The Evolution of Sonata-Form Design in Beethovens Piano Sonatas

This work is an analytic and stylistic survey of sonata-form movements in Ludwig van Beethoven s early piano sonatas. Schenkerian theory is adopted as the primary methodology to illuminate questions of design and tonal structure posed by Beethoven s sonata-form movements. The dissertation takes the middle-period sonatas as a core repertoire and traces how Beethovens compositional traits as seen in the early-period works evolve toward the middle period. Detailed analyses of sonata-form movements in the Bonn and early Vienna period incorporate available sources (such as analyses by Schenker, Roger Kamien, Janet Schmalfeldt, and others) and serve as the basis for stylistic generalizations about Beethovens handling of sonata-form design and other compositional devices. This work shows that the structural designs and compositional devices in the early-period works evolve or innovate toward the middle-period models.