Beethoven's three piano sonatas op. 2 were the first works in this genre to which he gave an opus number, thus signalling to the musical world the special importance that he assigned to them. He wrote them during his first years in Vienna and, along with his op. 1 piano trios, they helped to establish his reputation as one of the most significant composers of his time.

These three sonatas - all of them small masterpieces - are arranged in ascending order of difficulty and virtuosity. The fou...