is slow, interrupted by a fast medial section in the submediant, C major. Second movement The second movement is a scherzo and is in ternary form (the norm for scherzi). Beethoven specifically notates the first phrase to start in the second bar. The main theme consists of mostly quarter notes in parallel octaves. Inside the theme, the first 16 bars are repeated outside an 8-bar middle strain. When it returns following the trio section, the left hand plays staccato and the notes of the right hand part (still legato) are offset half a beat later. The movement includes a brief coda and concludes on the chord C major, a Picardy third. Third movement The third movement is slow in tempo and features a lyrical, noble theme, set against an eighth note accompaniment (in the recapitulation, sixteenth notes). The movement does not conclude in its tonic key, but instead reaches a final cadenza (on the dominant seventh) that leads directly to the finale. The movement is brief and thus might be heard by some listeners as an introduction to the final movement rather than as an independent movement, as Jonathan Del Mar suggests. Fourth movement The finale is the most extended movement of the work. Charles Rosen notes, "With this movement, Beethoven began an experiment, to which he continued to return and develop through the years, of displacing some of the weight of the work from the opening movement to the finale". The work is in fast tempo and in sonata rondo form. In the coda section, the main theme of the slow movement briefly returns, followed by a brief cadenza. There follows a short final section, marked Presto, based on a tightly compressed version of the main theme. A typical performance of the work lasts 15 minutes. Notes References Gordon, Stewart (2005) Editorial matter to his edition of the Beethoven piano sonatas, Volume II. Alfred Music Publishing. Jones, Timothy (1999) The "Moonlight" and other sonatas, Op. 27 and Op. 31. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lockwood, Lewis (1996) "Reshaping the genre: Beethoven's piano sonatas from Op. 22 to Op. 28 (1799–1801)". Israeli Studies in Musicology 6: 1–16. Marson, Nicholas (2000) "The sense of an ending": goal directedness in Beethoven's music. In Glenn Stanley, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Beethoven. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rosen, Charles (2002) Beethoven's Piano Sonatas: A Short Companion. New Haven: Yale University press. Sisman, Elaine (1998) "After