2nd Sonata, Op. 2, No. 2, in A.
Allegro vivace—Largo appassionata—Scherzo and Trio—Rondo grazioso.
There is a distinct advance in the second Sonata. Although there are still the accepted four movements, the Minuet has now become a Scherzo. This Sonata was probably written shortly after the first, and in it we see how quickly Beethoven took a firm hold of form and design in construction. There is a feeling of considerable power about the first subject, and its short, pithy figures promise well for the development portion, a fact of which Beethoven takes immediate advantage.
The second subject has a dual tonality, beginning in E minor and ending in E major. This, of course, re-appears in the final section in A minor and major. There is considerable double counterpoint, and we have the characteristic rumblings in the bass. The canon in three parts at the octave, in the development portion, taxes the right hand of most players. The recapitulation is shortened and considerably altered.
In the Largo Appassionata we get very near to the grandeur of Beethoven's middle style. The opening subject has serenity, and there is scarcely anything passionate in the whole movement which breathes of solemn yet tender earnestness. This movement may be regarded as either in Rondo form or in Ternary form. There is a powerful episode in flats near the end, but the music closes with an epilogue full of tender feeling.
We find a right boisterous joy in the Scherzo, which is evolved from one single little figure. The sequence of dominant seventh chords in the bridge, however, was already somewhat hackneyed even at that time.
The final Rondo is a graceful movement which owes much to Mozart. An episode leads to the second subject in E major, and this in its turn to the re-appearance of the first subject in varied form. Then comes a stormy episode in the minor which gradually subsides into the return of the first subject, then of the second subject, and finally winds up with a long coda containing reminiscences of all the subjects.