In 1801 Beethoven wrote four piano sonatas. Posterity would later mark this prolific year as the beginning of his so-called middle period. Beethoven himself knew something far more immediate and grim: His hearing was failing, and he was sinking into despair. A year later, in the Heiligenstadt Testament, he confessed to thoughts of suicide. Three of the sonatas from 1801 are strikingly innovative. The A-flat, Op. 26, has an unusual sequence of movements and dispenses with sonata form entirely, while the two Op. 27 “Sonata quasi una fantasia” sonatas (including the “Moonlight”) venture into uncharted territory.

By contrast, the D-major Sonata, Op. 28—the last to follow the traditional fast-slow-scherzo-finale pattern—is understated, pastoral, and rooted in a mood of calm contemplation. Its opening low D, repeated around 60 times, sets a rustic tone that carries through the horn calls of the scherzo and the carefree finale. The slow movement, in elegiac D minor, touches on whimsy before returning to introspection. Beethoven himself enjoyed playing it, and its nickname, “Pastoral”—given by its first publisher—remains apt.

—Keith Horner © 2025