The movement is cast in a compound ternary design A–B–A. The three parts carry different tempo and meter markings: Andante (2/2) – Allegro (6/8) – Andante (2/2). The B part is thus clearly contrasted with A in both character and meter.
A
The movement opens in E-flat major. Section A divides into a – b – a′.
A–a (mm. 1–8).
The first period is eight bars. In the right hand the opening chords descend by 3rds, and in bar 2 a matching 4th-ascending figure appears in the same rhythm. These 3rd/4th leap shapes recur throughout the movement as primary motives. The left hand answers at the end of the right-hand phrase with 16th-note motion, creating a call-and-response surface. A V–I cadence arrives in bar 4, and a repeat is indicated.
The second phrase from bar 5 closely parallels the first. The right-hand motive that had moved down a 3rd, up a 4th now reappears, altered to up a 4th, up a 3rd in the same rhythm. The left-hand 16ths return with added staccato; in bars 7–8 the two hands engage in contrapuntal motion. Weak-beat sforzandi produce a syncopated feel, and with inner-voice melody added the texture turns polyphonic. A PAC in E-flat closes bar 8 and leads to the next subsection.
A–b (mm. 9–12 → repeat).
Still in E-flat major. The first four bars are accompanied by 8th-note repeated-chord figures in the inner voices of both hands, while the soprano carries the tune. Harmonic movement is modest; bar 4 (m. 12) shows a V–I cadence. The four-bar unit is repeated by repeat signs, then proceeds.
A–b (mm. 13–20, parallel period).
A parallel-period design follows: two bars in shared quarter- and eighth-note chords (both hands aligned rhythmically) are answered by two bars where RH 16ths and LH 8ths diverge. This 2+2 unit is stated twice. Notably, the initial chord is V/ii, sharpening the sense of ii–V–I. The subsection closes with a cadence in E-flat, and the music turns to A–a′.
A–a′ (mm. 21–36).
Close to A–a. At m. 24 the previous repeat is omitted. Beginning m. 25, a new phrase presents a light variation by subdividing quarters into eighths. Another new phrase from m. 29 likewise appears without repeat. The eighth-note variant of the motive continues to reappear with small changes up to m. 36, where a PAC in E-flat—struck right on the last beat—closes the entire A section.
B
At B the meter shifts to 6/8 and the tempo to Allegro, providing stark contrast with A. The 16th-note drive is retained but recast. The key begins in C major, entered abruptly with no cadential preparation, heightening the sense of change.
In the first idea of B–a, the right hand presents an ascending 16th-note arpeggio, answered by a descending arpeggio in staccato 8ths. In bar 2 the left hand shows a transformed version of A’s motive. From the end of m. 40 to m. 44, a descending 16th-note line appears; with a four-note stagger the left hand imitates the right—canon-like for two bars—then mm. 43–44 form a closing span ending in a half cadence, after which the passage repeats by repeat sign.
B–a′ follows without repeat signs, offering the previous material in lightly varied form. A-section motives do not surface here; the arpeggiated character is strengthened through the first four bars. At m. 48 phrase units compress from one bar to a half-bar, adding urgency. From m. 49 the descending-line canon returns with small alterations. In m. 52 a PAC in C major replaces the earlier half cadence and the music moves to B–a″. B–a″ keeps the same character as B–a′—arpeggiations and end-beat sforzando vertical chords in the left hand—essentially re-stating B–a′ once more.
From the second phrase (m. 57) a change sets in: the music turns to C minor, the parallel of C. From here the span takes on a transition-like function—no cadential goal, and the 16th-note current runs without let-up. The motion through C minor naturally finds E-flat major (relative of C minor); at m. 62 a V7 prepares the return to A′.
A′
Structurally A′ differs from A: instead of a–b–a′, it presents a two-part a–a′—likely influenced by B’s layout. Thus A–b is omitted; the reprise is built on A–a′. Repeat signs are absent and light variations appear, though the degree of change is small. Up through the first phrase of the second period everything is near-identical; after the cadence at m. 74 the writing begins to diverge.
The left hand now reintroduces A’s core motive, while the ascending, staccato 16ths that had been in the previous left-hand phrase shift to the right hand. In mm. 77–78 a cadential drive appears; with a PAC in E-flat the music turns to the codetta.
From m. 79 a codetta unfolds on tonic, built from A’s basic motive and a static bass. From m. 82 the left hand’s octave leaps accelerate; at m. 86 the E-flat triad is strongly emphasized and the movement concludes—after which it proceeds attacca into the second movement.
The movement is cast in a compound ternary design A–B–A. The three parts carry different tempo and meter markings: Andante (2/2) – Allegro (6/8) – Andante (2/2). The B part is thus clearly contrasted with A in both character and meter.
A
The movement opens in E-flat major. Section A divides into a – b – a′.
A–a (mm. 1–8).
The first period is eight bars. In the right hand the opening chords descend by 3rds, and in bar 2 a matching 4th-ascending figure appears in the same rhythm. These 3rd/4th leap shapes recur throughout the movement as primary motives. The left hand answers at the end of the right-hand phrase with 16th-note motion, creating a call-and-response surface. A V–I cadence arrives in bar 4, and a repeat is indicated.
The second phrase from bar 5 closely parallels the first. The right-hand motive that had moved down a 3rd, up a 4th now reappears, altered to up a 4th, up a 3rd in the same rhythm. The left-hand 16ths return with added staccato; in bars 7–8 the two hands engage in contrapuntal motion. Weak-beat sforzandi produce a syncopated feel, and with inner-voice melody added the texture turns polyphonic. A PAC in E-flat closes bar 8 and leads to the next subsection.
A–b (mm. 9–12 → repeat).
Still in E-flat major. The first four bars are accompanied by 8th-note repeated-chord figures in the inner voices of both hands, while the soprano carries the tune. Harmonic movement is modest; bar 4 (m. 12) shows a V–I cadence. The four-bar unit is repeated by repeat signs, then proceeds.
A–b (mm. 13–20, parallel period).
A parallel-period design follows: two bars in shared quarter- and eighth-note chords (both hands aligned rhythmically) are answered by two bars where RH 16ths and LH 8ths diverge. This 2+2 unit is stated twice. Notably, the initial chord is V/ii, sharpening the sense of ii–V–I. The subsection closes with a cadence in E-flat, and the music turns to A–a′.
A–a′ (mm. 21–36).
Close to A–a. At m. 24 the previous repeat is omitted. Beginning m. 25, a new phrase presents a light variation by subdividing quarters into eighths. Another new phrase from m. 29 likewise appears without repeat. The eighth-note variant of the motive continues to reappear with small changes up to m. 36, where a PAC in E-flat—struck right on the last beat—closes the entire A section.
B
At B the meter shifts to 6/8 and the tempo to Allegro, providing stark contrast with A. The 16th-note drive is retained but recast. The key begins in C major, entered abruptly with no cadential preparation, heightening the sense of change.
In the first idea of B–a, the right hand presents an ascending 16th-note arpeggio, answered by a descending arpeggio in staccato 8ths. In bar 2 the left hand shows a transformed version of A’s motive. From the end of m. 40 to m. 44, a descending 16th-note line appears; with a four-note stagger the left hand imitates the right—canon-like for two bars—then mm. 43–44 form a closing span ending in a half cadence, after which the passage repeats by repeat sign.
B–a′ follows without repeat signs, offering the previous material in lightly varied form. A-section motives do not surface here; the arpeggiated character is strengthened through the first four bars. At m. 48 phrase units compress from one bar to a half-bar, adding urgency. From m. 49 the descending-line canon returns with small alterations. In m. 52 a PAC in C major replaces the earlier half cadence and the music moves to B–a″. B–a″ keeps the same character as B–a′—arpeggiations and end-beat sforzando vertical chords in the left hand—essentially re-stating B–a′ once more.
From the second phrase (m. 57) a change sets in: the music turns to C minor, the parallel of C. From here the span takes on a transition-like function—no cadential goal, and the 16th-note current runs without let-up. The motion through C minor naturally finds E-flat major (relative of C minor); at m. 62 a V7 prepares the return to A′.
A′
Structurally A′ differs from A: instead of a–b–a′, it presents a two-part a–a′—likely influenced by B’s layout. Thus A–b is omitted; the reprise is built on A–a′. Repeat signs are absent and light variations appear, though the degree of change is small. Up through the first phrase of the second period everything is near-identical; after the cadence at m. 74 the writing begins to diverge.
The left hand now reintroduces A’s core motive, while the ascending, staccato 16ths that had been in the previous left-hand phrase shift to the right hand. In mm. 77–78 a cadential drive appears; with a PAC in E-flat the music turns to the codetta.
From m. 79 a codetta unfolds on tonic, built from A’s basic motive and a static bass. From m. 82 the left hand’s octave leaps accelerate; at m. 86 the E-flat triad is strongly emphasized and the movement concludes—after which it proceeds attacca into the second movement.