Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a composer who lived and contributed to the Classical era of music, which was in full swing during the second half of the 18th century. This was when our set work was composed (1798). The two other principal classical composers were Haydn and Mozart.

Beethoven was responsible for pushing boundaries and changing the Classical style by being more adventurous and unique in his music composition. This led the way for a multitude of Romantic composers in the 19th century.

At the start of the 19th century monarchies didn't have the same power they once held and the "middle class" - or bourgeoise - emerged and became the ruling class of civilisation.

This completely changed culture! Classical music was no longer commissioned by the nobility and musicians had the freedom to be more individually expressive. These were the Romantic composers. Many had stormy and eccentric lives because they didn't have to conform to the requirements of an aristocratic employer anymore.

Beethoven was perhaps the first "artist" in this sense and his approach to music was extremely heartfelt and groundbreaking at the time, taking the conventions of classical music and pushing it to new and extreme levels.

Perhaps the most famous of Beethoven's compositions is his 5th symphony.

You should be able to hear how stormy, dramatic and turbulent it is.

Musical features that support this include:

• Use of minor tonality

• Use of loud dynamics

• Use of a distinctive motif (da da da daaaaaaah!!) that is short and simple but used and developed throughout the movement. It is notated below.

The piano, or pianoforte, was invented in Beethoven's lifetime. It was called pianoforte because the design using hammers and strings (rather than harpsichord's plucking mechanism) enabled dynamics to be played on a keyboard instrument - pretty revolutionary!

Pianos became more and more popular and people would have them in their living rooms (or drawing room depending on how posh they were). Composers began to write more and more for these instruments to "play" solo. These pieces were called sonatas, and would usually contain 3 movements. 'Sonata' means 'play'.

Perhaps the most famous piano sonata written by Beethoven is his 14th, nicknamed the Moonlight Sonata. Its mood is highly emotional, almost to the point of being melodramatic. The recognisable melody at the beginning is based on a series of arpeggios that bring out some strikingly chromatic chords before 0'30. The tempo is adagio (slow) and the key is C# minor which allow for much expression and emotion. The dynamics of the music allow for a lot of this expression. The crescendo from 0'57 could not possibly be replicated on an older keyboard instrument like the harpsichord.

The set work Sonata Pathétique is also a great example of a piece of music that exploited the capabilities of this recently invented instrument with much creativity. Composed in 1798, the set work consists of just the first of three movements.

Acciaccatura, accidental, Alberti bass, allegro, angular, arch-shape, arpeggio, balanced phrases, broken chord, broken octave, chordal, chromatic, circle/cycle of 5ths, Classical, coda, common time, cross hands, cut time, development, diatonic, diminished 7th, diminution, dissonant, dominant, dominant preparation, dotted rhythm, exposition, fermata, fortepiano fp, fortissimo, grace note, grave, homophonic, imperfect cadence, interrupted cadence, inverted pedal, legato, melody and accompaniment, modulation, monophonic, mordent, movement, pedal note, perfect cadence, pianissimo, recapitulation, related key, Romantic, scalic, semihemidemisemiquaver, sequence, slur, sonata form, sotto, staccatissimo, staccato, stepwise, [first/second] subdominant, subject, tonic, transition, triadic, trill.

[Having a sense of] anticipation, assertive, blurry, calm, [having] coherence, conclusive, contrasting, [having] conviction, decorative, defiant, definite, dense, discombobulating, disorientating, distinctive, dramatic, drastic, eccentric, elegant, eloquent, emotive, energetic, exciting, exhilarating, expressive, familiar, fierce, fiery, fluent, gratifying, heartfelt, intense, lyrical, [having] momentum, murky, passionate, [having] propulsion, refined, relaxing, relentless, resonant, rich, satisfying, sonorous, sophisticated, stormy, striking, suspenseful, tempestuous, tense, torrential, tranquil, turbulent, [expressing] turmoil, uneasy, unnerving, unrelenting, unsettling, urgent, vigorous, virtuous, yearning.