Short Sonata in B minor, Op. 58: IV. Finale: Presto non tanto; Agitato (0:23)

The Sonata in B minor, Op. 58, was composed in 1844 and published in 1845. It retains the dramatic structuring inherited from the Classics. Here, as in Mozart and Beethoven, the composition—rendered coherent by means of differences, contrast, and end-weighting—comprises four movements. Outwardly, the fourth movement, Finale, has the appearance of a rondo, but it proceeds in a balladic meter, 6/8, and has the tone and spirit of a ballade. First, one is jolted from the contemplation of distant horizons. Thereafter, in a constant presto tempo and with the expression of emotional perturbation, this frenzied, electrifying music, runs to the end. Not even for a moment is this precipitous momentum reined in by the music of the episodes. And the main theme of the finale, its refrain, running ballade-like with the curtain raised, is transformed and grows in power.

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