It says on the syllabus that the Beethoven sonata is WoO 51...is that the same as opus 51 or am I being stupid? in my beethoven sonatas there's no Op 51 or WoO 51. sorry if this is a silly question!

WoO means "Without opus number" and was generally given to works that were not considered "major" enough to be given an opus number.

So, no, the sonata in question is not the same as the opus 51 no.2 which is a Rondo in G major for piano. WoO No.51 is a piano sonata in C major and was written between 1790-92 when Beethoven was in his late teens, early twenties.

*Not a silly question either! *

Oh ok thanks. *Grumble grumble* that means I don't have it already and have to go buy another book.

Before anyone gets too confused, here is the full story:

WoO 51 was probably intended to be a Sonata, but was never completed. So WoO 51 contains TWO pieces which could be two movements of an unfinished sonata. Some catalogues list WoO 51 as Two RONDOS, No 1 in C and No 2 n G. IN fact Beethoven did not complete the second of the two pieces either - it was finished off By Ferdinand Ries.