Beethoven’s Sonata Pathétique was composed in 1798 and published the next year. On publication it was named Grande sonate pathétique by the publisher. Pathétique (pathetic) has a different meaning than what you would expect: it means melancholic and tragic, and it mostly refers to the second part, the most famous.
It was an instant success, leading to Beethoven’s international establishment as both a composer and a pianist. It was also the period where Beethoven started to suffer the first sings of his growing deafness. He did come onto his own however: creating his own style, apart from the long shadows of his examples Haydn and Mozart. This would prove a formative influence on the coming period of romantic music.