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I just uploaded a scan of Beethoven's manuscript for his Piano Sonata No. 23; but no sooner had I done so, I found an error in a comment that I made, attached to the score. I tried to send another upload of the score with the comment corrected, but IMSLP refused to accept the second upload.

So, to whomever may review this upload before the block is removed, I would appreciate the editing of my original comment. In the initial upload, I noted that I could not find the sonata's nickname, "Appassionata, anywhere in the manuscript. But in the revised comment, I said: I found the sonata's nickname on page 4 of the scan, faded but legible. Surprisingly, however, it is not "Appassionata" -- as appears today on every CD and concert program featuring the sonata. Rather, it is "La Passionata." Presumably, the subtitle is written in Beethoven's hand.

MS

It isn't actually necessary to upload the file again in order to correct this information; rather, you can change it yourself by clicking the 'edit' tab at the top of the page, scrolling down to where the comment appears, and making the necessary modifications. In any case, I've now changed it and removed the duplicate entry.

I've just read two conflicting, presumably scholarly comments about the "appassionata" designation, one claiming that Beethoven approved of the publisher's invention of that nickname, the other claiming that B. disapproved of the publisher's PR gesture. No mention yet to be found of the composer actually having written "La Passionata". There is an Arrau recording which titles the sonata as La Passionata, but only that one instance. There are several passing references to the "Passionata" sonata, as well as a single reference to the "A (space) Passionata" sonata.

It's a jungle out there...

If I get a chance today I will look in my Beethoven companion to see what it says. Hopefully it will take one or the other side and not offer a 3rd explanation!

The following is offered, courtesy of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn:

The expression mark "appassionato" means "passionately". In the Piano Sonata op. 57 this expression does not appear at any point. Its famous popular name "Appassionata", by which the sonata is mostly known, did not come from Beethoven. It was first found on the title page ("Sonata appassionata") of a version of the sonata for piano four hands, which the Hamburg publisher Cranz published in 1838. The association seems to have been successful, because the popular name "Appassionata" has since become inseparably linked with this piano sonata. (J.R.)
(---end of quote---)

I don't know who J.R. is/was, but this reference to a nicknamed four-hand version is certainly intriguing, if for no other reason than because of its apparent publication some eleven years after the composer's death in 1827. If accurate, that publication date would lead one to wonder how a very deceased Beethoven could purportedly have had any opinion at all about the nickname...