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 127 of 161

Sonata No.19 g minor Op.49 No. 1

Sonata No.26 Eb Major Op.81a Les adieux

Sonata No.17 d minor Op.31 No. 2

Sonata No.21 C Major Op.53 Waldstein

6 Variations on an Original Theme F Major Op.34

Bagatelle G Major Op.126 No. 1

Bagatelle Eb Major Op.33 No. 1

Bagatelle C Major Op.33 No. 2

Bagatelle F Major Op.33 No. 3

Bagatelle A Major Op.33 No. 4

Bagatelle C Major Op.33 No. 5

Bagatelle D Major Op.33 No. 6

Bagatelle Ab Major Op.33 No. 7

Rondo C Major Op.51 No. 1

Rondo G Major Op.51 No. 2

6 Variations on an Austrian Folk Tune C Major Op.105 No. 3

Bagatelle g minor Op.126 No. 2

Bagatelle Eb Major Op.126 No. 3

6 Variations on a Russian Folk Tune a minor Op.107 No. 7

Bagatelle b minor Op.126 No. 4

Bagatelle G Major Op.126 No. 5

Bagatelle Eb Major Op.126 No. 6

Minuet Bb Major WoO 10 No. 4

Minuet D Major WoO 10 No. 5

Minuet C Major WoO 10 No. 6

3 Variations on an Irish Folk Tune, E-flat Major, Op.105, No. 4

Minuet C Major WoO 10 No. 1

Sonata No.18 Eb Major Op.31 No. 3

Sonata No.20 G Major Op.49 No. 2

Sonata No.22 F Major Op.54

Sonata No.23 f minor Op.57 Appassionata

Sonata No.24 F# Major Op.78

Sonata No.25 G Major Op.79

Sonata No.27 e minor Op.90

Sonata No.28 A Major Op.101

Sonata No.29 Bb Major Op.106 Hammerklavier

Sonata No.30 E Major Op.109

Sonata No.31 Ab Major Op.110

Sonata No.32 c minor Op.111

Sonata Eb Major WoO 47 No. 1

Sonata f minor WoO 47 No. 2

Sonata D Major WoO 47 No. 3

Sonatina No. 1 G Major and No. 2 F Major Anh. 5

Nocturne Op.42

Rondo a Capriccio Op.129

Sonata No.16 G Major Op.31 No. 1

Minuet G Major WoO 10 No. 2

Minuet Eb Major WoO 10 No. 3