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 134 of 161
Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Opus 2 no. 1
Sonata No. 2 in A Major, Opus 2 no. 2
Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Opus 2 no. 3
Sonata No. 4 in E-flat Major, Opus 7
Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Opus 10 no. 1
Sonata No. 6 in F Major, Opus 10 no. 2
Sonata No. 7 in D Major, Opus 10 no. 3
Sonata No. 9 in E Major, Opus 14 no. 1
Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Opus 14 no. 2
Sonata No. 11 in B-flat Major, Opus 22
Sonata No. 12 in A-flat Major, Opus 26
Sonata No. 13 in E-flat Major, Opus 27 no. 1
Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Opus 27 no. 2
Sonata No. 15 in D Major, Opus 28
Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Opus 13
Sonata, D major, op. 12,1
Sonata, A major, op. 12,2
Sonata, E flat major, op. 12,3
Sonata, A minor, op. 23
Sonata [Spring sonata], F major, op. 24
From His Famous Symphony No. 9
Trio, E flat major, op. 1,1
Trio, G major, op. 1,2
Trio, C minor, op. 1,3
Trio (Piano, Clarinet [Violin], Violoncello), B flat major, op. 11
Russian Folksong, Op. 107, No. 3
Sonata In C Minor 'Pathetique' Op.13
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 4, G major, op. 58
Rondo in C, Op.51 #1
Sonatina In G Min.,Op.49,No.1
6 Variations, F major, op. 34
15 Variations (with fugue), E flat major, op. 35
6 Variations, D major, op. 76
33 Variations on a waltz by Diabelli [Diabelli variations], op. 120
9 Variations on a march by Dressler (second version) (appendix), WoO 63
Op.2, No.1
Op.2, No.2
Op.2, No.3
Op.7
Op.10, No.1
Op.10, No.2
Op.10, No.3
Op.14, No.1
Op.14, No.2
Op.22
Op.26
Op.27, No.2
Op.28
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.