Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 22 in F major, Op. 54, was written in 1804. It is contemporary to the first sketches of the Symphony No. 5 in C Minor. It is one of Beethoven's lesser known sonatas, overshadowed by its widely known neighbours, the Waldstein and the Appassionata. Analysis The sonata consists of just two movements: I. In tempo d'un menuetto Beethoven skips the opening and slow movements and moves on to a minuet in time, with a modulating trio. Anton Kuerti refers to this piece as a parody of uncreative composers, while Andras Schiff refers to it as portraying "Beauty and the Beast." The first theme is written in a rigidly classical style with repetitive phrases that are a caricature of elegance, while the second consists of a bombastic canon in octaves. The movement gradually increases in activity when it garners variations for its main theme. This first movement is in ABABA form where A and B are strongly contrasted themes. Theme A is of minuet dance type in F major that one might find in Joseph Haydn. In contrast, theme B, the trio, is a succession of forte triplets in C major that are played by both hands staccato or legato; the triplets are in octaves (and later in sixths) and with a dialogue between the left and right hands and with many sforzandi to interrupt the meter. The A section repeats in a whole, with a slight variation. Then the B, the trio section, reappears, this time in the tonic key of F major and of considerably shorter length. The opening A theme reappears with more ornaments. After an extended group of trills, there is a brief coda. II. Allegretto — Più allegro The finale, again in F major, is a cheerful moto perpetuo sonata form movement in time with a monothematic exposition. "If the first movement was constipated, then the second movement suffers from the opposite ailment." (Anton Kuerti) This is shown in the piece, as the main melody has a non-stop continuous, sixteenth-note pattern that does not stop for even a second in this piece. The exposition, contains only one brief theme as it is written above. It starts on F major and modulates to C major, which is the key that ends the exposition. The development is long and extended. It starts on A major and modulates to many different keys, as