Allegro cantabile, A-flat major, 4/4 time. The piece begins with a capriccio-like introduction and maintains an improvisatory character throughout. In the opening measures, a passionate four-note descending motif (D-flat-C-C-B-flat) presented in the tenor voice is developed throughout the entire piece. The conclusion returns to the tonic key, but in the interim, it traverses various keys—A major, G major, B major, A minor, A-flat minor/major, F-sharp major, and B-flat major—each time with a change of key signature, in addition to numerous temporary modulations (this frequent modulation was also mentioned in a music magazine review immediately after the first edition was published).

The only surviving autograph manuscript among the three pieces is the draft of this first piece, housed in the Goethe and Schiller Archive in Weimar. Although the exact period is unknown, it contains numerous corrections and presents content significantly different from the published score.