Beethoven once reported that he had written down his three last piano sonatas (op. 109, 110, 111) in 1820 to 1822 in one go, and they certainly form a closely related group. The A flat major Sonata no. 31 op. 110 is informed by an elegiac and lyrical mood.

Recitative and arioso figures in the strongly vocally-oriented last movement recall the fact that Beethoven was concurrently working on his famous “Missa Solemnis”. Those who devote themselves to this carefully edited Henle Urtext edition ...