The composition of Op. 27 and Op. 31

During the first three months of 1801 Beethoven was preoccupied with the composition of the ballet Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus Op. 43, which had been commissioned – probably at some time during the second half of 1800 – for performance at the Imperial Court Theatre. At the same time, he continued to work intermittently on another commission, the Sonata for violin and piano in F Op. 24 (‘Spring’) for Count Moritz von Fries, and on the Piano Sonata in A♭ Op. 26. Sketches for these pieces dominate the last half of Landsberg 7, the sketchbook that Beethoven used between the summer of 1800 and the spring of 1801. Additionally, there are a few brief sketches for other works in this part of Landsberg 7: one for the Bagatelle Op. 33 no. 7, and – on bifolia that also contain ideas for the ballet and Op. 26 – a small group of concept sketches for the E♭ Sonata Op. 27 no. 1. Perhaps too much could be made of the fact that the earliest notated ideas for the first quasi una fantasia sonata date from the time when Beethoven was primarily thinking about ballet. But several parallels can be drawn between Prometheus and the sonata's fantasy characteristics. First, the ballet's narrative structure prompted Beethoven to avoid using sonata form after the overture, and to treat other normative forms in unconventional ways.