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Play — Daniel Barenboim plays Beethoven Sonata No. 8 Op. 13 (Pathetique) · David Long Music (the player loads on click)
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Play — Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13 "Pathétique": II. Adagio cantabile · Ludwig van Beethoven, Pio Palumbo (the player loads on click)
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Public-domain sheet music on IMSLP ↗
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Official level, taken from the exam syllabus.
Other syllabi : AMEB Grade 7 · LCM Grade 7 · RCM Grade 7
Difficulty estimate by MusicCoach on a scale of 1 to 100.
Most works cluster between 45 and 65: a small score gap often marks a real step. The highlighted bar shows this work among those for the same instrument.
The MusicCoach difficulty measures a work's overall demands (technique, reading, stamina) on a shared 0-100 scale, consolidated from editorial and pedagogical reference points (Henle, exam syllabuses, curation) and our own analyses. It measures neither musical value nor the practice time YOU will need: two musicians of the same level can experience the same work very differently depending on their strengths (hands used to octaves, quick sight-reading…). The confidence reflects how many reference points sit behind the score and how well they agree — a lightly documented score is flagged “to validate”. For a truly personal bearing, the diagnostic and your space compare each work to YOUR estimated level, which the score alone cannot do.
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This rating is computed automatically from heterogeneous sources. It gets things wrong, sometimes badly. If you know this work, your answer is worth more than our computation: it tells us which ratings to review.
One rarely plays the whole work: each movement has its own level — often very different from the opus's overall score.
Each suggestion combines difficulty gap, risk, confidence and skill overlap. The first two cards in each column are the most useful pedagogically.
The safest next step.
A genuine step up, without a jolt.
A useful leap with guided practice.
This sonata projects a dramatic, highly contrasted character, shifting between weighty introductory passages and rapid, incisive movements that demand sustained narrative tension. Technically, you will need to focus on the Passages rapides (4.8/5), which require finger agility, minimal motion and clear articulation to run passages without losing the musical line, and on the Octaves (4.8/5), which demand coordinated arm and hand control to deliver even, crisp attacks without tension. The piece is part of Beethoven's piano sonata output and stands out for its blend of lyricism and dramatic force within that repertoire.