Beethoven wrote 32 mature piano sonatas between 1795 and 1822. First three sonatas written at age 13 are usually not included. Sonatas form bridge between salon and concert hall performances. First complete recording by Artur Schnabel for His Master's Voice
Classical period spans 1750-1820, between Baroque and Romantic eras. Music moved from Baroque's complexity to lighter, clearer style. Neoclassicism influenced architecture, literature, and arts in mid-18th century
Beethoven was born in Bonn in 1770, 14 years after Mozart's birth in Salzburg. Beethoven had extensive exposure to Mozart's music in Bonn. He worried about plagiarism in early compositions, writing about Mozart's symphony passages
Beethoven composed 722 works spanning 45 years from 1782 to 1827. His works span all major classical genres including symphonies, concertos, and sonatas. He straddled both Classical and Romantic periods
Beethoven's only opera, originally titled Leonore, premiered in 1805. Libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner adapted from Bouilly's French work. Beethoven revised opera three times, causing him to vow never to compose another. Final version premiered at Kärntnertortheater in 1814 with Franz Schubert in audience
Sonata means "played" in Italian, contrasting with cantata, which means "sung". Baroque sonatas were for one or more instruments with continuo. Corelli established two main sonata types: da chiesa (church) and da camera (court). Scarlatti composed over 500 harpsichord sonatas in binary form