In a diary entry from April 1832, Schumann mentioned a "Fandango pour le Piano," possibly intended to impress his teacher, Friedrich Wieck. Although Wieck was taken with the composition, it was not printed as planned in the summer of 1832. Instead, Schumann later used the "Fandango" as the basis for the Allegro section of the first movement of his Piano Sonata, Op. 11, the conception of which gradually developed in 1833. The sonata was "fairly finished" that year, but it did not reach its preliminary form until two years later. At the end of August 1835, he submitted the manuscript of his new work to Clara Wieck, its future dedicatee, but publication was initially unsuccessful. The work finally appeared in June 1836 in Leipzig, published by Friedrich Kistner, after Schumann had made some changes to the final movement. The title page bore the inscription "Pianoforte Sonata, dedicated to Clara by Florestan and Eusebius."
The Allegro is dominated by Schumann's "fandango" idea. The only significant contrast is provided by a tranquil major-key theme that appears at the end of the exposition, assuming the role of a traditional second theme. Even there, however, the motif of the descending fifth is integrated as an accompanying figure, with an unchanged dotted rhythm.
The finale features more orchestral timbres: tremolos in the low bass register, while above them the structure gradually gains weight, similar to a crescendo over a drum roll; a staccato passage near the end, marked "quasi pizzicato"; and tutti chords struck out at breakneck speed—one of several features of the piece that make it a considerable technical challenge for the pianist. This sonata-rondo, based on a theme in duple meter and forced into the confines of three beats per measure, was in fact the first part of the sonata to be composed. Although it lacks the coherence and dramatic momentum of the opening movement, the energy and inventiveness of the music infallibly carry the listener to its triumphant F-sharp major conclusion.