The Appassionata

For over two hundred years, the genius of Ludwig van Beethoven has provided musicians with a standard of excellence for solo piano compositions. Our ultimate goal is to create a library of his greatest works. We have chosen a selected few that may be considered the greatest piano sonatas ever written. These “originals” are in pure form as we’ve gone to great lengths and done much research to preserve the authenticity of each of them. These five complete original sonatas published by Santorella Publications are unedited with all three movements, identical to Beethoven’s manuscripts.

To ensure authenticity, we have provided performance notes on our website free of charge @ www.santorellapublications.com. In addition to the unprecedented biographical substance which adds significant educational value, these editions have been engraved with only four systems per page on a manila cream background, so reading them has never been more pleasing to the eyes. Thus making practice, study and performance an enjoyable process.

The Appassionata, Sonata in F Minor,Opus 57 was dedicated to Count Franz Brunsvik,completed in 1805 and published in 1807 by Bureau des Arts et d'Industrie. The title was added by the publisher and is quite appropriate for this turbulent and dramatic work.

This piece is characterized by driving rhythms, followed by a slow movement, culminating in a relentlessly powerful finale. One stormy evening, Beethoven clutched the original manuscript while he fled a heated argument with Prince Lichnowsky. The original, water-marked manuscript is now housed in the Bibliotheque Nationale inParis.