Green notes: right hand, blue notes: left hand. 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.
← Swipe the image to read the score →Beginning of the score, engraved by the Mutopia Project.View the whole score (PDF) →
Billy Joel turned this theme into a hit in 1984, which says something about a melody written in 1798. The Pathétique's second movement, here as a complete MIDI file, is the mirror of its stormy opening: an Adagio cantabile unrolling one of the calmest tunes Beethoven ever wrote, over an accompaniment of sixteenth notes that almost never stops.
The score looks harmless, and that's the trap. The melody has to sing above two other voices played by the same hand, which demands real control of how much weight each finger carries. We'd call it the perfect first big Beethoven: the notes are within reach, the sound is the actual work.
The Adagio cantabile of the Pathétique Sonata: the first notes
Right hand, in letter names (C4 = middle C): C4 D#3 G#3 D#3 A#3 D#3 G3 D#3 D#4 D#3 G#3 D#3 A#3 D#3 C#4 D#3 C4 D#3 D#4 D#3 G#4 G#3 A#4 G#3… The rest scrolls in the preview above, with the fingering, and the sheet music PDF has the whole piece.
Play the Adagio cantabile of the Pathétique Sonata on the virtual piano
Here are the virtual piano notes for the Adagio cantabile of the Pathétique Sonata, in computer keyboard letters: the first 8 bars of the melody. One key per note, read left to right; dark keys are the sharps, and a thin line marks each bar.
Letters for a QWERTY keyboardYour keyboard: 27 notes
QJ;LQ;67;E
RJQL;NLQJHBJHHQ;6
▶ Play on the virtual pianoThe piano opens with this piece loaded: the key to play lights up and waits for you.
What you'll be working on
Three voices in one hand: melody on top, the rest underneath
An accompaniment that stays alive without turning mechanical
The A-flat minor episode and its triplets
A legato line worthy of a singer
Playing the Adagio cantabile of the Pathétique Sonata on piano with Pianovera
Use Pianovera's hand view to hear the melody naked, then add the inner voices back one at a time. An A·B loop on the minor episode spares you replaying the whole movement to work on its sixteen bars.
Open Sonata "Pathétique" · Adagio cantabile in Pianovera: the notes fall toward an 88-key virtual piano keyboard, each hand gets its color, and Wait mode is there if you're starting out. On a PC, it's falling notes piano software for Windows, with video export up to 4K.
Free, with no time limit and no ads: 30 pieces (10 in full, 20 in a simplified version), the first 10 lessons and 10 minutes of 3D hands (then 15 seconds per piece). Premium opens all 651 pieces.
Download the Adagio cantabile of the Pathétique Sonata MIDI and sheet music
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 the Adagio cantabile of the Pathétique Sonata hard to play on piano?
We rate it intermediate: 1629 notes over 4:03, spanning F1 to F6. The first thing to work on: three voices in one hand: melody on top, the rest underneath.
Where can I get the sheet music for the Adagio cantabile of the Pathétique Sonata?
Right on this page: the "View the sheet music" button opens the PDF (149 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 Adagio cantabile of the Pathétique Sonata 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.
