Beethoven composed this sonata in 1800, and this work was published two years later under the title “Grande Sonate” because the composer wanted to demonstrate the resumption of an earlier four-movement sonata srructure.
Beethoven proudly announced to his publisher: “This sonata is a winner” – which implied not only both the high technical demands through brilliant, virtuoso passages, but also the sonata’s particular musical characteristics.
In 1807, a critic judged that the work combined in a very original manner the following characteristics: brilliance and power, solemnity and poignancy, cheerfulness, pleasantness, and an unsettling and great loftiness.
Here is pianist Grigory Sokolov to show you how great this music really is:
