Adieux, Les

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN'S Piano Sonata in E♭ Major, op.81a. The full title is Les Adieux, l'absence et le retour. The French titles were given by Beethoven himself, who even added an alternative title, Sonate caractéristique. The title refers to a vacation taken by Archduke Rudolph, a friend of Beethoven. The opening theme imitates the notes of a coach horn (a descending three-note scale harmonized in "horn fifths": major third, perfect fifth, and minor sixth), the sound that would be heard before a trip. The second movement leads into the third without pause.