he could play nearly the whole of it.  But, if we are not mistaken, he also made early acquaintanceship with the sonatas of Emanuel Bach.  For in 1773 Neefe published “Zwoelf Klavier-Sonaten,” which were dedicated to the composer just named.  In the preface he says:  “Since the period in which you, dearest Herr Capellmeister, presented to the public your masterly sonatas, worked out, too, with true taste, scarcely anything of a characteristic nature has appeared for this instrument.[94] Most composers have been occupied in writing Symphonies, Trios, Quartets, etc.  And if now and then they have turned their attention to the clavier, the greater number of the pieces have been provided with an accompaniment, often of an extremely arbitrary kind, for the violin; so that they are as suitable for any other instrument as for the clavier.”  Then, later on, Neefe acknowledges how much instruction and how much pleasure he has received from the theoretical and practical works of E. Bach (we seem to be reading over again the terms in which Haydn expressed himself towards Bach).  May we, then, not conclude that young Beethoven’s attention was attracted to these “masterly sonatas,” and also to those of his teacher Neefe?  This is scarcely the moment to describe the Neefe sonatas.[95] In connection, however, with Beethoven, one or two points must be noticed.  In the third of the three sonatas which Beethoven composed at the age of eleven, the last movement is entitled:  Scherzando allegro ma non troppo, and twice in Neefe do we come across the heading, Allegro e scherzando (first set, No. 5, last movement; and second set, No. 1, also last movement).  Then, again, No. 2 of the second set opens with a brief introductory Adagio, one, by the way, to some extent connected with the Allegro which follows.  In the 2nd of the above-mentioned Beethoven sonatas (the one in F minor) there is also a slow introduction; the young master, no mere imitator, anticipates his own “Sonate Pathetique,” and repeats it in the body of the Allegro movement.  Lastly, no one, we believe, can compare the Neefe variations with those of Beethoven in the 3rd sonata (in A) without coming to the conclusion that the pupil had diligently studied his teacher’s compositions, which, we may add, were thoroughly sound, full of pleasing cantabile writing, and, at times, not lacking in boldness.  Let us venture on one quotation of only four bars from Sonata 1, in G, of the second set of six:  it is the opening of a short Adagio connecting the Allegro with an Allegro e scherzando—­

[Music illustration]

The enharmonic modulation from the second to the third bar reminds one of E. Bach, who was so fond of such changes; also of a similar one in the “Pathetique.”

Beethoven wrote thirty-two sonatas, and in the following table the opus number of each work is given, also the date of its publication; some have a title, and the greater number a dedication:—­