First Movement E minor 3/4 time Mit Lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck (Lively, and throughout with feeling and expression)

Sonata form without repeat of the exposition. An economical compositional approach is adopted, where the movement unfolds using limited thematic material.

The phrases constituting the opening theme of the movement are generally four measures long, but this regularity does not imply simplicity of content; quite the contrary. Firstly, the theme's phrase structure spans 24 measures (8+8+8), deviating from the common 8-measure or even-multiple structures. Furthermore, the presence of fermatas in measures 16 and 24 renders it asymmetrical.

Furthermore, the opening harmonic progression deviates from early 19th-century functional harmony conventions. The bass line descends not to the leading tone D# from the tonic, but to D, followed by C, the sixth scale degree of E minor. This descending melodic minor scale passage has been noted to exhibit characteristics more akin to Renaissance or Baroque music. The D that appears instead of the leading tone at this point is the dominant of G major, the relative major of E minor. This immediately leads to a G major harmonic progression, followed by a half cadence in B minor. Although the progression then returns to G major, the key remains ambiguous and fluctuates. A clear cadence in the tonic E minor finally appears in measure 24, but it immediately transitions into an improvisatory-like transitional passage. This technique of obscuring the tonic at the beginning of a movement and delaying the clear statement of the tonic chord is common in Beethoven's middle-period sonatas, exemplified by Op. 31, including the 'Tempest' Sonata.

Following the transitional passage, the second theme enters in measure 45 in B minor, the dominant of E minor. The material used in these sections is largely derived from previously presented ideas, further confirming the economical compositional approach of this work. Specifically, the short-long rhythm used in the main melodic motives of both the transitional passage and the second theme is common to the opening theme of the movement. Furthermore, the stepwise ascending melody in the first half of the second theme mirrors the upper voice's motion at the beginning of the movement, and the descending figure with suspensions across bar lines in the latter half of the second theme (from measure 55) was also heard in the latter half of the opening theme.

The relatively short development section (measures 84-143) is constructed from the melodic motives of both the first and second halves of the opening theme. From measure 132, the note values of the descending scale gradually increase, and this so-called 'notated ritardando' leads into the recapitulation. Following a conventional recapitulation, a short coda of approximately 20 measures ensues, bringing the movement to a quiet close.