Although less prone to sudden mood swings than many of his other keyboard works, this sonata finds unity in themes compiled from brief gestures and flourishes; it's the contents of each melody, rather than how the melodies are manipulated, that exhibit shifting feelings. This is particularly true of the opening Presto movement, whose energy dissipates at the end and bridges directly into the brief Adagio, an expressive, free fantasy. This leads, attacca, into the concluding Andantino, which arises from a florid, long-breathed melody that seems improvised on the spot. Most striking here is a quiet, thin-textured middle section, delicate and hesitant (but interrupted partway through by a short outburst). Oddly, the movement drifts away without resolution, as if the composer had been shaken out of his musical daydreams.

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