There are three sets of Bagatelles for piano by Beethoven: the seven in Op. 33 (1801-1802), the 11 in Op. 119 (1820-1822), and the six in Op. 126 (1824). And there are three scattered Bagatelles without opus numbers from his early years. Many of the works in the three sets have roots predating the year specified in parentheses, some of the earlier ones actually traceable to 1783. Still, Beethoven reworked his material before publication, and thus the Bagatelles in the last two sets can be called products of the composer's final period. This E flat major effort, at four-and-a-half minutes, is the longest bagatelle he wrote, but more importantly, one of his finest from any period. Marked Presto—Andante amabile e con moto, it furiously opens with a swirling figure that takes off like a race horse from the starting gate. But the tempo suddenly slows and the mood turns gentle and dreamy, as Beethoven presents a lovely, serene theme. Eventually, remnants of the swirling music from the opening appear and the mood grows more animated. Its expressive range deepens, too, and the theme becomes more stately and heroic. The whirlwind opening returns to close out this colorful piece in grand style.

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Beethoven's bagatelles are generally light in character and often less consequential works in his keyboard output. Those in the Op. 126 set, however, break from this mold, offering the listener a more substantial artistic yield. The self-critical Beethoven himself expressed a favorable view of them in a letter to his publisher, stating they were likely the best of that genre he had yet composed. This B minor effort is not only one of the stronger efforts in the Op. 126 set, but one of the finest of all the 27 bagatelles. Marked Presto, the work stormily begins, the main theme and its subordinate material gradually evolving from amid much tension and bustle. The melody is both anxious and heroic in its rising contour and seeming struggle. A second theme, played in the upper register and underpinned by a rhythmic figure in the bass, is also lively but calmer, even serene in its wandering manner. The main material returns and after the second theme is heard again, the work abruptly ends. Lasting about four minutes, this is one of Beethoven's longer bagatelles.

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This is the last and probably finest of the three sets of Bagatelles Beethoven wrote. In general, the six works comprising the collection are not as light as those in the earlier sets and the three lone Bagatelles without opus numbers. That said, the opening piece in Op. 126 is decidedly pleasant and light. Marked Andante con moto, it is a mostly serene work whose joyous main theme exudes a sense of self-confidence. Textures lighten in the latter part of the work, as the music takes on an almost angelic glow, heralding the incandescent close of the composer's last piano sonata. The Bagatelle No. 2 in G minor contrasts with the opening work in both its livelier Allegro tempo and somewhat anxious mood. Still, the ambivalent main theme here never tilts toward the dark side in its mixture of the stormy and playful, of the anxious and the delicate. The Bagatelle No. 3 in E flat major, marked Andante, is tranquil in its serenity and grandeur, its theme noble and clearly looking toward the nascent Romantic movement. Does this work augur the mood, perhaps even the keyboard writing, in the middle movement of Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1? The Bagatelle No. 4 in B minor is a Presto filled with angst in its driving rhythms and heroic, stormy main theme. An alternate melody in the upper register, also lively and energetic, exhibits a measure of calm and gracefulness, and on its second appearance closes out this anxious piece in a relatively subdued mood. The G major No. 5, marked Quasi Allegretto, provides stark contrast to the preceding Bagatelle in its serene, dreamy, and consistently gentle manner. While it offers few technical challenges to the pianist, it will present sufficient interpretive ones. The concluding Bagatelle in E flat major is marked Presto—Andante amabile e con moto, and begins with a surge of swirling currents that quickly turn tame for the introduction of the dreamy main theme. The music gradually becomes more animated, prodded by elements from the opening, and the theme exhibits a deeper expressive manner in its mixture of heroism and serenity. The opening surge mischievously returns to close out this masterpiece.

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