Piano Sonatina no. 25 G major op. 79

Ludwig van Beethoven composed the Sonatina in G major op. 79 in 1809/1810, virtually as an afterthought to his work on larger piano compositions: the E flat major Piano Concerto, the Choral Fantasy, and the “Les Adieux” Sonata. Beethoven’s spirit is present in this composition too, even if it was not, perhaps, afforded an equally intensive degree of inspiration and artistic effort. The “Presto alla tedesca” became famous because the motif of a third, like the call of a cuckoo, is taken through all the keys.

The middle movement, of a naive beauty, makes use of a Russian melody that is full of melancholy, while the finale delights by its humorous features. Henle’s new Urtext edition benefits from a healthy source situation: the autograph of the sonata survives, and in 1810 Beethoven arranged for publication of two original editions, in London and Leipzig.

As with our previous new editions, this one also stems from the successful editorial team of Norbert Gertsch and the great pianist Murray Perahia, who himself provides the fingering.