Violin Sonata in A major Op.30 No.1 (1802)

The centre piece of the set of three violin sonatas Beethoven dedicated to Czar Alexander I on their publication in 1803 is the four-movement Sonata in C minor Op.30 No.2. Its two comparatively unambitious companions, in A and G major respectively, are no less interesting for that, however. The opening Allegro of Op.30 No.1, for example, makes much use of a short motif of the kind that often plays a significant role in Beethoven sonata movements but does it rather differently. Whereas the structural motif usually features as a vital element in a dramatic context, this one - a group of six semiquavers introduced by the pianist’s left hand in the very first bar - discreetly underpins an essentially lyrical concept. The most assertive of its many entries occurs in the piano part in the transition between the two main themes on their initial presentation in the exposition. Elsewhere it is prominent in offering material for a witty episode in the development and for a modest concluding gesture.

Although it is headed Adagio molto espressivo, the D major second movement avoids histrionics. Usually described as a ternary construction, it is more like a slow rondo, including an intimately expressive minor episode and an unassuming cadenza before each reappearance of the main theme. The lyrical orientation of the work is confirmed by the last movement. Indeed, it replaces a Presto so much more dynamic that the composer not ony withdew it as inappropriate but also made use of it as the finale of the heroic “Kreutzer” Sonata a few months later. The present Allegretto con variazioni is entertainingly resourceful with the most eventful variations reserved for the end - the fourth strikingly coloured by multi-stopped violin chords, the fifth sunk into dark minor harmonies and coiling contrapuntal lines but gradually emerging from there into the A major light and 6/8 metre of the carefree sixth variation and coda.