Sonata No.3 in B minor Op.58 (1844)

Chopin, Schumann and Brahms each wrote three piano sonatas. But whereas Schumann and Brahms found the form uncongenial and abandoned it an early stage in their careers, Chopin returned to it in his maturity and developed a masterful version of his own. The problem for Chopin in the first movements of all three sonatas was the recapitulation, which was conventionally expected to begin with the first theme in its original harmonies. But the point of the Allegro maestoso of the Sonata in B minor is not to confirm the harmonic supremacy of the key in which it begins but to assert the optimism of the second subject over the grim mood of the beginning. Which is why, after an improvisatory and apparently spontaneous development section, Chopin declines to recapitulate the opening theme, preferring to devote the last part of the construction to celebrating the serenity achieved by the second subject in B major.

Chopin retains his optimism in a (for him) unusually happy Scherzo in E major and in a slow movement which, after its dramatic opening gesture, melts into a melodic rapture in B major. But Chopin without his nightmares would not be Chopin and they return to haunt him in the Finale – a persecuted movement of rondo shape and virtuoso velocity which finds no definitive security until, almost playfully, the coda asserts the key and affirms the mood it has been the whole function of the sonata to secure.

chopin: sonata in B minor

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

Sonata in B minor, Op.58

Allegro mæstoso

Scherzo: molto vivace

Largo

Finale: presto non tanto

Chopin, Schumann and Brahms each wrote three piano sonatas. But whereas Schumann and Brahms found the form uncongenial and abandoned it an early stage in their careers, Chopin returned to it in his maturity and developed a masterful version of his own. Even in the Sonata in C minor, which he wrote as a student in Warsaw in 1828, he resisted what he no doubt considered the predictability of the academically constructed first movement. In the Sonatas in B flat minor of 1839 and in B minor of 1844 he found ways of reconciling sonata form with emotional truth.

The problem for Chopin in the first movements of all three sonatas was the recapitulation, which was conventionally expected to begin with the first theme in its original harmonies. But the point of the Allegro maestoso of the Sonata in B minor is not to confirm the harmonic supremacy of the key in which it begins but to assert the optimism of the second subject over the grim mood of the beginning. Which is why, after an improvisatory and apparently spontaneous development section, Chopin declines to recapitulate the opening theme, preferring to devote the last part of the construction to celebrating the serenity achieved by the second subject in B major.

Chopin retains his optimism in a (for him) unusually happy Scherzo in E major and in a slow movement which, after its dramatic opening gesture, melts into a melodic rapture in B major. But Chopin without his nightmares would not be Chopin and they return to haunt him in the Finale - a persecuted movement of rondo shape and virtuoso velocity which finds no definitive security until, almost playfully, the coda asserts the key and affirms the mood it has been the whole function of the sonata to secure.

Chopin, Schumann and Brahms each wrote three piano sonatas. But whereas Schumann and Brahms found the form uncongenial and abandoned it an early stage in their careers, Chopin composed one student example, neglecting the form for 11 years and returned to it in his maturity, developing a masterful version of his own. Even in the Sonata in C minor, which he wrote in Warsaw in 1828, he resisted what he no doubt considered the predictability of the academically constructed first movement. In the Sonatas in B flat minor of 1839 and in B minor of 1844 he found ways of reconciling sonata form with emotional truth.

The problem for Chopin in the first movements of all three sonatas was the recapitulation, which was conventionally expected to begin with the first theme in its original harmonies. But the point of the Allegro maestoso of the Sonata in B minor is not to confirm the harmonic supremacy of the key in which it begins but to assert the optimism of the second subject over the grim mood of the beginning. Which is why, after an improvisatory and apparently spontaneous development section, Chopin declines to recapitulate the opening theme, preferring to devote the last part of the construction to celebrating the serenity achieved by the second subject in B major.

He had done much the same in his Sonata in B flat minor but now, having got the most difficult part over, he abandons the 1839 model. He retains his optimism in an uncommonly happy Scherzo in E flat major, setting the lovely middle section most significantly in B major, which is not only intriguingly remote from the outer sections but also reminiscent of the serenity achieved in the first movement.

The Largo is no funeral march. It begins with an unexpectedly dramatic gesture but then melts into a melodic rapture in B major which is not only sustained but actually intensified in the liberated modulations of the middle section. But Chopin without his nightmares would not be Chopin and they return to haunt him in the Finale – a persecuted movement of rondo shape and virtuoso velocity which finds emotional relief in the major-key episodes but no definitive security until, almost playfully, the coda asserts the key and affirms the mood it has been the whole function of the sonata to secure.

Gerald Larner

chopin: sonata in B minor

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

Sonata in B minor, Op.58

Allegro mæstoso

Scherzo: molto vivace

Largo

Finale: presto non tanto

Sonata form, uncomfortable as he was with its classical requirements, was something Chopin had to come to terms with. But he could only do it in his own way. Even in the Sonata in C minor, which he wrote as a student in Warsaw in 1828, he resisted what he no doubt considered the predictability of the academically constructed first movement. He got by very effectively in the two concertos a couple of years later and in 1839, in the Sonata in B flat minor, he bent the form to his own will with great authority. Bearing in mind the problems he had had to solve, no one can blame him for more or less reproducing in the first movement of his Sonata in B minor, Op.58, the structure he had carved out for himself five years earlier. He was to make a different and quite masterful approach to the same problem in his last major work, the Cello Conata in G minor, in 1846.

The issues of the Allegro maestoso of the Piano Sonata in B minor are not the classical ones of balance and of reconciliation of tonal conflicts. Emotions are what matter. Key relationships are important, of course, but in the first movement the contrast in mood between the unsmiling first subject and the peaceful second subject - a contrast symbolised by their key relationship - is more significant. The tendency of the movement is not so much to re-assert the original key as to assert the optimism of the second subject over the initial mood. Which is why, after an improvisatory and apparently spontaneous development section, Chopin declines to recapitulate the opening theme, preferring to devote the last part of the construction to celebrating the serenity achieved by the second subject in B major.

Having got the most difficult part over, he now abandons his 1839 model. He retains his optimism in an uncommonly happy Scherzo in E flat major, setting the lovely middle section most significantly in B major, which is not only intriguingly remote from the outer sections but also reminiscent of the serenity achieved in the first movement.

The Largo is no funeral march. It begins with an unexpectedly dramatic gesture but then melts into a melodic rapture in B major which is not only sustained but actually intensified in the liberated modulations o&&^^^Document Error^^^movement is incorporated in the Presto opening of the last - in the very first bar in fact - the fate of the sonata, like its construction, is sealed.

Sonata form, uncomfortable as he was with its classical requirements, was something Chopin had to come to terms with in his own way. Even in the Sonata in C minor, which he wrote as a student in Warsaw in 1828, he resisted what he no doubt considered the predictability of the academically constructed first movement. He got by very effectively in the two concertos a couple of years later and in 1839, in the Sonata in B flat minor, he bent the form to his own will with great authority. Bearing in mind the problems he had had to solve, no one can blame him for more or less reproducing in the first movement of his Sonata in B minor Op.58 the structure he had carved out for himself five years earlier. He was to make a different and quite masterful approach to the same problem in his last major work, the Cello Sonata in G minor, in 1846.

The issues of the Allegro maestoso of the Piano Sonata in B minor are not the classical ones of balance and of reconciliation of tonal conflicts. Emotions are what matter. Key relationships are important, of course, but in the first movement the contrast in mood between the unsmiling first subject and the peaceful second subject – a contrast symbolised by their key relationship – is more significant. The tendency of the movement is not so much to re-assert the original key as to assert the optimism of the second subject over the initial mood. Which is why, after an improvisatory and apparently spontaneous development section, Chopin declines to recapitulate the opening theme, preferring to devote the last part of the construction to celebrating the serenity achieved by the second subject in B major.

Having got the most difficult part over, Chopin now abandons his 1839 model. He retains his optimism in an uncommonly happy Scherzo in E flat major, setting the lovely middle section most significantly in B major, which is not only intriguingly remote from the outer sections but also reminiscent of the serenity achieved in the first movement.

The Largo is no funeral march. It begins with an unexpectedly dramatic gesture but then melts into a melodic rapture in B major which is not only sustained but actually intensified in the liberated modulations of the middle section. But Chopin without his nightmares would not be Chopin and they return to haunt him in the Finale – a persecuted movement of rondo shape and virtuoso velocity which finds emotional relief in the major-key episodes but no definitive security until, almost playfully, the coda asserts the key and affirms the mood it has been the whole function of the sonata to secure.

chopin: sonata in B minor

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

Sonata in B minor, Op.58

Allegro mæstoso

Scherzo: molto vivace

Largo

Finale: presto non tanto

Sonata form, uncomfortable as he was with its classical requirements, was something Chopin had to come to terms with. But he could only do it in his own way. Even in the Sonata in C minor, which he wrote as a student in Warsaw in 1828, he resisted what he no doubt considered the predictability of the academically constructed first movement. He got by very effectively in the two concertos a couple of years later and in 1839, in the Sonata in B flat minor, he bent the form to his own will with great authority. Bearing in mind the problems he had had to solve, no one can blame him for more or less reproducing in the first movement of his Sonata in B minor, Op.58, the structure he had carved out for himself five years earlier. He was to make a different and quite masterful approach to the same problem in his last major work, the Cello Conata in G minor, in 1846.

The issues of the Allegro maestoso of the Piano Sonata in B minor are not the classical ones of balance and of reconciliation of tonal conflicts. Emotions are what matter. Key relationships are important, of course, but in the first movement the contrast in mood between the unsmiling first subject and the peaceful second subject - a contrast symbolised by their key relationship - is more significant. The tendency of the movement is not so much to re-assert the original key as to assert the optimism of the second subject over the initial mood. Which is why, after an improvisatory and apparently spontaneous development section, Chopin declines to recapitulate the opening theme, preferring to devote the last part of the construction to celebrating the serenity achieved by the second subject in B major.

Having got the most difficult part over, he now abandons his 1839 model. He retains his optimism in an uncommonly happy Scherzo in E flat major, setting the lovely middle section most significantly in B major, which is not only intriguingly remote from the outer sections but also reminiscent of the serenity achieved in the first movement.

The Largo is no funeral march. It begins with an unexpectedly dramatic gesture but then melts into a melodic rapture in B major which is not only sustained but actually intensified in the liberated modulations o&&^^^Document Error^^^movement is incorporated in the Presto opening of the last - in the very first bar in fact - the fate of the sonata, like its construction, is sealed.

Gerald Larner© took lessons with Santiago Riera for as long as two years after leaving the Conservatoire - but by 1898, when he returned to the Conservatoire to study composition with Gabri

Sonata form, uncomfortable as he was with its conventional requirements, was something Chopin had to come to terms with in his own way. Even in the Piano Sonata in C minor, which he wrote as a student in Warsaw in 1828, he resisted what he no doubt considered the predictability of the academically constructed first movement. He got by very effectively in the two concertos a couple of years later and in 1839, in the Sonata in B flat minor Op.35 he bent the form to his own will with great authority. Bearing in mind the problems he had had to solve, no one can blame him for more or less reproducing in the first movement of his Sonata in B minor Op.58 the structure he had carved out for himself five years earlier. He was to make a different and quite masterly approach to the same problem in his last major work, the Cello Sonata in G minor, in 1846.

The issues of the Allegro maestoso of the Piano Sonata in B minor are not the classical ones of balance and of reconciliation of tonal conflicts. Key relationships are important, of course, but in the first movement the contrast in mood between the unsmiling first subject in B minor and the serene second subject in D major – a contrast symbolised by their key relationship – is more significant. The tendency of the movement is not so much to re-assert the original key as to assert the optimism of the second subject over the initial mood. Which is why, after an improvisatory and apparently spontaneous development section rich in counterpoint and harmonic enterprise, Chopin declines to recapitulate the opening theme, preferring to devote the last part of the construction to celebrating the serenity achieved by the second subject in B major.

Having got the most difficult part over, Chopin now abandons his 1839 model. He retains his optimism in an uncommonly happy Scherzo in E flat major, setting the lovely middle section most significantly in B major, which is not only intriguingly remote from the outer sections but also reminiscent of the serenity achieved in the first movement.

The Largo is no funeral march. It begins with an unexpectedly dramatic gesture but then melts into a bel-canto rapture in B major which is not only sustained but actually intensified in the liberated modulations of the middle section. Chopin is so confident of the serenity he has achieved here that he puts it to a severe test in the Finale – a persecuted movement of rondo shape, its main theme driven by an ever quicker left-hand accompaniment every time it appears. Emotional relief is found only in the major-key episodes but there is no definitive security until, almost playfully, the coda asserts the B major key and affirms the mood it has been the whole function of the sonata to secure.