Für Elise

Für Elise is a piano bagatelle in A minor by Ludwig van Beethoven, catalogued as Bagatelle No. 25, WoO 59. Its recurring opening melody makes it one of his most recognizable works.

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Rondo: A musical form built around the return of a principal theme between contrasting episodes. The principal melody repeatedly returns between contrasting passages in the piece.
Ludwig van Beethoven: A German composer and pianist whose works bridged the Classical and Romantic periods. He composed and dedicated the bagatelle.
Piano pedagogy: The methods and practices used to teach piano playing. The piece’s compact form and memorable theme have made it common in early piano study.
Elise (Für Elise): The unidentified woman named in the dedication written on the surviving manuscript of Für Elise. Her identity is unknown, and proposed identifications remain unproven.
A minor: A minor is a musical key whose tonic triad consists of A, C, and E. The piece’s home key gives its recurring theme a minor-mode character.
Bagatelle: A short, usually light instrumental composition, especially common in piano music. Beethoven classified the work among his short piano bagatelles.
Piano performance: The interpretation and live or recorded presentation of music on the piano. Differences in tempo, articulation, and phrasing shape familiar interpretations of the piece.
Therese Malfatti: An Austrian woman from a wealthy family who was close to Beethoven and received a marriage proposal from him. A misreading of her name has been proposed as one explanation for “Elise.”
Alberti bass: A broken-chord accompaniment pattern that alternates chord tones in a low-high-middle-high order. The opening theme uses this light accompaniment pattern beneath its melody.
WoO 59: The catalogue designation for Beethoven’s Bagatelle No. 25, commonly known as Für Elise. This number identifies the piece in the catalogue of Beethoven’s works without opus numbers.