Beethoven: Klaviersonate As-dur Opus 26 (Piano Sonata in A♭ Major Op. 26)

Editor: Bertha Antonia Wallner ► Ludwig van Beethoven composed his Piano Sonata in A♭ major op. 26, in 1800–1801, around the same time as he completed his First Symphony. He dedicated the sonata to Prince Karl von Lichnowsky, who had been his patron since 1792. The structure of the sonata is unconventional in that the piece opens with a relatively slow movement in the format of theme and variations. In contrast, the remaining movements of the sonata proceed according to classical principles in fast-slow-fast alternation. The third movement incorporates a funeral march, clearly anticipating the watershed of the Eroica Symphony that Beethoven wrote in 1803-1804. This is the only movement from his sonatas that Beethoven arranged for orchestra, and was played during Beethoven’s own funeral procession in 1827. This sonata is also unusual in that none of its four movements is in sonata-allegro form.