STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY

Beethoven Piano Sonata

op.2 no.1
Analysis of the first movement

Michaela van Blerk

6/3/2012
Piano sonata op. 2 no. 1 is composed in the key of f minor and was dedicated to Joseph
Haydn (with whom Beethoven briefly studied) as a mark of respect and gratitude. This is
Beethoven’s first piano sonata, which was composed somewhere between 1793 and 1795.
This sonata, along with Beethoven’s second and third sonatas, were composed for piano
pupils, and were not intended as concert pieces. The first movement of this sonata is classical
in style and is similar to the works of Haydn and Clementi. It is in sonata form, consisting of
an exposition, development and recapitulation. The accompaniment is mostly quavers based
on the specific triad and the right hand theme is developed using the circle of fifths pattern.

The movement is written as allegro and is in simple duple time (2/2). It opens with an eight
bar statement in musical sentence form, which makes up the first theme of this composition.
The first motive (consisting of bars 1 and 2) is a broken f minor chord which begins on
middle c and rises to a-flat two octaves above. This motive is very structurally significant as
it is repeated many times throughout the first movement. It is first repeated in sequence form
in bars 3 and 4. Bars 5 and 6 are a repetition of segmentation from bar 2 and bar 4, ending
with a C-natural in bar 7 to climax the phrase. The c then descends scale-wise to e-natural,
which is an interval of a minor sixth. The bass in in bars 7 and 8 reiterates the a-flat, b-flat, c-
natural motion that is heard in the melody line from bars 5 to 7. Harmonically, the first theme
ends in bar 7 and 8 with a first inversion tonic chord going to the subdominant chord and then
to the dominant chord, which means it ends with a half cadence.

The movement continues after the fermata with the first motive being repeated in the
dominant minor, which is c-minor. From bar 111 to 20 is the transition, which establishes a-
flat major, and introduces the second theme of the movement. The bass line moves down
stepwise from c-natural to b-flat to a-flat, which is the opposite of the melodic movement in
bars 5 to 7 (the bass here moved from a-flat to b-flat to c-natural). The second half of the first
motive, which is in bar 2, is repeated on different harmonies in bars 11 through 14, while
another new idea is also subtly introduced. In the bass line, there is harmonic similarity
between bars 7-8 and 16-20. The same first inversion tonic – subdominant – dominant chords
are used, but in bars 16 through 20, this is transposed to a-flat major. So these two sections

1
Interestingly, the triad in bar 11 consists of the first three notes of the opening motive.
are harmonically and melodically very similar, but rhythmically they are significantly
different.

The second theme begins with an upbeat to bar 21 on the dominant of a-flat major, e-flat. In
the second theme, the accompaniment also begins before the melody, whereas in the first
them the melody appeared first. Another difference is that the first theme is in f minor, using
only the notes of that scale, while the second theme, which is in a-flat major, begins on f-flat.
The opening motive of the second theme moves in the descending direction and flips up with
an a-flat at the end in bar 22. Interestingly, the motion of the very first motive is the complete
opposite and the rhythm of the two motives is almost identical. The motive, as we know
begins on and f-flat and ends on a-flat below, bringing back the minor sixth interval we
encounter in bars 7 and 8.

Moving on to bar 33, there is a sforzato on the prolonged dominant, which resolves at the end
of the bar to the tonic. From bar 37, in the bass line there is again the chord progression of
first inversion tonic, going to the subdominant in bar 38 and then going to the dominant in bar
39 (This progression was earlier stated in bars 7-8 and bars 16-20). This all leads up to an
authentic cadence in bar 41, signalling the end of the exposition, except for the small codetta.
The melody of the codetta happens to be a compressed version of the opening theme 2:
beginning with the minor third of the scale, in this case a c-flat; then descending scale-wise to
the leading note; and ending with a decline from the dominant note to the tonic, resulting in
an authentic cadence.

The development section, beginning with an upbeat to bar 49, starts off by stating the
opening motive in bars 1 and 2 transposed to a-flat major. The repetition of bar 3 is left out,
leaving a transposed repetition of bar 4 following the second bar of the development. This
creates a three bar phrase, which is followed by a similar three bar phrase starting on the
dominant of a-flat. The dominant seventh chord is repeated in the bas three times, first in bar
51, then in bars 53 and 54. Instead of resolving to the tonic in bar 55, the harmony moves on,
increasing the intensity.

2
Every new idea in this movement seems to grow out of the theme in the first eight bars.
To quote an analyst of Beethoven sonatas: “As Beethoven wrote it, there is a wonderful
counterpoint between the flat repetition of a rhythmically identical three-measure phrase and
the increasing intensity of the harmonic motion and the fairly subtle motivic development.”
From bar 55, the piece switches to b-flat minor. The second theme, which was first
established in bar 21, returns with the repeated octaves on the dominant of b-flat minor,
namely f. Interestingly, the progressive modulation in the development section imitates the
bass line from bars 7 and 8, where Beethoven wrote the progression of a-flat to b-flat to c-
natural. We see this progression, starting in bar 49 where the development begins in a-flat
major. It then moves to b-flat minor in bar 55, as we know and then changes in bar 63 to c
major.

Between bars 73 and 78, the key of a-flat major is dissolved. In these bars, the a-flat major
chord changes from being the tonic chord, to being the medient chord of f-minor. This is a
crucial part of the composition. After the transition back to the key of f-minor, the
subdominant appears immediately in bars 79 and 80, followed by the dominant from bar 81.
This dominant chord is held right through until bar 100, otherwise known as ‘standing on the
dominant’. It is important to notice the falling melodic line from bar 69 through to 80, from
the c-natural which fall to the e-natural. This imitates the falling melody in bars 7 and 8.

The recapitulation begins in bar 101 with a slightly modified repetition of the opening theme.
This is followed by a small transition until bar 119, and a statement of the second theme of
the movement. From bar 140, there is a small codetta, followed by an impressive coda. The
movement ends with loud accented chords and ends on an authentic cadence.

In conclusion, this essay has analysed the first movement of Beethoven sonata op.2 no.1 in f
minor. It is composed in sonata form, having an exposition, development section and a
recapitulation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Latham, A. 2002. The Oxford Companion to Music. Oxford University Press.

D.M Randel. 2001. The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. Harvard University Press.

http://www.lesterknibbs.com/modules/241a01_cad-sym.html

http://theomniscientmussel.com/2008/06/beethoven-piano-sonata-notes-op-2-no-1/