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Piano Sonata No.6, Op.10 No.2

Sonata · in F major · Op. 10 No. 2

Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827
F major
Key
Sonata
Form
Allegro
Tempo
Op. 10 No. 2
Catalogue
Score
First page of Piano Sonata No.6, Op.10 No.2

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Difficulty
Our estimate Intermediate
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Themes & character
Lighthearted humor·Fugal finale·Haydn's influence·Composed 1798

At a glance

Catalogue
Op. 10 No. 2
Key
F major
Tempo / character
Allegro
Form
Sonata

Movements

I
AllegroF major

Playful and conversational, full of sudden pauses and false starts.

II
AllegrettoF minor

A shadowy minor-key movement in place of a true slow movement.

III
PrestoF major

A fast finale that opens in fugal imitation before dissolving into pure high spirits.

About the piece

Published in 1798, this is the sunniest of the three Op. 10 sonatas and the most obviously indebted to Haydn, Beethoven's sometime teacher, in its wit and its love of the unexpected pause. Its finale begins as a fugue, with the theme chased through the voices, before Beethoven abandons the strict treatment for something more freewheeling, a joke about learned counterpoint that Haydn himself would have appreciated.

The composer

Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
1770–1827

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer, conductor, and pianist. Regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music, he was mentored during the Classical period, and his musical style was a key driver of the transition to Romantic music, and the expansion of instrumental forms such as the symphony, the piano sonata and the string quartet. His compositions have attracted extraordinary casual and scholarly interest, and remain among the most performed in the world.

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