoven returns to a smaller scale and a more intimate character. It is dedicated to Maximiliane Brentano, the daughter of Beethoven's long-standing friend Antonie Brentano, for whom Beethoven had already composed the short piano trio in B flat major WoO 39 in 1812. Musically, the work is characterised by a free and original approach to the traditional sonata form. Its focus is the third movement, a set of variations that interpret its theme in a wide variety of individual ways
Analysis
The three movements of this sonata are:
Vivace ma non troppo / Adagio espressivo, E major, 2/4 time
Prestissimo, E minor, 6/8 time
Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung. Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo, E major, 3/4 time.
A performance lasts about twenty minutes, of which the third movement takes more than half. Overall, the sonata is endowed with abundant melody and interesting, complex harmony
