Piano Sonata No. 23 Op. 57 - Appassionata - II. Andante con moto

About this work

The opening chords of the Appassionata’s Andante con moto move steadily, with two beats in each bar. Beethoven sets out the theme in D-flat major, then gradually changes its texture: the chords become detached, semiquavers form a continuous line, and demisemiquavers travel from one hand to the other. There are more notes to play, but the underlying pulse can stay steady.

Listen for the bass and the top notes of the theme’s chords as the variations unfold. These provide landmarks when the surface grows busier. At the piano, practise those main notes on their own before adding the notes between them, keeping the lighter movement from weighing down the phrase. Where one hand sustains the melody over the other hand’s demisemiquavers, let the long note sing beyond its initial attack.

The return of the chords brings the opening outline back into focus after the rapid passagework. Keep the phrase moving towards the two diminished chords at the end. Their fermatas hold the music in suspense rather than bringing it to a close in D-flat major. Listen to that tension before releasing the keys.

What the document contains

The seven-page PDF contains the complete second movement of the Sonata op. 57 for solo piano. Andreas Scherer’s LilyPond engraving comes from the Mutopia project, which names a separate Schott edition as its source and places this engraving in the public domain. A MIDI file accompanies the score. The PDF includes a link to LesPartitions.info.