First Movement: E-flat Major, 3/4 time, Sonata Form

The opening, featuring a ii7 chord (which could also be interpreted as an IV6 chord due to the F to G-flat progression), is perhaps the most surprising beginning among all sonatas to date. No other examples of a sonata beginning with a chord other than the tonic or dominant can be found. Furthermore, the abrupt tempo changes—a ritardando shortly after the beginning, a pause with a fermata, and then a return to a tempo—are techniques commonly observed in the other two works of Op. 31 (the finale of Op. 31-1 and the first movement of the "Tempest" Sonata, Op. 31-2).

After a two-measure scale passage bridge, and following the statement of the main theme (from m. 10) and its transition (from m. 25), the subordinate theme appears in the dominant key (B-flat major). Here, a four-measure scale passage bridge is inserted, leading through the statement of the theme (from m. 57) and its transition (from m. 64), and then via an arpeggiated bridge to the coda (from m. 77). The coda, immediately after cadencing in the dominant key, presents an expanded form of the latter half of the main theme, framed by a chromatically ascending bridge, and then moves towards the tonic key.

(Development + Recapitulation)

The development section (from m. 89) recalls the opening of the exposition but moves to C minor via an augmented sixth chord. After the main theme is varied in C major and F major, a sequence based on the transition and bridge motives of the subordinate theme modulates to B-flat minor, E-flat major, and A-flat major, with an arpeggiated IV chord in A-flat major preparing the recapitulation (from m. 137).

Unlike the opening of the exposition, here the main theme is recapitulated against the background of an E-flat major ii chord (the opening chord in the exposition was interpreted as a ii7 chord due to its correspondence with this recapitulation). In the recapitulation of the subordinate theme in the tonic key (from m. 170), the bridge passage leading to its statement is expanded. In the exposition, the section that moved to the tonic key after cadencing in the dominant key serves as the impetus for the expansion of the coda. This is because, in a basic sonata form, the perfect cadence in the dominant key in the coda of the exposition creates a mechanism for a perfect cadence in the tonic key by replacing this section with the tonic in the recapitulation; however, Beethoven added music here that returns to the tonic. Consequently, in this recapitulation, the tonality inevitably moves towards the subdominant. Modulating while repeating motives from the main theme, the theme appears once again in the tonic key, and the movement concludes with the transition motive.