First Movement: C minor, 4/4 time, Sonata form

Introduction

The Maestoso introduction, beginning with a sudden descending diminished seventh leap, is composed of a sharp dotted rhythm (double-dotted eighth note + thirty-second note) and a stepwise descending second motive. Furthermore, just before the main section commences, the stepwise ascending figure appearing from the anacrusis of m. 12 transforms into an element of the main theme by shortening its note values to sixteenth-note triplets.

Exposition

A trill figure on G and A-flat introduces the main theme, leading into the main section (m. 19 ff.). The main theme is constructed from a combination of contrasting motives: leaps and stepwise motion, ascending and descending, such as a rapid stepwise ascending fourth and a descending diminished fourth leap in sixteenth-note triplets, and a descending stepwise motion following a diminished seventh leap.

Following the statement of the theme (m. 29 ff.), a transition (m. 35 ff.) ensues. Here, a continuously moving sixteenth-note figure, developed from the main theme's motive, and an eighth-note-based figure proceed in imitation through invertible counterpoint, reaching A-flat major.

The subordinate theme in A-flat major (m. 50 ff.) derives from the repeated dotted rhythm and stepwise seconds found in the introduction. This brief subordinate theme is immediately fragmented by a diminished seventh arpeggio, concluding the exposition with a transition based on the main theme's motive (m. 56 ff.) and a coda (mm. 67-69).

Development + Recapitulation

In the development section (m. 70 ff.), the main theme's motive is exclusively treated. Motives with expanded intervals from the main theme, and similarly, motives with expanded note values accompanied by trills, are developed into a fugato using invertible counterpoint. Modulating from G minor to C minor and F minor, as the main theme's leaping figure is harmonized and repeated imitatively, it flows into the recapitulation of the main theme in the tonic key (m. 92 ff.).

After the subordinate theme is recapitulated in the parallel major, C major (m. 116 ff.), a developmental section resembling a statement (m. 124 ff.) in F minor is inserted, leading through a transition based on diminished seventh arpeggios and the main theme's motive (m. 132 ff.) to the coda (m. 145 ff.).

In the coda, the stepwise ascending figure that appeared in the introduction and transformed into an element of the main theme is harmonized, sounding like a chorale. Fitting for a movement employing polyphonic techniques, it concludes with a Picardy third on the tonic chord of the parallel major.