貝多芬的鋼琴奏鳴曲作品五十三《華德斯坦》（Piano Sonata Op.53 “Waldstein”），因題獻給他的好友及贊助人華德斯坦侯爵而得名，也是他中期時最著名的作品之一。此時期他的作品風格宏偉雄大，如第三首交響曲《英雄》、第五首交響曲《命運》以及鋼琴奏鳴曲《熱情》，都是此時期具有代表性的作品。由於這時期壯闊的作曲風格，因此又被稱為『英雄時期』。此時期的鋼琴奏鳴曲也是將鋼琴演奏的技巧及特色發揮到極致的作品。除了在技巧方面的突破，這首曲子的作曲手法及和聲的應用，更有著無可比擬的地位。此外，由於貝多芬受到耳疾的影響，他的心境上也與之前大不相同。這種種變化除了華麗的技巧，更具備深刻的內涵。
此篇論文從鋼琴的發展以及奏鳴曲的演變開始討論，再探討貝多芬寫作的三十二首鋼琴奏鳴曲之背景、風格及特色。最後以理論的角度來分析創作的手法及演奏的方式。主要參考克里姆遼夫（Koeuu Ahatoebelar Kpeuecb）著、丁逢辰譯之《論析貝多 芬 32 首鋼琴奏鳴曲》，斯圖爾特・戈登（Stewart Gordon）的《鍵盤樂器的發展歷史》，格勞特（ J. Peter Burkholder, Donald Jay Grout, Claude V. Palisca）的 《西洋音樂史》以及拉爾福・圖瑞克（Ralph Turek） 的 《音樂分析法選集》。
Beethoven’s dedication of this work to his lifelong friend, Count Waldstein, was a gesture of affection and tribute, but even the composer could not have predicted that the dedication would be carried over into the vernacular and that the work would be known generally as the Waldstein Sonata. In his middle period, he composed in a new, more ambitious style compositions. Deservedly one of the most popular of the sonatas, it ranks near the top in large-scale conception, originality, and virtuoso display . And, it is also a great challenging for piano players.
This paper will origins from the development of the keyboard, piano sonatas, and the background of the composition Waldstein Sonata. Throughout the knowledge of history to achieve the connotation of this composition. The documents for the analysis this composition are according to Stewart Gordon’s A History of Keyboard Literature, J. Peter Burkholder, Donald Jay Grout, Claude V. Palisca’s A History of Western Music and Ralph Turek ‘s Analytical Anthology of Music.
