In addition, no sonatas written by Franz Schubert, Jan Ladislav Dussek, Johann Hummel and Carl Maria von Weber are in B minor.

[4] 9–13 minutes[note 1]The first movement, marked Allegro maestoso, is in a modified sonata form[5] in B minor and 44 time.

It starts with a downward arching phrase marked f (forte) followed by a sequence of chords[6] to establish the tonic key of B minor.

[12] 2–3 minutesSimilar to the second piano sonata, the second movement is a scherzo marked Molto vivace, in E-flat major and 34 time.

The movement opens with a "light-fingered moto perpetuo",[13] characterised by continuous quaver runs in the right hand[14] and minimal accompaniment[15] before "pivoting" to the trio in B major.

[20] Slow melody in duple metre and dotted rhythms give this movement the characteristics of a funeral march, without the expression of one.

[19] Following the first theme is the trio in the subdominant key E major,[20] with the right hand creating a three-voice structure through the use of arpeggiated figures.

It opens with eight bars of a vigorous introduction, followed by a dramatic pause on a high dominant pedal point, and then the first subject, marked agitato, enters.

Following that is a transition passage in B major,[27] which is a blend of the “codetta” theme of the first movement and the “trio” theme of the second movement,[28] which then leads to the second subject in F-sharp major, After that, the first subject appears again in the key of E minor and the melody is accompanied by four quavers on the left hand in a three against four polyrhythm.

George Charles Ashton Jonson believed that the strength required to play this movement is likely the reason that made Professor Hans Schmidt of the Vienna Conservatoire consider the Piano Sonata No.

[30] Other notable recordings include those by Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Barenboim, Alfred Cortot, Janina Fialkowska, Evgeny Kissin, Arthur Rubinstein,Marc-André Hamelin, Dinu Lipatti, Murray Perahia, Mitsuko Uchida, Alexei Sultanov and William Kapell as well as Chopin International Piano Competition winners Martha Argerich, Rafał Blechacz, Van Cliburn, Yundi Li, Garrick Ohlsson and Maurizio Pollini.