Piano Sonata No. 13 (Beethoven)

1, "Quasi una fantasia", is a sonata composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1800–1801.

He had already made a name for himself in Vienna as pianist and composer[1] and was beginning to explore alternatives to the classical-era compositional procedures that he had largely adhered to during the 18th century.

Beethoven's sketches for the first, second, and final movements survive, but the original autograph copy is lost.

2 (the "Moonlight" Sonata), but at the same time,[4] by Cappi in Vienna; the first advertisements for the work appeared 3 March 1802.

The dedicatee of the work was (as was typical of the time) an aristocrat, Princess Josephine von Liechtenstein.

[7] In the case of the present work (though not its companion), the entire sonata is played continuously without pauses between movements, in the manner of most fantasias.

[4] As Kenneth Drake has pointed out, the movements are in extreme contrast with each other, a common trait of the sections of a fantasia.

[11] Several of these patterns are mentioned in Lewis Lockwood's discussion of the aesthetics of Beethoven's "quasi una fantasia" works: The result of the "attacca" principle [i.e. performance of all movements without pause] is the blurring of the concept of each movement as an autonomous whole ...

1 sonata is laid out in four movements: However, the work is meant to be performed from beginning to end.