The Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Opus 31 No. 2, was composed in 1801/02 by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is usually referred to as "The Tempest" (or Der Sturm in his native German), but this title was not given by him, or indeed referred to as such during his lifetime; instead, it comes from a claim by his associate Anton Schindler that the sonata was inspired by the Shakespeare play. However, much of Schindler's information is distrusted by classi...
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The Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Opus 31 No. 2, was composed in 1801/02 by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is usually referred to as "The Tempest" (or Der Sturm in his native German), but this title was not given by him, or indeed referred to as such during his lifetime; instead, it comes from a claim by his associate Anton Schindler that the sonata was inspired by the Shakespeare play. However, much of Schindler's information is distrusted by classical music scholars. Renowned British music scholar, Donald Francis Tovey, in his authoritative book A Companion to Beethoven's Pianoforte Sonatas, states that "The story that Beethoven connected this sonata with The Tempest is evidently one of many such inventions by his biographer Anton Schindler" (pg 285).
The piece consists of three movements and takes approximately twenty-five minutes to perform:
Each of the movements is in sonata form, though the second lacks a substantial development section. The first movement alternates brief moments...
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