Piano Sonata No. 6 in F Major

The pattern of Beethoven’s three piano sonatas, Op. 10—which were completed in 1798 when his reputation was riding high in Vienna—follows that of his Op. 2 sonatas. A concise opening work, and a more expansive and richly expressive final sonata, enclose a bucolic central work where Beethoven is at his most Haydn-like, wearing his coltish humour with a buoyant lightness of touch. The middle work of the Op. 10 set, in F major, was reputedly Beethoven’s own favourite of his early piano sonatas. The opening “Allegro” sets the comic mood from the outset. The development section focuses on a tiny three-note cadential motif, before the recapitulation arrives—in a delicious nod to Haydn—in the “wrong” key of D major, before sliding back into the expected key of F. The second movement forms a solemn intermezzo, before the “Presto” finale launches in a mock-fugal style, revelling in playing contrapuntal games with its deliberately trifling themes to bring the work to a riotous close.