Sometimes called the ‘Stalingrad’ Sonata after the Soviet city which was under siege by the invading German army at the time of its composition, this is the second of Prokofiev’s three ‘War Sonatas’, composed in 1942 and premiered in 1943 by Sviatoslav Richter. Molto moderato (Krystian Zimerman, piano)Īny notion of B-flat Major as a serene, uplifting key is swept away in the opening and closing movements of Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. The robust finale, beginning on a bare octave G, turns into a quasi-Hungarian dance, flirting with C minor, before resolving in B-flat and ending with an uplifting, commanding flourish.įranz Schubert: Piano Sonata No. The third movement is as bright and sparkling as a mountain stream, its bubbling joyfulness interrupted by a minor key Trio, which sounds like an ungainly landler with its off-beat bass notes. After the serenity of the opening movement comes a slow movement infused with a meditative melancholy – a sorrowful barcarolle whose mood is lifted by the middle section in warm A major. Like Beethoven’s Hammerklavier, this sonata explores a broad range of emotions. The deep bass trill at the end of the exposition only momentarily disturbs the mood.
Its gentle hymnlike theme recalls the first movement of Beethoven’s ‘Archduke’ Trio (also in B-flat Major), and it has an otherworldliness that has led some pianists and commentators to suggest that this is a work of valediction, a farewell. The opening movement of Schubert’s final piano sonata is noble and expansive. The finale begins tentatively, but optimistic trills then announce a shift in mood and what follows is a fugal movement full of unrestrained ecstasy. The Scherzo diffuses this with brevity and humour before a long slow movement in mournful F-sharp minor, so dark that the brilliance and joy of the first movement is utterly obliterated. The mood of the first movement is bold and powerful, mixing of tension and relaxation and a driving forward propulsion. Dedicated to Archduke Rudolf (the same dedicatee of the Archduke Trio and an excellent pianist), the Hammerklavier Sonata begins with a big declamatory fanfare, which earned this sonata its nickname.
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