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 126 of 161
Sonata No. 9 E Major Op.14 No. 1
Sonata No. 5 c minor Op.10 No. 1
Sonata No. 3 C Major Op. 2 No. 3
Sonatina No. 2 F Major Anh. 5
Sonata No.15 D Major Op.28 Pastorale
Sonata No. 8 c minor Op.13 Pathetique
Sonata No. 6 F Major Op.10 No. 2
Sonata No.13 Eb Major Op.27 No. 1 Fantasie
Sonata No. 1 f minor Op. 2 No. 1
Piano Trio No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 44
Piano Trio No. 2 in G Major, Op. 1, No. 2
Piano Trio No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 1, No. 3
Piano Trio No. 6 in E-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 2
Piano Trio No. 7 in B-flat Major, "Archduke," Op. 97
String Quintet C Major Op.29
String Quintet c minor Op.104
String Quintet Eb Major Op. 4
Fugue D Major Op.137
Leonore Overture No. 2 exc.
Sonata No. 1 F Major Op. 5 No. 1
Theme from Romance F Major Op.50 - easy version
String Quartet F Major Op.14 No. 1
Sonata No. 4 C Major Op.102 No. 1
Six Songs, Op. 48
12 Variations Op.66
Polonaise C Major Op.89
Eight Songs, Op. 52
Der glorreiche Augenblick, Op. 136
Two Romances, Op. 40 & 50
Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 16
Piano Quartet No. 1 in E-flat Major, WoO 36
Piano Quartet No. 2 in D Major, WoO 36
Piano Quartet No. 3 in C Major, WoO 36
Piano Trio No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 1
Sonata No. 7 D Major Op.10 No. 3
Sonata No.11 Bb Major Op.22
Sonata No.14 c# minor Op.27 No. 2
Sonata No. 4 Eb Major Op. 7
Sonata No. 5 D Major Op.102 No. 2
Sonata No. 2 g minor Op. 5 No. 2
Symphony No. 9 exc.
Concerto G Major Op.61
Leonore Overture No. 3 exc.
Sonata No.10 G Major Op.14 No. 2
Piano Trio No. 11 in G Major, "Kakadu Variations," Op. 121a
Sonata No.12 Ab Major Op.26 Marche Funebre
Sonatina No. 1 G Major Anh. 5
Sonata No. 2 A Major Op. 2 No. 2
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.