The fourth movement is a rondo in 2/4, A♭ major, laid out as A–B–A–C–A–B—notably, the final A is omitted. Marked Allegro, it flows continuously, in deliberate contrast with the third movement.
A
The A section functions as the rondo refrain. Its total length is 28 measures, divided into mm. 1–12 and mm. 13–28.
In the first part (A–a) you can hear two 6-bar phrases. With an upbeat, the piece launches from the right hand’s leaping sixteenth-note line, which keeps returning throughout the movement and sustains the brisk tempo-feel. From m. 3 an inner-voice left-hand stepwise descent becomes an important figure. The second phrase beginning at m. 7 reprises the first: the stepwise line that was in the left hand now appears in the right hand in octaves, while the left hand continues its sixteenth-note figuration. There is a half cadence on V at m. 6 and a PAC on I at m. 12, leading into A–b.
Unlike A–a’s 6-bar grouping, A–b shortens the phrase units. From mm. 12–16 a two-bar pattern is repeated; from mm. 16–20 that process expands to four bars. Here, a string of applied-dominant seventh chords produces sequential parallel motion—V7/vi → vi → V7/V → V—arriving at a perfect cadence. A further hallmark is the constant crossing of the two hands’ figures.
The mm. 12–20 design is then re-mounted at mm. 20–28. The harmony proceeds as before, but now there is no final 4-bar expansion; instead the structure is 2+2+2+2, ending A with a cadence in A♭ major and moving into a short link.
B
A 3-bar link follows, spun from the sixteenth-note figure that has been present since A; at m. 32 the B (episode) begins.
B opens in E♭ major (the dominant of the home key) and is characterized by prolongation of V before the tonic is allowed to settle. Sixteenth-note motion continues here, now as a patterned accompaniment rather than a continuous run: over the left-hand sixteenths, the right hand leaps in octaves through tones of the dominant-seventh. From m. 36 the hands exchange roles (RH sixteenths / LH octaves). As the phrase units contract, momentum increases; at m. 42 the music finally presents I of E♭ and ends B–a with an imperfect cadence.
Immediately after I, a new idea appears: over a comparatively slow, stepwise rising bass in quarter notes (LH), the right hand runs a rapid stepwise descent in sixteenths → sextuplets → thirty-seconds, three times in succession, creating an impression of quickening. Repeating this process to m. 48, the music reaches I and then sustains an E♭ harmony as preparation for the return to A. I of E♭ is then reinterpreted as V of A♭, and the music naturally flows back to the refrain.
A′
Rather than breaking off with a firm cadence, A′ grows directly out of the link-figure and repeats A literally.
Up to the cadence at m. 80 everything matches A exactly; with no intervening link, the music passes straight into C.
C
The C section is driven by repetition of a single figure. The left hand keeps a constant accompanimental pattern while the right hand fans out in 3rds, rising toward a cadence. It begins in c minor (a third-related key to the tonic). Harmonic change is minimal: I is prolonged almost throughout, with V–I reserved for the final cadence. At first the phrases are 4-bar units, repeated twice; toward the end of the second repeat, the music modulates to g minor.
From m. 89 (in g minor) the 4-bar unit compresses to 2 bars, heightening drive as modulations come more quickly: g minor → f minor → E♭ major, where the same process leads to a cadence and closes C, followed by a short transition.
A 4-bar link continues, recycling C’s figure in the right hand and guiding naturally to the reprise of A.
A″
A″ again repeats A verbatim. After the cadence at m. 128, a transition leads toward B.
This transition is an expanded version of the earlier link: its 2-bar V–I sequences built from applied-dominant sevenths recur; on the third iteration the tail is lengthened to a 4-bar phrase, arriving in E♭ major to launch B.
B′
B′ is the same as B in E♭ major, but the return to A♭ happens earlier: a tonic close appears already at m. 148, and the subsequent phrase also remains in A♭. With a PAC on I at m. 154, the music goes directly to the Coda—no final A is restated.
Coda
The Coda is a tonic prolongation: from start to finish the bass sustains A♭. The right hand resumes A’s sixteenth-note figure, descending from the high register down toward the bass, and the work dies away in pianissimo.
The fourth movement is a rondo in 2/4, A♭ major, laid out as A–B–A–C–A–B—notably, the final A is omitted. Marked Allegro, it flows continuously, in deliberate contrast with the third movement.
A
The A section functions as the rondo refrain. Its total length is 28 measures, divided into mm. 1–12 and mm. 13–28.
In the first part (A–a) you can hear two 6-bar phrases. With an upbeat, the piece launches from the right hand’s leaping sixteenth-note line, which keeps returning throughout the movement and sustains the brisk tempo-feel. From m. 3 an inner-voice left-hand stepwise descent becomes an important figure. The second phrase beginning at m. 7 reprises the first: the stepwise line that was in the left hand now appears in the right hand in octaves, while the left hand continues its sixteenth-note figuration. There is a half cadence on V at m. 6 and a PAC on I at m. 12, leading into A–b.
Unlike A–a’s 6-bar grouping, A–b shortens the phrase units. From mm. 12–16 a two-bar pattern is repeated; from mm. 16–20 that process expands to four bars. Here, a string of applied-dominant seventh chords produces sequential parallel motion—V7/vi → vi → V7/V → V—arriving at a perfect cadence. A further hallmark is the constant crossing of the two hands’ figures.
The mm. 12–20 design is then re-mounted at mm. 20–28. The harmony proceeds as before, but now there is no final 4-bar expansion; instead the structure is 2+2+2+2, ending A with a cadence in A♭ major and moving into a short link.
B
A 3-bar link follows, spun from the sixteenth-note figure that has been present since A; at m. 32 the B (episode) begins.
B opens in E♭ major (the dominant of the home key) and is characterized by prolongation of V before the tonic is allowed to settle. Sixteenth-note motion continues here, now as a patterned accompaniment rather than a continuous run: over the left-hand sixteenths, the right hand leaps in octaves through tones of the dominant-seventh. From m. 36 the hands exchange roles (RH sixteenths / LH octaves). As the phrase units contract, momentum increases; at m. 42 the music finally presents I of E♭ and ends B–a with an imperfect cadence.
Immediately after I, a new idea appears: over a comparatively slow, stepwise rising bass in quarter notes (LH), the right hand runs a rapid stepwise descent in sixteenths → sextuplets → thirty-seconds, three times in succession, creating an impression of quickening. Repeating this process to m. 48, the music reaches I and then sustains an E♭ harmony as preparation for the return to A. I of E♭ is then reinterpreted as V of A♭, and the music naturally flows back to the refrain.
A′
Rather than breaking off with a firm cadence, A′ grows directly out of the link-figure and repeats A literally.
Up to the cadence at m. 80 everything matches A exactly; with no intervening link, the music passes straight into C.
C
The C section is driven by repetition of a single figure. The left hand keeps a constant accompanimental pattern while the right hand fans out in 3rds, rising toward a cadence. It begins in c minor (a third-related key to the tonic). Harmonic change is minimal: I is prolonged almost throughout, with V–I reserved for the final cadence. At first the phrases are 4-bar units, repeated twice; toward the end of the second repeat, the music modulates to g minor.
From m. 89 (in g minor) the 4-bar unit compresses to 2 bars, heightening drive as modulations come more quickly: g minor → f minor → E♭ major, where the same process leads to a cadence and closes C, followed by a short transition.
A 4-bar link continues, recycling C’s figure in the right hand and guiding naturally to the reprise of A.
A″
A″ again repeats A verbatim. After the cadence at m. 128, a transition leads toward B.
This transition is an expanded version of the earlier link: its 2-bar V–I sequences built from applied-dominant sevenths recur; on the third iteration the tail is lengthened to a 4-bar phrase, arriving in E♭ major to launch B.
B′
B′ is the same as B in E♭ major, but the return to A♭ happens earlier: a tonic close appears already at m. 148, and the subsequent phrase also remains in A♭. With a PAC on I at m. 154, the music goes directly to the Coda—no final A is restated.
Coda
The Coda is a tonic prolongation: from start to finish the bass sustains A♭. The right hand resumes A’s sixteenth-note figure, descending from the high register down toward the bass, and the work dies away in pianissimo.