Sonata "Pathétique" · 1st movement · piano sheet music & MIDI file
The Pathétique's first movement as a piano MIDI: launch the preview to watch the storm roll in, then download the free file and the sheet music PDF.
Preview played right in your browser with the app's real piano (lightweight version). Inside Pianovera: full multi-layer sound, fingering display and Wait mode.
Beethoven was 27, already losing his hearing, and he opened this sonata with a C minor chord that slams like a door. Across this 4285-note MIDI, the opening Grave keeps returning to haunt the movement, cut off each time by an Allegro launched at full tilt over a rumbling left-hand tremolo.
It's a summit of the repertoire, and we won't sugarcoat it: the continuous left-hand tremolo is an endurance test, and the octave runs forgive nothing. But the movement's logic is so clear that every section you conquer locks neatly into the next. The kind of challenge that makes you proud.
What you'll be working on
- The left-hand tremolo, relaxed or you won't finish the page
- The whiplash contrast between slow Grave and blazing Allegro
- The chained thirds of the exposition
- Holding the pulse through the off-beat passages
Playing Sonata "Pathétique" on piano with Pianovera
Work the Allegro in sixteen-bar chunks with Pianovera's A·B loop at 50%, left hand alone first: if the tremolo tires your wrist halfway through, slow down further. The accuracy curve will tell you when each chunk can go the distance.
Open Sonata "Pathétique" · 1st movement in Pianovera: notes fall toward the keyboard, each hand gets its color, and Wait mode is there if you're starting out.
Try Pianovera for freeDownload the Sonata "Pathétique" MIDI and sheet music
Two files are waiting for you: the Sonata "Pathétique" piano MIDI file (37 KB, opens in Pianovera or any MIDI player) and the Sonata "Pathétique" piano sheet music PDF (209 KB, printable). Both come from the same engraving: what you read on the score is exactly what you hear in the preview.
The work itself is in the public domain, and this MIDI engraving was placed in the public domain by its typesetter on the Mutopia Project. Use it freely, videos included.
About this piece
Is Sonata "Pathétique" hard to play on piano?
We rate it advanced: 4285 notes over 6:15, spanning F1 to F6. The first thing to work on: the left-hand tremolo, relaxed or you won't finish the page.
Where can I get the sheet music for Sonata "Pathétique"?
Right on this page: the "View the sheet music" button opens the PDF (209 KB), engraved by the Mutopia Project from the same source as the MIDI file, Public domain license. View it, print it, keep it.
Is the Sonata "Pathétique" MIDI file really free?
Yes. Ludwig van Beethoven died more than 70 years ago, so the work (1798) is public domain. This MIDI engraving is public domain too: download it and use it freely, videos included.