The first movement, in duple meter, is in sonata form (typical for the first movement of a sonata). The first theme is driven by a rising arpeggio, very similar to the opening of the first movement of Mozart's Symphony no 25. The second theme, in A flat major, is accompanied by eighth-note octaves in the bass (usually with dominant harmony). There are two codettas; the first consists of a series of energetic descending scales in A flat major, and the second is a lyrical passage marked con espressione. In this second codetta and in the second theme Beethoven makes interesting use of mode mixture as the right hand parts borrows from the parallel minor.

The development opens with the initial theme, but is mostly dedicated to the second theme and its eighth-note accompaniment. The retransition to the main theme uses its sixteenth-note triplet. The recapitulation repeats the material from the exposition without much change, except that it stays in F minor throughout. There is a short coda. A tense, agitated feel is ubiquitous throughout the movement. If played at speed, where one quarter note equals 126 to 138 macrobeats per minute, this movement can be challenging to perfect.

The second movement is a truncated sonata form movement in that it has neither a development section nor an exposition repeat. In both its structure and opera-style melodic embellishments, movement 2 of op 2-1 betrays the influence of Mozart. The movement opens with a lyrical theme in 3/4 time in F major. This is followed by an agitated transitional passage in D minor, followed by a passage full of thirty-second notes in C major. This leads back to a more embellished form of the F major theme, which is followed by an F major variation of the C major section.

Beethoven's third-movement minuet and trio in the F Minor Sonata is a brilliant example of the same sort of rhythmic manipulation, motive-driven themes, and thematic agmentation and reconfiguration that will characterize his mature compositions. It contains two repeated sections, followed by a trio in F major in two repeated sections, after which the first minuet returns.

The fourth movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata, op 2-1 is dark and explosive, filled with hammered chords, rippling arpeggios, and extreme contrasts of mood and dynamics. Like the first, it is in F minor with duple meter in sonata form. The exposition is accompanied by ceaseless eighth-note triplets. The first theme is based on three staccato quarter note chords. A transitional passage leads to a more lyrical but still agitated theme in C minor.

The chords of the first theme return to close the exposition. Where the development would be expected to start, there is a completely new theme in A flat, with the first respite from the eighth-note triplets. This is followed by an extended retransition based on the first theme. The recapitulation presents the first and second themes in F minor. There is no coda, only a descending arpeggio -- in eighth-note triplets, of course -- to conclude the piece.

The first movement is in sonata form as expected and is an athletic movement that has a bright disposition. The second theme of the exposition contains some striking modulations for the time period. A large portion of the development section is in F major, which contains a third relationship with the key of the work, A major. A difficult, but beautiful canonic section is also to be found in the development. The recapitulation contains no coda and the movement ends quietly and unassumingly.

The second movement of the Piano Sonata in A Major—marked largo appassionato (very slowly and passionately)—is in rondo form. The second movement is an example of one of the few instances in which Beethoven uses the tempo marking "Largo", which was the slowest such marking for a movement. The opening imitates the style of a string quartet, and features a staccato bass against lyrical chords. A high degree of contrapuntal thinking is evident in Beethoven's conception of this movement. The key is the subdominant of A major, D major.

Despite the fact that the second movement is in triple meter, the music does has the feel of a solemn, religious processional. The rondo theme itself features the melodic motion and limited range we associate with plainchant and religious hymns, and the bass line has the steady gait of a slow march.

In lieu of the expected designation of minuet and trio, Beethoven called his third movement a scherzo. Like a minuet and trio, a Beethoven scherzo is typically a large-scale three-part form, A–B–A, scherzo–trio–scherzo–da capo. And like a minuet and trio, a Beethoven scherzo is usually in triple meter. However, Beethoven's scherzi are typically fast to very fast in tempo and bear no resemblance to the moderately paced minuet dances from which they evolved. A stormy trio section adds contrast to the cheerful opening material of this movement.

Program annotators often refer to the fourth movement of the Piano Sonata in A Major as perhaps the most Mozartean movement in all of the Beethoven piano sonatas. The fourth movement is a beautiful and lyrical rondo. The arpeggio that opens the repeated material becomes more elaborate at each entrance. The form of this rondo is A1-B1-A2-C-A3-B2-A4-Coda. The C section is rather agitated and stormy in comparison to the rest of the work, and is representative of the so called "Sturm und Drang" style. A simple but elegant V7-I closes the entire work in the lower register, played piano!

The first movement of the Piano Sonata in C Major is in sonata form. This adagio is particularly emotive with its sweet melody followed by a clearly-pedalled minor key section.

The second movement of op 2-3, is in the key of E major, which shares only three pitches in common with C major. C major and E major are not closely related keys; in fact, because they have so few pitches in common, they are called distantly related keys. But the distance between C major and E major doesn't concern Beethoven, because he sees them as connected by a pivot third.

The third movement scherzo theme is based on the first movement's olly-olly-umphrey motive. Likewise, the scherzo also buffers a heavily-pedalled minor key section with more spritely parts.

The final allegro assai movement is a pleasant showcase with upward runs, trills, and some minor key drama, and has surprise in every corner. The lightness and whimsy of the fourth movement offers a perfect complement to the thunderous first movement, although the technical demands of the fourth movement are greater even than those of the first! The rondo theme here consists of a series of rapidly rising chords and some extremely fast passagework, all of which must be played with a deftness and delicacy that make the music sound effortless.

Beethoven simply calls the third movement allegro, which means fast; it is a three-part, A–B–A form movement and has been referred to as a minuet, a scherzo, and even a lyric intermezzo. As Anton Kuerti states, this movement "has a bit of an identity problem; it cannot tell if it is a minuet or a scherzo." Indeed, it has the friendly melodies of a minuet, but at the same time, contains sudden pauses and a rumbling dark trio in the minor key, which has the sounds of a scherzo. This part does not try to compete with the earlier orchestral sounds of the first two movements.

The fourth movement is a graceful and elegant rondo. Note that the rondo theme is accompanied by continuous repeated notes similar to those that characterized the first-movement introduction. A graceful piece which creates a raindrop effect, with the bass acting as droplets of water touching the ground. The "thunderstorm" brews up in the middle, with loud and threatening chords in the right hand and "rumbling clouds" (a continuous rumbling of thirty-second notes in the left hand). This theme returns later in the coda, but is depicted at a lower dynamic and a major key, making it sound like the sun is shining through the rain at last, painting a glorious rainbow.

Like the second movement of the Piano Sonata in F Minor, op 2-1, the second movement of op 10-1, is a truncated sonata form. It follows the structural outlines of the outer sections of an operatic da capo aria, meaning a sonata form without a development section. The second movement is a lyrical Adagio with many embellishments. It is in A-B-A-B or "sonatina" form, there is no development section, only a single bar of a rolled V7 chord leading back to the tonic key; an apparent third appearance of the main theme turns into a coda. This is one of the last slow movements in which Beethoven will use the operatic-style ornamentation that was traditional for an adagio.

The third and final movement of op 10-1, is as jagged and violent as the first and, in terms of its sonata form structure, even more compressed. The movement is marked Prestissimo (very fast); huge melodic leaps and extreme dynamic contrasts are everywhere to be found. The third movement is a highly nervous piece in sonata form, making heavy use of a figure of five eighth notes. The coda slows the tempo down, leading to a final outburst which fades to a quiet but agitated C major.

Comparison to the Pathétique Sonata 1: This sonata embodies the Pathétique Sonata in all three movements in many styles. For example, the first movements start out with a storming exposition, before arriving at the quiet secondary theme in E flat major. However, when the secondary theme of both sonatas is used again in the minor key, there is a shocking conversion: the happiness and hope of the secondary theme has been banished.

Comparison to the Pathétique Sonata 2: The second movement of each sonata is written in A flat major, at Adagio tempo and in 2/4 time. Both movements unwind gentle, docile melodies and weave into many modulations.

Comparison to the Pathétique Sonata 3: The third movement of each sonata is written at a vigorous tempo, and contains, on occasion, the storminess of its first-movement predecessor.

There is no slow movement in this three-movement sonata. Instead, Beethoven provides a movement marked allegretto, meaning a little allegro, a little fast. The movement is in triple meter, three-part form—A–B–A—and Beethoven marked the middle section—B—with the designation trio. As a result, some sources call the movement a minuet and trio and others call it a scherzo, though it exhibits none of the elements of dance that would mark a minuet, nor the energy that would mark a scherzo. It is more reminiscent of Beethoven's Bagatelles than of most of his scherzi. The middle section, in D flat, has a hint of anticipation of the third movement of the First Symphony.

The third movement starts off like a fugue; features one main theme that returns periodically, like a rondo; modulates to the dominant; and introduces a cadence theme, like a sonata form. It has a long, complex development section, like a sonata form, and a closing section that avoids the fugue theme in favor of the cadence theme.

The second movement exposition begins, a motive of grief emerges on the slow epic rhythm; a melodious lamento blends with the tender accents that have come from Mozart, though the violent contrasts are truely Beethoven's own creation.

An argument can be made that the second movement largo is too dark, heavy, and operatic for the rest of the sonata. Is this yet another example of his desire to shock through extreme contrast, of elevating the non sequitur to the level of high art?

Beethoven calls his third movement a minuet, and despite its wealth of subtle complexities, it is, indeed, a minuet. It is also something of a lyric triumph, exactly the sort of music that listeners need to hear after the darkness of the second movement.

The fourth-movement rondo is a genuine burlesque, filled with comic touches: long, breathless pauses; juxtapositions of light and heavy music; and a number of unexpected harmonic events.

The first movement is in standard first movement sonata form. It includes a long first theme, written in Grave, that is reminiscent of the Baroque period, specifically Bach's C minor partita. This first theme delays the primary theme until the exposition at the start of the Allegro section. This main section is in 2/2 time in the key of C minor, modulating, like most minor-key sonatas of this period, to the relative major, E flat. The return of the slow theme may have been inspired by Joseph Haydn's "Drumroll" Symphony, completed three years earlier in 1795. Beethoven extends Haydn's compositional practice by returning to the introductory material not once but twice, at the beginning of the development section as well as in the coda.

An interesting point about the first movement is that Beethoven does not specify where its repeat should begin. Traditionally, most pianists start their repeat at the beginning Allegro, but some performers choose to start from the beginning of the piece. This is because at the end of the repeat is another slow section that is similar to the opening section. Tovey suggests leaving out the repeat altogether, and some performers follow this practice.

Classical-era practice demanded that a sonata form movement that began in minor modulate to a major key, called the relative major, for the second theme. Will theme 2 begin in the correct key, in this case, the key of Eb major? Of course not! Beethoven knew full well that the dark, turgid mood of this movement could broach no rays of light, at least not yet. Theme 2 begins in Eb minor and modulates toward the correct key of Eb major only in its final moments.

The rondo theme of the second movement is one of the most beautiful and famous tunes in the repertoire. This theme is not merely pretty; it is, after the vicious first movement conclusion, a heroic if melancholy affirmation that life goes on, that beneath sorrow and pain, there is still grace and nobility.

This Adagio movement opens with the famous cantabile ("in a singing style") melody. This theme is played three times, interspersed with two modulating episodes: the first going from F minor to E flat major, the second from A flat minor to E major. With the final return of the main theme, the accompaniment becomes richer and takes on the triplet rhythm of the second episode. The brief coda's stylistic diversity is arresting: four bars of Romantic transcendence followed by a strikingly conventional 18th-century close.

The sonata closes with a duple meter movement in C minor. The main theme strongly resembles the second theme of the Allegro of the first movement, being identical to it in its pitch pattern for the first four notes and in its rhythmic pattern for the first eight. It follows a version of sonata rondo form that includes a coda. The three rondo episodes are in E flat, A flat, and C major. The common use of sforzandos create a forceful effect, although overall the rondo is relatively lightweight compared to the first movement.

Beethoven's notes show that he originally planned the movement as a rondo for piano accompanied by another instrument, perhaps a violin.

The third movement rondo is the most pianistic movement in the sonata, although it still lacks the purely pianistic passages we have come to expect in Beethoven's piano sonatas. The third movement is a really a lively rondo. On its final return, the main theme is syncopated against triplets.

Apart from some passages in the rondo (such as the final return), the sonata is quite easy to play. Notwithstanding its seeming simplicity, this sonata introduces the "sturm und drang" character that became so commonly identified with Beethoven. He adds drama both in the contrast between the lyrical passages that follow very active, textured thematic sections. Furthermore, the contrasting dynamics and variation between major and minor, between using the relative minor and the subdominant of its relative major (e-minor to C-major). These are new techniques that offer a hint of the innovations that Beethoven brought to end the Classical era and begin the Romantic era.

Beethoven's theme is a quirky march with an internal phrase structure of || a ||: b a1 :||. It's quirky, because during its concluding phrase—a1—it gets out of step with itself, as accents fall on the second, rather than the first beat of each hut-two.

The third and final movement rondo brings back the rhythmic games and spare, generally two-voice texture of the first movement. The movement is in fast triple meter, and because of its mood and meter, Beethoven labeled it a scherzo even though, structurally, it's a full-blown rondo.

The second movement sonata form is marked: Slowly, with great expression. The movement begins in the character of an Italian opera aria.

The minuet and trio we encounter in movement 3 is the second-to-last one we will hear in Beethoven's piano sonatas. After op 31-3, of 1802, they will all be scherzos.

The fourth movement rondo is marked allegretto, a little fast.

As Charles Rosen noted, This sonata is his [Beethoven's] farewell to the eighteenth century.

Likewise, the second movement scherzo and third movement funeral march display minimal internal contrasts. And in his fourth movement rondo, Beethoven minimizes internal contrast by building his contrasting episodes from the same motive that characterizes the rondo theme itself.

This innovation wasn't entirely new for the genre of piano sonata, but it was new for Beethoven. Like Mozart's Piano Sonata in A Major, K 331, of 1778, Beethoven's op 26 begins with a theme and variations form movement.

This sonata was greatly admired by Chopin, who repeated its basic sequence of scherzo, funeral march with trio, and animated, resolving finale, in his own piano sonata in B flat minor. His first movement, however, is also animated and in sonata form, unlike Beethoven's Andante con variazioni.

The resemblance between the two sonatas, however, ends there. Beethoven's op 26 is a big, four-movement sonata, where Mozart's is a modest, three-movement work. Beethoven's op 26 exhibits an amazing degree of contrast between its movements and has, as its third movement, an anguished funeral march, the likes of which Mozart would never have conceived of putting in a piano sonata!

In Schubert's Impromptu in A flat major, op 142-2, the main theme is strikingly similar to the theme in the first movement of Beethoven's sonata. The four-bar phrases that open these pieces are almost identical in most musical aspects: key, harmony, voicing, register, and basic as well as harmonic rhythm. Another, less immediate connection, exists with the main theme, also in A flat major, of the Adagio movement in Schubert's piano sonata in C minor, D 958. Indeed, Schubert may have borrowed these themes from Beethoven, as he often did in his compositions.

Beethoven's theme—in A flat major—is among the most exquisite and lyric melodies in the repertoire. It exhibits an internal phrase structure of a a1 b a1.

During the course of the theme, Beethoven makes extensive use of an effect called subito piano, meaning suddenly piano. A subito piano is a crescendo followed suddenly by a dynamic marking of piano; there are seven such subito pianos in the theme alone.

The second movement is an awesome scherzo, filled with thematic atomization, syncopations, harmonic invention, and pianistic brilliance. The opening phrases waft upward.

With movement 3, the funeral march, we have arrived at the heart of the sonata; this movement is so striking and different from what we would expect to hear in a piano sonata that it renders everything we've heard to this point as merely preparation.

Beethoven marks the movement Marcia funebre sulla morte d'un eroe—Funeral march on the death of a hero. The Beethoven literature seems to agree that Beethoven's hero is an imaginary one, though given Beethoven's autobiographical proclivities, it wouldn't be impossible that he was building a musical monument to himself.

Over the years, various annotators have claimed that this piano sonata movement is essentially a study for the groundbreaking and heartrending second-movement funeral march of Beethoven's Third Symphony, op 55, of 1803.

The rondo finale offers the necessary relief from the oppression of the funeral march without allowing us to forget the impression it made.

The funeral march movement is the heart and soul of the sonata; it must be approached slowly, from a distance. The lyric stasis of the first movement theme and variations creates a calmness, a quietude that is a necessary preparation for the darkness and introspective quality of the funeral march.

And the rondo finale offers the necessary relief from the oppression of the funeral march without allowing us to forget the impression it made.

The second movement, marked allegro molto e vivace—very fast and lively—is a full-blown, three-part scherzo and trio in C minor. It is also almost devoid of anything we might call a thematic melody; theme, in this movement, is strictly a function of rhythm and harmonic progression.

The essentially a-melodic second movement is a perfect setup for the third movement adagio con espressione—slowly, with expression—which has the character of a single, continuous aria for piano.

Brilliant and non-stop, the fourth movement is more than a capstone to the sonata; like the last movement of the Moonlight, it is also a summation of what has gone before it, both pianistically and thematically.

The spirit of the fantasy is that of spontaneous music, music that emerges directly from the heart through the fingers without the intercession of intellect. This spirit of the fantasy lay close to Beethoven's heart.

According to those individuals who heard them, Beethoven's improvisations—his pianistic fantasies—were held together, not by the same formal procedures as a composition, but as a narrative of affective states, a succession of connected and interrelated emotional states.

Without a doubt, Beethoven wanted to bring to his op 27 sonatas something of that narrative of affective states that so characterized his improvisations, his most intimate and personal music making.

The first movement is written in a kind of truncated sonata form. A melody that Hector Berlioz called a "lamentation" is played (mostly by the right hand) against an accompanying ostinato triplet rhythm. The movement is also played pianissimo or "very quietly", and the loudest it gets is mezzo-forte or "moderately loud". The movement has made a powerful impression on many listeners; for instance, Berlioz wrote that it "is one of those poems that human language does not know how to qualify." The work was very popular in Beethoven's day, to the point of exasperating the composer, who remarked to Czerny "Surely I've written better things."

The second movement is a relatively conventional minuet and trio; a moment of relative calm written in D flat major. This key signature is enharmonically equivalent to C-sharp major, that is, the tonic major for the work as a whole. The slightly odd sound of the first eight bars seems to be the result of the minuet starting in the "wrong" key; i.e. the dominant key of A-flat major. The music settles into D-flat only in the second phrase, bars 5-10.

The stormy final movement, in sonata form, is the weightiest of the three, reflecting an experiment of Beethoven's (also carried out in the companion sonata, Opus 27-1 and later on in Opus 101) placement of the most important movement of the sonata last. The writing has many fast arpeggios and strongly accented notes, and an effective performance demands flamboyant and skillful playing.

Of the final movement, Charles Rosen has written "it is the most unbridled in its representation of emotion. Even today, two hundred years later, its ferocity is astonishing.

At the opening of the work, Beethoven included a written direction that the sustain pedal should be depressed for the entire duration of the first movement. The Italian reads: "Si deve suonare tutto questo pezzo delicatissimamente e senza sordino" ("The entire piece [meaning movement] must be played as delicately as possible and without dampers."). The modern piano has a much longer sustain time than the instruments of Beethoven's day. Therefore, his instruction cannot be followed by pianists playing modern instruments without creating an unpleasantly dissonant sound.

The development of the movement runs through various minor keys, ever becoming more dramatic and angst filled as it compresses the main theme into a repeated one-bar rhythm, which gradually fades away. It then recapitulates back into the sweet and easy-going themes of the beginning.

The Andante movement is more forlorn and subdued. It is in D minor. The primary feature is the staccato semiquaver bass, giving the sense of a march. There is a slight diversion in the tonic major involving dialogue between a dotted, staccato rhythm and a gentle, rather playful set of semiquaver triplets. It then returns to the sombre tune with graceful harmonisation and variations of the primary melody. There is a sense of quiet solitude to it, but it is never menacing or overemotional. This movement was a personal favourite of Beethoven's.

The scherzo e trio is rather playful, and certainly humorous. The tune is joyous and cheerful yet straightforward. Its most important feature is the contrast between four long notes, each an octave apart, and a fast quaver melody. The trio simply repeats a four-bar melody eight times over. It gives the scherzo a diversion, as the melody is played in many different ways. The movement provides an interesting comparison with the interlude of the second.

The final movement is a lilting rondo, and is probably the movement which comes closest to the sense of the word 'pastoral'. It sways and moves. Interestingly, out of not only his piano sonatas but all of his published works up to this point, this is the first time that Beethoven decides to write non troppo, therefore this instruction clearly means a lot to him. Some critics attribute the repeating bass line to a bagpipe, others to a dancing gigue. Beethoven employs various amusing, interesting and very adventurous episodes, all with different moods, rhythms, and harmonic texture. The finale, played a little faster than the allegro, can be termed as the only 'virtuoso' passage in the whole sonata. This exciting, brilliant ending rounds off what is generally a calm sonata.

It is the last time that Beethoven ever used the traditional sonata form. Beethoven personally felt dissatisfied with the work, and pledged to take on a new path and direction.

The first movement, Allegro vivace, begins in an animated fashion. Almost comical, the main theme is littered with brisk, semiquaver passages, and chords written in a stuttering fashion, where Beethoven suggests, the hands are unable to play in unison with one another. Elements of wit and whimsy is needed as the piece demands for brisk fingerwork and precision, to avoid a heavy or clumsy sound. Episodes suggest a more sensitive or romantic feeling, but overall, the piece is light, elegant and entertaining.

The second movement, marked adagio grazioso, slowly and gracefully, is a genuine serenade, complete with a long, highly embellished, Italianate melody line and a guitar-like accompaniment. With long, drawn out trills and reflective pauses, the Adagio grazioso in C Major is the more sentimental movement. The heavy ornamentation almost suggests a grotesque parody, but there are several, graceful melodies in the piece that saves it from merely being a joke.

Beethoven's light, comic strategy for this sonata continues through the third and final movement rondo-sonata. Although some have been pointed out that the rondo theme is in the style of a gavotte, an old French dance in duple meter, it is even more in the style of Mozart—lyric and light, with just enough chromaticism (meaning just enough notes outside the home key of G major) to give it a sense of harmonic depth and richness.

The rondo theme appears first in the treble of the piano, accompanied simply, then in the bass, accompanied above by a running line in triplets.

The rondo is similar in character to the first movement; light, enthusiastic and youthful. This rondo is considered by critics to be one of the finest rondos to be written by Beethoven. Here, a single simple theme is variated, ornamented, syncopated, modulated ... nearly anything that could be done to a melody, throughout the piece. But Beethoven's creativity never makes us bore of it. All the ideas are fresh, inviting and intriguing. Beethoven eventually pulls the song into a brief adagio, but when it seems the piece has finished, a presto erupts, ending this vibrant sonata on an ebullient finale.

Once again, a rising broken chord—here a Bb major chord—has initiated a movement with a sense of reflection and repose. Unlike the first movement, however, where such moments were but brief respites, here in the second movement, reflection and repose will be the dominant expressive element, thus counterbalancing the angst and turmoil of the first movement.

Having balanced and reconciled fear, terror, and confusion with repose and reflection over the course of the first two movements, Beethoven can cut loose with the sort of rhythmic, dance-oriented music at which he excelled in the third movement.

The third movement is known as a moto perpetuo, meaning a perpetual motion; once the subdivision of six sixteenth notes (or sextuplet) is introduced in the first measure, it continues, non-stop, for 399 measures, to the last note of the movement. Given this absolute rhythmic consistency from start to finish, Beethoven will have to work that much harder to differentiate his themes.

The third movement, in the key of D minor, is very moving, first flowing with emotion and then reaching a climax, before moving into an extended development section which mainly focuses on the opening figure of the movement and meanders through many keys and dynamics, before entering the recapitulation and coda (which is also quite substantial).

The second movement is marked allegretto vivace—moderately fast and full of life—and is set in duple meter. Despite this fact, almost every music scholar wants to call this movement a scherzo, which is usually understood to be a triple-meter form. The confusion in the literature of precisely what to call this movement is almost as comic as the music itself.

There is no slow movement in op 31-3; the third movement is a minuet and trio. It is music of extraordinary grace and sophistication, as if Beethoven had set out to prove that he could still compose beautifully in this overdone genre. We hear the opening minuet section.

The final movement of op 31-3, is, like the final movement of the Tempest Sonata, a tarantella—a fast, compound-duple-meter dance of southern Italian origin. Marked presto con fuoco—very fast, with fire—this movement, like the final movement of the Tempest, is about rhythm, energy, and movement!

The first movement is a standard Sonata-Allegro form. After the first and second theme, it moves into the recapitulation with very little development. After restating the theme in the bass with new counterpoint in the treble, Beethoven closes with a brief coda.

Demonstrating the insignificance of this work, Beethoven skips the slow movement and dance movement and moves directly to the finale, which is simply a brief, light-hearted Rondo in G major.

Perhaps one of the reasons Casper Carl van Beethoven wanted to see the Piano Sonata in G Major in print was because of the second movement rondo theme and his desire to bank off a melody that had already proved itself a winner in the septet. Perhaps one of the reasons that Beethoven did not want to see the G Major in print was that he knew he had reused its rondo theme melody in the septet, but the rest of the world did not know, at least not until his brother had it published without his permission.

The first movement features an aristocratic theme, delicate yet stately. It, and a more playful second theme undergo only minimal development before recapitulating at the end, making for a simplified sonata form, with its main theme based heavily on a G Major triad.

The second movement of the Piano Sonata no 20 shares a melodic theme with the Minuet of the Op 20 Septet. Because the Septet was the later piece (1799-1800), Beethoven's suppression of the sonata and reuse of one of its themes suggests that he perhaps planned to scrap the piano work altogether. But the composer was known to recycle melodies, in some instances several times. This Minuet features a charming melody that, along with its accompanying material, is repeated several times, varying somewhat in appearance, but remaining simple and unsophisticated.

The second subject group, marked dolce, is a sweet chordal theme in E major. Though not unprecedented (the first movement of the op 31-1 sonata also has a second group in the mediant), this was the first major work in which Beethoven had chosen to modulate elsewhere than the customary fifth up for the second group, an idea to which he would return later (in the Hammerklavier Sonata, for example).

For the recapitulation, Beethoven transposes the second subject into A major, which quickly changes into A minor and then back to C major again. The movement ends in a heavy coda.

The sonata opens with repeated chords, played pianissimo. This initial straightforward, but anxious rhythm is devoid of melody for two bars. It then swiftly ascends upward and follows with a three-note descent in the middle register and a four-note descent in the upper. More of this teasing rhythm rumbles forward, until 45 seconds later where the notes seem to almost stumble over themselves.

For the recapitulation, Beethoven transposes the second subject into A major, which quickly changes into A minor and then back to C major again. The movement ends in a heavy coda.

The second movement is a short Adagio set in jutting 6/8 time as an introduction to the third movement. At once halting, angular, and tranquil, the music gradually gets more agitated before calming down to segue into the Rondo. This movement replaced an earlier, longer middle movement, which was later published separately as the Andante Favori, WoO 57.

Opening bars of final movement rondo begins with a sweet and consoling tune played pianissimo, which soon comes back fortissimo, over daringly fast scales in the left hand and a continuous trill on the dominant in the right. Beethoven then introduces the second theme - a series of broken chords in triplets - but soon interrupts it with a turbulent section in A minor that foreshadows the central episode.

Soon the music returns to C major, and the sweet theme is repeated before being followed by a series of staccato octaves in C minor that mark the start of the central episode, one of the few cases of where such melodic change is seen, a theme repeated in larger works like the Emperor Piano Concerto. Soon the octaves are accompanied by swirling triplets in first the left and then right hands; the music grows more tense and runs into a series of angular chords, which transitions into a more quiet section, which returns after much drama to the C major theme, now played in a triumphant fortissimo.

The second theme reappears, followed by another long line of beautiful dance-like music which is perfectly characteristic of Beethoven. Another series of fortissimo chords is struck, ushering in a short, delicate pianissimo section, and the movement seems to die away, but then unexpectantly segues into the Prestissimo coda, a wondrous section that plays with the various themes of the movement and more before ending in a triumphant rush of sound.

The minuet theme is a fabulous and subtle bit of writing... lyric and elegant, it nevertheless can hardly get through two measures without stopping on a closed cadence. The mock formality of this theme and the ancient nobility it is meant to represent are the dual objects of Beethoven's subtle and effective parody. The contrasting episode is a perpetual-motion etude, an exercise in running octaves and sixths. Where the minuet theme had to stop for breath every few beats, this contrasting episode moves like a runaway truck, its energy and drive unstoppable. Where the minuet theme was dainty, subtle, and elegant, the contrasting episode is coarse, youthful, and inelegant.

"If the first movement was constipated, then the second movement suffers from the opposite ailment." (Anton Kuerti)

If you do not already know the second movement of this sonata, you will find it phenomenal. On the one hand, it is a piece of radical, experimental art—a test of how much mileage Beethoven can get out of a single thematic idea and how many harmonic areas he can explore with that single idea. On the other hand, the movement is a throwback to the Baroque era. How can a single movement be both a radical experiment and a throwback to the Baroque?

What should we call the form of this movement. Quasi-sonata form? Ersatz sonata form? The truth is that we can call the movement whatever we want to call it, because there is no precedent for it; it is entirely contextual, relevant only to itself. The exposition introduces only one theme: a rising, arpeggiated melody in continuous sixteenth notes, initially heard in the bass. The theme is then imitated in the treble.

What I believe to be the obvious influence and inspiration behind this movement is nowhere discussed in the literature. It is Johann Sebastian Bach's Fugue in E Minor for Two Voices from the first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier, composed around 1720.

The movement moves quickly through startling changes in tone and dynamics, and is characterised by an economic use of themes. The main theme, in double octaves, is quiet and ominous. Just after four bars the main theme is repeated in G-flat major, creating a great contrast. There is a short but important recurrent four note motif reminiscent of the main theme in Beethoven's Symphony No 5.

In the recapitulation the fortissimo outbreak is triumphantly shifted to F-major. The second theme begins as a free inversion of the main theme. As in Beethoven's Waldstein-sonata the coda is unusually long, containing quasi-improvisational arpeggios which span most of the (early 19th-century) piano's range. The choice of F-minor becomes very clear when one realizes that this movement makes frequent use of the deep, dark tone of the lowest F on the piano, which was the lowest note available to Beethoven at the time.

The second movement is a necessary break between the intense outer movements, the calm between the storms.Its form is a theme and variations on a slow, quiet, hymn-like tune in D-flat major, comprising two eight-bar sections that both repeat; the second section starts in A-flat major.

The theme is a gentle, sonorous, chorale-like tune in binary form, meaning that it is structured in two parts, with each part immediately repeated: a a b b. The theme is in Db major—the same key Beethoven used for the final appearance of theme 2 in the first movement.

The third movement is a sonata-allegro in which, very unusually, only the second part is directed to be repeated. The movement is based on a perpetuum mobile theme, with rapid sixteenth notes that are only interrupted for brief moments in the development and coda. The coda, when it arrives, contains a totally new theme in binary form, which is very percussive. It leads into a climax in unwavering F minor and its dominant seventh, which eventually crashes down in a manner similar to that of the op 27-2 sonata. The movement is mysteriously complex and fast-paced in nature. It has some short melodic fragments and canons. The movement has been called many things by music critics — passionate, despairing, and breath-taking.

The rondo theme returns, followed by varied version of the first contrasting episode. A third contrasting episode follows, consisting of a rising arpeggio figure, accompanied above by the same two-note units that we heard throughout the first contrasting episode. As in the first contrasting episode, the two-note units eventually take over the texture, leading to the next restatement of the rondo theme. This restatement is followed by passages that combine elements of both the first and second contrasting episodes, then more two-note units, a coda featuring another statement of the rondo theme, more two-note units, and so on.

Short but sweet!

The word sonatina is the diminutive of sonata, and it means little sonata, implying that it is suited for little hands, children and other pianistic beginners. Often over the years, Beethoven's Sonata in G Major, op 79, has also been referred to as a sonatina, though Beethoven himself never referred to it that way. Although little hands may easily play its middle movement, the outer movements betray a subtle virtuosity that catches Beethoven at his game: Op 79 is not a sonatina in the mold of Clementi but a parody of one.

The second movement, an andante, is a barcarolle, a boat song modeled after the boat songs of the Venetian gondoliers. The movement is in three parts: A B A1. The outer parts—the A and A1 sections—are in G minor, and the middle section—B—is in Eb major. Like many barcarolles, Beethoven's outer sections are scored as if they were duets for two sopranos.

This movement, while delightful, is not characteristic of Beethoven. It's not confessional or self-expressive but, rather, music as affectation, a wonderfully clever, good-spirited parody of certain preexisting musical genres and types.

The third movement rondo is short, compact, and goes by quickly. The rondo theme is characterized by what, in Beethoven's day, would have been recognized as a galloping hoofbeat rhythm: an eighth note followed by two sixteenth notes.

As in every other movement in this sonata, there is a sense of artifice, of Beethoven playing with certain musical conventions. The phrase structure of the rondo theme is binary form (a a b b) in which each phrase is eight measures long and divides into 2 four-measure phrases and 4 two-measure subphrases.

In terms of the programmatic and emotional content of each movement, Beethoven could not have been more explicit, a fact that has bothered 20th-century musicologists, who can't stand the thought that Beethoven would stoop so low as to compose descriptive music.

Over the course of the sonata, Beethoven's aggrieved farewell to Archduke Rudolph, his melancholy over the archduke's absence (portrayed in the second movement), and his joy at the archduke's return (portrayed in the third) become generalized and universalized.

The sonata opens in a 2/4 time Adagio with a short, simple motif of three chords, over which are written the three syllables Le-be-wohl ('Fare-thee-well'). This motif is the basis upon which both the first and the second subject groups are drawn. As soon as the introduction is over and the exposition begins, the time signature changes to split C (alla breve) and the score is marked Allegro.

The Andante espressivo might be misunderstood as an introduction to the ending Vivacissimamente, but a closer look finds the beauty and depth in this movement. The movement is 2/4 time throughout and is naturally junctured to the finale.

The finale, also in sonata form, starts joyfully on the dominant, B flat, in 6/8 time. After the startling introduction, the first subject shows up in the right hand and is immediately transferred to the left hand, which is repeated twice with an elaboration of the arrangement in the right hand. Before the second subject group arrives, there's one remarkable bridge passage, introducing a phrase that goes from G flat major to F major, first through distinctive forte arpeggios, then in a more delicate, fine piano arrangement.

What theme 2 lacks in melodic profile it more than makes up with expressive power. A short, punchy bit of cadence material follows and leads to the hushed conclusion of the exposition.

The exposition has offered up a stunning variety of moods and states of being, almost all of them dark. The development section is a tour-de-force of registral dislocation (that is, jumping from one registral extreme to another) and thematic fragmentation and prolongation.

Movement 2 of the Piano Sonata in E Minor is a rondo of great lyric beauty. In E major where the first movement was in E minor, lush where the first movement was austere, amiable and friendly in tone where the first movement was terse and often harsh, this second movement stands in complete contrast with the first.

The overall form of the second movement is A B A C A B A plus a coda, a rondo-sonata form, in that the first contrasting episode (B) returns in the tonic key near the end of the movement, and the second contrasting episode (C) is essentially a development section.

The first contrasting episode begins dramatically but soon enough evolves into a charming, music-box–like passage that leads directly back to the rondo theme, which is heard in its entirety of 32 measures.

The second contrasting episode (C) is developmental, moving through a long succession of keys before returning to the rondo theme, which is, again, heard in its full 32 measures.

We move forward to the fourth and final statement of the rondo theme, in which Beethoven finally does something a little bit different by alternating the theme between the bass and the soprano. The coda grows directly out of the conclusion of the theme. The movement and the sonata conclude with a grace and whimsy that are impossible to describe.

The fourth movement—huge and powerful—sums up and ties together everything that came before it. Only after having heard the entire sonata do we realize that the first three movements are, collectively, a preparation for the monumental fourth movement finale.

The first movement is a perfect example of Beethoven's contextual use of form, by which he uses traditional formal structures—in this case, sonata form—only up to the point that they fill his expressive needs. In the exposition, there is no second theme, no modulating bridge, and no cadence material; just a single, long principal theme that starts in the tonic key of A major and modulates to the dominant key of E major.

Although the development section of this first movement does indeed build up to a modest climax, the music never loses its ethereal, dreamlike quality.

The gentle, song-like dreamscape created by the first movement is swept aside by the sheer physicality of the second movement march. The movement is a three-part structure: A B A1. The contrasting section (B) is a quasi-canonic episode based on motives drawn from the opening march and yet another classic example of Beethoven making something out of nothing.

The third movement adagio is not so much a self-standing movement as a lengthy introduction to the fourth movement finale. We encountered just this sort of slow, introductory middle movement in the Waldstein Sonata, in which the second of that sonata's three movements was essentially an introduction to the last movement. Beethoven indicates that the movement be played slowly and longingly. The opening section combines the block chord–like character of a hymn with the gentle melodic embellishments of the opera house.

Rather than introduce any new thematic or contrasting ideas, the remainder of the movement features a long, descending bass line, over which Beethoven explores the gentle, turn-like embellishment that began the theme.

A gentle cadenza follows, based again on the turn-like embellishment that began the movement, and then, in a complete surprise, the cadenza leads directly into a restatement of the opening of the first movement! Marked tempo del primo pezzo"—the tempo of the first movement—this brief bit of reminiscence is a masterstroke: it bookends the first three movements of the sonata and effectively seals them off from what follows.

The fourth movement is a fascinating and monumental hybrid, in which Beethoven combines a Classical-era construct—sonata form—with a Baroque-era construct—a fugue. This is not a fugue finale, like the one we will encounter in Beethoven's next piano sonata, the Hammerklavier, op 106, in which the entire last movement is a fugue. The finale in op 101 is a sonata form movement with a fugue for its development section. Beethoven tells us that this fourth and final movement should be played Quickly, but not too quickly, and with determination.

Also, adding to his troubles... by 1815, most of Beethoven's patrons had been lost to him through death, permanent departure from Vienna, or personal estrangement, and his hearing was deteriorating rapidly. Finally, Beethoven's brother Casper died of tuberculosis in 1815, leading to Beethoven's brutal and prolonged fight to gain custody of his nephew.

Why is the sonata called the Hammerklavier? Beethoven saw no reason why a native German speaker should have to use, exclusively, Italian terminology. Beethoven's German-language patriotism peaked in 1817, when he sent a letter to the publisher Sigmund Anton Steiner. Framed in a mock-military style, Beethoven wrote: …hereafter on all our works, in place of ‘pianoforte,' hammerklavier will be printed.

Beethoven went so far as to attempt to retitle the Piano Sonata in A Major, op 101, which was already at the printer. Ultimately, the title of op 101 was not changed, and the designation Hammerklavier was saved for Beethoven's next piano sonata, a work in Bb major, completed in 1818. That piece—published as op 106—was printed in Germany in 1823 under the title: Grosse Sonate für das Hammerklavier—Grand Sonata for the Hammerklavier.

The first movement opens with a series of fortissimo B-flat major chords, which form much of the basis of the first subject. Another series of the same chords ushers in the more lyrical second subject, in the submediant (that is, a minor third below the tonic), G Major. The development section opens with a fughetta subject that descends continuously by thirds. The recapitulation, in keeping with Beethoven's exploration of the potentials of sonata form, avoids a full harmonic return to B-flat until long after the return to the first theme. The movement ends with a coda, the final notes one of the rare fortississimo passages in Beethoven's work.

The brief second movement includes a great variety of harmonic and thematic material. The scherzo's theme - which has been described as a parody of the first movement's first subject - is at once playful, lively, and pleasant. The trio, marked "semplice", visits the minor, but the effect is more shadowy than dramatic. Following this dark interlude, Beethoven inserts a more intense presto section in 2/4 meter, which eventually segues back to the scherzo. This time around, it is followed by a coda (with another meter change), before dying away into the third movement.

The third sonata-form slow movement, centred on F-sharp minor, has been called, among other things, a "mausoleum of collective sorrow" and is notable for its ethereality and great length as a slow movement. Paul Bekker called the movement "the apotheosis of pain, of that deep sorrow for which there is no remedy... the immeasurable stillness of utter woe".

The forth movement begins with a slow introduction that serves to transition from the third movement; to do so, it modulates from D Minor to B Major to A Major, which modulates to B-flat major for the fugue. After a final modulation to B-flat major, the main substance of the movement appears: a titanic three-voice fugue in triple meter.

The subject of the fugue can be divided itself into three parts: (i) a tenth leap followed by a trill to the tonic, (ii) a 7-note scale figure repeated descending by a third, and (iii) a tail semiquaver passage marked by many chromatic passing tones, whose development becomes the main source for the movement's unique dissonance. Marked "with occasional license" ("con alcune licenze"), the fugue, one of Beethoven's greatest contrapuntal achievements, as well as making incredible demands on the performer, moves through a number of contrasting sections and includes a number of "learned" contrapuntal devices, often, and significantly, wielded with a dramatic fury and dissonance inimical to their conservative and academic associations.

The second theme is a dramatic contrast to the first theme. It begins with an arpeggiated diminished seventh chord, marked forte to contrast the piano coloring of the first theme. After a cantabile theme in thirds, it moves into simple arpeggiated runs that suggest a written-out improvisation.

The development begins with a seamless transition from the second theme by means of an ascending B Major scale. After modulating through various rare sharp keys (D-Sharp, C-Sharp, A-Sharp, F-Sharp, but not in that order), Beethoven leads into the recapitulation by introducing the first, and only, sustained lines in the movement. Beethoven ends the recapitulation with a cadenza-like passage in parallel sixths and leads into a brief but beautiful coda, ending on a sustained E Major triad.

The second movement, marked Prestissimo follows directly after the opening movement. Before the final chord of the opening movement has fully decayed, the second movement comes crashing in on the parallel minor. This movement, though not fugal in nature, comprises the counterpoint that was characteristic of Beethoven's late works. This movement is much closer to a Three-Part Invention than a fugue and is mostly almost entirely contrapuntal, doubled at the octave.

The finale is perhaps the most radical of the three movements while being the most traditional in form. It is a theme and variations in Baroque form, with the basic tempo remaining constant throughout the movement and increasing the speed (and virtuosity) by subdividing the measures further and further, adding more and more notes into the same amount of time. It should also be noted that this movement, like the second movement of Opus 111, which is also a theme and variations, is a slow movement; Beethoven obviously felt that these last sonatas should end with great emotional intensity.

The first movement is marked Moderato cantabile molto espressivo ("at a moderate speed, in a singing style, very expressively"). Its opening is marked con amabilità (literally, "with lovableness"). After a pause on the dominant seventh the opening is extended in a cantabile theme. This leads to a light arpeggiated demisemiquaver transition passage. The second group of themes in the dominant E? includes appoggiatura figures, and a bass which descends in steps from E? to G three times while the melody rises by a sixth. The exposition ends with a semiquaver cadential theme. Beethoven does not ask for the exposition to be repeated.

The development section consists of restatements of the movement's initial theme in a falling sequence, with underlying semiquaver figures. The recapitulation begins conventionally with a restatement of the opening theme in the tonic (A flat major), Beethoven combinining it with the arpeggiated transition motif. The cantabile theme gradually modulates via the subdominant to E major. The music soon modulates back to the home key of A flat major. The music closes with a cadence over a tonic pedal.

The scherzo is marked allegro molto. The rhythm is complex with many syncopations and ambiguities. Tovey observes that this ambiguity is deliberate: attempts to characterise the movement as a Gavotte are prevented by the short length of the bars implying twice as many accented beats - and had he wanted to, Beethoven could obviously have composed a Gavotte.

The trio in D flat major juxtaposes "abrupt leaps" and "perilous descents", ending quietly and leading to a modified reprise of the scherzo with repeats, the first repeat written out to allow for an extra ritardando. After a few syncopated chords the movement's short coda comes to rest quietly but uneasily in F major via a long broken arpeggio in the bass.

The third movement's structure alternates two slow arioso sections with two faster fugues. The movement uses the scherzo's concluding ritardando bass arpeggio in F major to resolve to B flat minor, forming a seamless bridge between the rough humor of the scherzo and the doleful meditation of the Arioso, in A flat minor. The lament is supported by repeated left hand chords.

The arioso leads into a three-voice fugue, whose subject is constructed from three parallel rising fourths. The opening theme of the first movement carried within it elements of this fugue subject (the motif A?–D?–B?–E?) The countersubject moves by smaller intervals.

At the point where Beethoven introduces a diminution of the subject's rising figure the piece comes to rest on the dominant seventh, which resolves onto a G minor chord leading into a reprise of the arioso dolente in G minor marked "ermattet" (exhausted).

The arioso ends with repeated G major chords of increasing strength, repeating the sudden minor-to-major device that concluded the scherzo - now a second fugue emerges with the subject of the first inverted, marked "wieder auflebend" (again reviving). The final fugue gradually increases in intensity and volume. After all three voices have entered, the bass introduces a diminution of the first fugue's subject (whose accent is also altered), while the treble augments the same subject with the rhythm across the bars.

Theme 1 is an explosion based on a vicious three-note motive. Theme 1 is also a fugue subject, presented in octaves in both hands. Theme 2 is a much more familiar sounding thematic construct—a graceful, lyric tune characterized by dotted rhythms and some elaborate ornamentation, ending with two chords marked adagio, slowly. An avalanche of descending, broken thirds initiates the cadence material, which has the furious, contrapuntal character of theme 1.

The development section begins with a quick shift of key to G minor, and from there it's another fugue. This developmental fugue is based on a subject with the same head but a different tail than the one we heard in the exposition.

The fugue that is theme 1 ends, and the modulating bridge goes into high gear, with Beethoven substituting octaves for what had been, in the exposition, single notes. In the recapitulation, theme 2 is somewhat extended: heard first in C major, then in C minor. The cadence material and the brief coda that follows continue to feature fugue-like material to the very end of the movement, which concludes in C major.

In four of his last five piano sonatas, Beethoven grappled with the issue of how to incorporate the ancient procedure of fugue into his self-avowedly modern sonatas. In the Sonata in A major, op 101, of 1816, Beethoven did something that both Haydn and Mozart had done, he inserted a fugue into the fourth movement development section. In the Hammerklavier of 1818, Beethoven took it a step further, and dedicated his entire last movement to fugue. In the Sonata in Ab Major, op 110, of 1821, Beethoven alternated fugal and non-fugal elements in the third and final movement. Finally, here in the first movement of op 111, Beethoven achieves total synthesis between fugue and sonata form. There's nothing else like it in the repertoire.

The final movement, in C major, is a set of variations on a 16-bar theme, with a brief modulating interlude and final coda. The third variation is remarkably jazzy and often referred to as the "boogie-woogie variation", and the last two are famous for introducing small notes which constantly divide the bar in 36 resp. 27 parts, which is very uncommon. Beethoven eventually introduces a trill which gives the impression of a further step (ie. dividing each bar into 81 parts), though this is extremely technically difficult without slowing down to half-tempo.

Beethoven’s markings indicate that he wished variations 2-4 to be played to the same basic pulse as the theme, first variation and subsequent sections (using the direction "L'istesso tempo" at each change of time signature). Typical performances take 8 to 9 minutes for the first movement, and 15 to 18 minutes for the second.

The work is one of the most famous compositions of the composer's "late period" and is widely performed and recorded. The pianist Robert Taub has called it "a work of unmatched drama and transcendence ... the triumph of order over chaos, of optimism over anguish."