Composer
Ludwig van Beethoven
1770–1827
7,703 works in the index
- Era
- Classical
- Nationality
- Electorate of Cologne
- Born in
- Bonn
Beethoven sits on the hinge between the Classical style he inherited and the Romantic one he made possible, and the catalogue spans both: thirty-two piano sonatas, sixteen string quartets, nine symphonies, five piano concerti and a large body of songs and chamber music.
The piano sonatas are the most-bought and the most misjudged. The famous ones — the Moonlight, the Pathétique, the Waldstein — are advanced works, and the first movement of the Moonlight being playable early does not make the rest of it so. The genuine starting points are the two sonatas of Op. 49 and the bagatelles, including the one everyone knows as Für Elise.
He revised heavily and his manuscripts are difficult, so editions disagree about specific notes and markings more than you might expect from a composer this recent. If you are working with a teacher, use theirs.
Catalogue
Works page 121 of 161
Cello Sonata No. 4 in C Major, Op. 102, No. 1
Namensfeier Overture, Op. 115
Eleven Bagatelles, Op. 119
Symphony No. 3, Movement 1
Sonata No. 17 in D Minor, Op. 31, No. 2
Rondo a Capriccio in G Major, Op. 129
Symphony No. 6, Movement 5
Symphony No. 7, Movement 1
Symphony No. 8, Movement 1
Europa steht!, No. 1 from "Der glorreiche Augenblick", Op. 136
Sonata No. 07 in D Major, Op. 10, No. 3
Sonata No. 06 in F Major, Op. 10, No. 2
Sonata No. 29 in B Major, Op. 106
Sonata No. 04 in E-flat Major, Op. 7
Sonata No. 03 in C Major, Op. 2, No. 3
Symphony No. 8, Movement 3
String Quintet in C Minor, Op. 104
String Quintet in E-Flat Major, Op. 4
Sextet in E-Flat major, Op. 71
Song of Penitence, A
Symphony No. 6, Movement 4
Symphony No. 6, Movement 1
Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20
Sonata No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109
Sonata No. 12 in A-flat Major, Op. 26
Six Variations on an Original Theme in F Major, Op. 34
Symphony No. 5, Movement 1
Sextet in E-Flat major, Op. 81b
Coriolan Overture, Op. 62
Creatures of Prometheus Overture, Op. 43
Fidelio Overture, Op. 72c
Sonata No. 18 in E-flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3
Ruins of Athens Overture, Op. 113
Octet in E-Flat major, Op. 103
Piano Concerto no. 20 in D minor: Movement 1, Cadenza
Piano Concerto no. 20 in D minor: Movement 3, Cadenza
Polonaise from "Serenade in D Major, Op. 8" - Piano Score
Two Preludes, Op. 39
Rondo in C Major, Op. 51, No. 1
Six Variations on an Original Theme in D Major, Op. 76
Overture from "Die Ruinen von Athen", Op. 113
String Trio No. 2 in G Major, Op. 9, No. 1
Fifteen Variations in E-flat Major, Op. 35
Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 110
Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111
Sonata No. 22 in F Major, Op. 54
Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79
Sonata No. 16 in G Major, Op. 31, No. 1
Dates, era and nationality from Wikidata, matched on name and verified against any dates already held here. The biography above is our own. Portrait: Joseph Karl Stieler, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.