Sonata in F minor, Op.2, No.1

When asked what he thought of Mozart’s operas, Beethoven - an evidently not overmodest young composer recently settled in Vienna - is said to have replied, “I do not know them and do not care to hear the music of others lest I forfeit some of my originality.” It does seem, however, that he knew Mozart’s late Symphony in G minor, the opening theme of the Finale of which is clearly echoed at the beginning of his first Piano Sonata in F minor. His originality, on the other hand, is not seriously compromised. Within a dozen bars he has inverted that theme and converted it into the second subject of an economic and compact Allegro distinctively coloured with abrupt dynamic contrasts and bold harmonic provocations. The three concluding chords are destined to form a link with the similarly dramatic Prestissimo finale.

The F major Adagio also reverts to an earlier work for its thematic material but it is one of Beethoven’s own this time - one of three piano quartets he had written in Bonn in 1785 - and the voluptuously decorative scoring represents the latest in Viennese piano writing. The Menuetto is up to date, too, partly because of its very presence here (Haydn and Mozart preferred to restrict the piano sonata to three movements) and partly because of its quirky and distinctly scherzo-like outer sections.

The last movement starts where the first movement left off with the three briskly articulated chords which hold the construction tightly together. If the introduction of lyrical new material at the beginning of the development section seems to hold back the impulsive continuity of the piece, a discreet but insistent application of the three-chord motif is certainly effective in restoring the rhythmic urgency.

Gerald Larner©