Beethoven: Sonata No.6 in F Major, No.2 (Lortie, Jando)

For some reason (probably its diminutive proportions?) the 6th sonata has acquired a reputation as one of B.’s less important sonatas, when any reasonably objective look will show that it really is one of his best. For a start, the first movement bursts with innovative touches: the lush lyrical sonority of the first theme of the second theme group (which implies maj7 harmony), the really unexpected harmonic turns (at 0:17 we get a really abrupt transition from F to E, and then, this time completely without preparation, we move from E to C – a pretty radical treatment of the usual transition between two theme groups), a development section which doggedly avoids all connection with the exposition with the exception of a microscopic ending phrase, and a recapitulation that begins in D(!), a key so far removed from F that it sounds like a lot of the tonal tension that ought to be in the development has decided to accrete there. The second movement continues this sonata’s typifying feature of experimentation wi