109 can be traced back to early in 1820, even before Beethoven's negotiations with Adolf Schlesinger, the publisher of his last three sonatas.

[2] There is an April entry in Beethoven's conversation book describing a "small new piece" that is, according to William Meredith, identical to the first movement of Op.

In fact, the outline of the movement makes the idea of a Bagatelle interrupted by fantasia-like interludes seem very plausible.

[2][3] Beethoven's secretary Franz Oliva then allegedly suggested the idea of using this "small piece" as the beginning of the sonata that Schlesinger wanted.

[4] Sieghard Brandenburg has put forward the theory that Beethoven had originally planned a two-movement sonata, omitting the first movement.

[5] Alexander Wheelock Thayer, on the other hand, put forward the view that the beginning of a sonata in E minor by Beethoven was not developed further and had nothing to do with Op.

[7] The differences in character between the individual variations seem to be smaller in the nine-variation version than in the final printed edition,[8]: 226  but according to Kay Dreyfus this already indicates a "process of exploration and re-discovery of the theme".

It contained many errors, since Beethoven had sent the difficult-to-read autograph score to the Berlin-based publisher Schlesinger instead of a fair copy and was prevented by illness from undertaking adequate proof-reading of the prints.

[citation needed] Arabella Goddard is credited as having been the first pianist to program all of Beethoven's late sonatas in a single concert series.

The different cut-off points arise from the fact that the sonatas from Opus 90 on are varied and contradictory in form and in their predominant musical tendencies.

These procedures contrast with a heightened virtuosity, a broadening of the form and an increase in overall length, as for example in the Hammerklavier sonata, Op.

109, reminiscences of the straightforward style of the early, Haydn-influenced sonatas contrast with harmony that is sometimes harsh, anticipating the music of the 20th century.

[14] Very wide intervals between the outer voices, a process of breaking the music into ever shorter note values (as in the sixth variation in Op.

[12]: 138 This sonata seduces the listener with its intimate, less dramatic character and distinguishes itself by its special lyricism, "melodic and harmonic beauties" and ornaments and arabesques hinting at Chopin.

[12]: 140  It shares with other late Beethoven sonatas the shift of focus to the last movement, the dissolution into "pure sound" and the references to old baroque forms.

In Beethoven, E major (frequently described as bright and radiant) and E minor (sad, lamenting) often appear together, as in Op.

The internal form of the first movement is based less on elaboration than on the contrasting juxtaposition of fast and slow, loud and soft, and major and minor.

[15]: 192–193 The first movement reflects the strong interest that Beethoven developed during this period in structures in which contrasting sections are included parenthetically.

[clarification needed] The same tendency is manifest in the Missa Solemnis, composed at almost the same time, and in the piano sonatas following this one.

Even from a purely harmonic point of view, the contrast between the clear major in the first part and the extremely tense diminished seventh chords in the second could hardly be more obvious.

[19] Bar 8 does not complete the cadence in the dominant (B major) that was conventional when progressing to the second subject in sonata-allegro form.

[20] Richard Rosenberg confirms the three-part structure of sonata form, but cannot identify any thematic duality within the exposition.

[12]: 140  With its accompanying formulae in the left hand, its ornamentation and its nuanced dynamics, it calls to mind many later compositions, such as bars 16–20 of Chopin's Waltz in A minor Op.

The two textures are then combined to form a third, with alternating semiquavers between the left and right hands as in the beginning, with a steady quaver chordal pulse as in the second part.

According to Udo Zilkens, the driving rhythmic energy of the fifth variation gives the impression, at least to begin with, of a complex, many-voiced chorale-like fugue.

[24] In extreme contrast to the energy and speed of the previous variation, this one begins with a four-bar passage marked cantabile, in quiet, slow crotchets at the tempo of the theme.