Open Access

Table 1

Characteristics of the four periods of composition.

Musical periods Youth Promethean Ethereal
p-value
Period of mental distress Final Ethereal
Year of composition 1792–1801 1802–1813 1814–1819 1820–1827
Nos. of sonatas 1–15, 19, 20 16–18, 21–26 27–29 30–32
Number of sonatas/ 17 9 3 3
Number of movements 58 26 10 7
Frequency of pitches occurrence (beats):
 Sum 80 461 44 790 20 964 9553
 Median (IQRa) 5.75 (22.8) 8 (28) 11.9 (37.2) 10.5 (23.5) <0.001
 95% CI Medianb 5.00–6.33 6.92–9 9.75–14.9 8.5–12
Pitch range (MIDI notation) 26–91 26–101 24–101 24–99
Number of pitches per movement:
 Median (IQRa) 1856 (1663) 2730 (2108) 3218 (3267) 2708 (2409) <0.001
Number of rests per movement:
 Median (IQRa) 197.5 (180) 269.5 (280) 337.5 (297) 187 (125) <0.001
Number of measures per movement:
 Median (IQRa) 150 (111) 194 (167) 216 (232) 162 (74) <0.001
a

Interquartile range.

b

95% confidence interval.