Piano Sonata in F minor: "Kurfürstensonate" (Electoral) #2 (1783)

Biamonti 2; WoO 47, #2

This second of Beethoven’s Kurfürstensonaten, or Elector Sonatas, begins with a dramatic dotted rhythm and large chords. It then moves into a pastiche of typical galant gestures; the rapid descending passagework, the Murki bass, the Mozartean tremolando closing figures. We get intimations of famous moments – consider the ascending dyads in measures 11-12 in relation to the Pathetique Sonata for instance. The Sonata form is slightly more assured, he gives us a recapitulation, but the introduction ends up serving as a retransition back to that first theme.
The second movement is more tuneful but overloaded with unfulfilling passagework. Like the WoO 47, #1, it references the material from the first movement, but ultimately I get the sense of a dice game of materials, phrases and gestures tied together with little sense for their overall meaning or any throughline.

IMSLP

Beethovenhaus