Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109

Composed in 1820, the first of Beethoven's final three piano sonatas. The first two movements are brief, and the opening movement keeps switching between fast and slow tempi with almost no conventional development. The weight falls entirely on the finale: a songlike theme and six variations that build from plain melody to a high register woven from trills, before the theme returns unaltered to close.