“Sonata pour piano quasi una fantasia” was the title that Beethoven himself gave in 1801 to his celebrated Sonata Op.27 No.2, which the poet Ludwig Rellstab later christened the “Moonlight” sonata. The work consists of three movements: an Adagio sostenuto, whose melody unfurls over a dreamy nocturne-like texture, an Allegretto that combines elements of both scherzo and minuet, and a Presto agitato marked by a virtuosity that is almost violent and even desperate.

The C major Sonata Op.53 has acquired two subtitles: “Waldstein” and “Dawn”. Completed in 1804, it was dedicated to Count Waldstein, one of Beethoven’s patrons. It consists of two movements and begins with an Allegro con brio in which the dimensions of sonata form are vastly extended. A slow Introduzione leads into the Rondo finale, with its ever-changing colours and unbounded vitality.

Written between 1804 and 1806, the F minor Sonata Op.57 (the “Appassionata”) was one of Beethoven’s favourites; he considered it to be his greatest sonata. He used to advise performers of this work to read Shakespeare’s Tempest, which led Romain Rolland to compare the “Appassionata” to “a fiery torrent on a bed of granite”. It is in three movements: an Allegro assai that explores the menacing lower register of the piano, a slow movement in variation form, in which the tension is never allowed to slacken, and a tormented Allegro ma non troppo, whose headlong rush is combined with magnificent, almost orchestral sonorities.