A number of passages in Beethoven's Op. 13 seem to have been derived from Mozart's Sonata K. 457. In addition, both members of a pair of corresponding themes from the slow movements of the sonatas are set in the submediant. The general mood and dramatic impact of the two works is very similar. The C Minor Sonata of Dussek, Op. 35, No. 3 does not share the general "spirit" of Beethoven's Op. 13 as Eric Blom claimed, but several thematic details of the Dussek correspond to the Beethoven. It is difficult to establish a priority for the material, however, since the works were composed at roughly the same time.

Works: Beethoven: Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 13; Dussek: Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 35, No. 3.

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Nancy Kinsey Totten