The Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor by Ludwig van Beethoven, the second of his opus 30 set, was composed between 1801 and 1802, published in May 1803, and dedicated to Tsar Alexander I of Russia. It has four movements:

1. Allegro con brio
2. Adagio cantabile
3. Scherzo: Allegro
4. Finale: Allegro; Presto

The work's opening movement is the first of Beethoven's sonata first movements that does not repeat the exposition. The development section contains a theme not found in the exposition (this happens in earlier compositions such as the fourth violin sonata also)

The second movement was originally sketched out in G major before taking its current form.

The autograph to the sonata turned up in a collection built up by H. C. Bodmer in Zurich, discovered in the mid-20th century.

The work takes approximately 26 minutes to perform.

References

1. ^ Basil Lam, 'Beethoven String Quartets' (1979 edition, BBC publications; p.47)
2. ^ Churgin, Bathia (Summer 1998). "Beethoven and the New Development-Theme in Sonata-Form Movements". The Journal of Musicology (St Joseph, Michigan: Imperial Printing Company) 16 (3): 327–9. doi:10.1525/jm.1998.16.3.03a00030. JSTOR 763994.  As the author notes, the practice of including new material in the central section of a ternary-form (sonata) movement is not a Beethoven innovation- there are examples in and preceding Mozart's music.
3. ^ Sundram, Jason. "Notes on Violin Sonata no. 7, opus 30 no. 2, 1802". Retrieved 2007-07-23. 
4. ^ Aber, Adolf (May 1956). "Beethoven's Autographs". Musical Times (The Musical Times, Vol. 97, No. 1359) 97 (1359): 249–251. doi:10.2307/936460. JSTOR 936460.