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THE PIANOFORTE SONATAS
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technique, has the feeling of having been conceived much earlier. The Adagio, with its elaborate flowery passages of no particular meaning, drops back to the Hummel style, and is developed to a considerable length. The Rondo is bright and sunshiny throughout.

17th Sonata, Opus 31, No. 2, in D minor.
Allegro—Adagio—Allegretto.

One of the most splendid of all Beethoven's Sonatas. The opening movement is full of the most speaking of all Beethoven's sonorous and passionate recitatives. The Adagio is in full binary form. It is very expressive, entirely evolved from a three. note figure, a little Hummelian. The final Allegretto is all spun out from the little four-note germ said to have been suggested to the composer by the cantering of a horse.

18th Sonata, Opus 31, No. 3, in E flat.
Allegro—Scherzo—Minuet and Trio—Presto con fuoco.

In this characteristic work, where we find both a Scherzo and a Minuet, the former in duple time, we again return to four movements. The mood throughout is of unclouded happiness. It is ex-

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