Piano Sonata No. 32 (Beethoven)
The Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111, is the last of Ludwig van Beethoven's piano sonatas. The work was written between 1821 and 1822. Like other late period sonatas, it contains fugal elements. It was dedicated to his friend, pupil, and patron, Archduke Rudolf.
Title page of the first edition, with dedication
Beethoven's portrait by F. G. Waldmüller, 1823, year of publication of the Piano Sonata No. 32
Piano Sonata No. 30 (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109, composed in 1820, is the third-to-last of his piano sonatas. In it, after the huge Hammerklavier Sonata, Op. 106, Beethoven returns to a smaller scale and a more intimate character. It is dedicated to Maximiliane Brentano, the daughter of Beethoven's long-standing friend Antonie Brentano, for whom Beethoven had already composed the short Piano Trio in B♭ major WoO 39 in 1812. Musically, the work is characterised by a free and original approach to the traditional sonata form. Its focus is the third movement, a set of variations that interpret its theme in a wide variety of individual ways.
Beethoven in 1820
Beethoven's studio (Johann Nepomuk Hoechle, 1827)
Manuscript of Op. 109 (start of the first movement)