Sonata in G mnor Op.22 (1828–38)

So rasch wie möglich – schneller

Andantino

Scherzo: sehre rasch und markiert

Rondo: presto

The emotional background of the Sonata in G minor is complex, mainly because it was subject to the diverse influences of no fewer than ten years of Schumann’s turbulent life. The slow movement, like that of the Sonata in F sharp minor, is based on a song he wrote when he was 18 (and when Clara wieck, whom he had just met, was no more than nine). The last movement was written in 1838, two years before Schumann and Clara got married. The dedication is to Henriette Voigt, who had acted as go-between for Schumann during the few months of his infatuation with Ernestine von Fricken, between 1834 and 1835, when most of the sonata was written.

So it is an Enerstine work, a relation of Carnaval, as much as it is a Clara work. In fact, Carnaval and the Sonata have a few thematic ideas in common, mostly in the Scherzo but also in the exposition of the first movement, between the first and second subjects. On the other hand, the work is sprinkled with alusions to the theme always associated in Schumann’s mind with Clara. The first subjct itself is certainly based on that thme, and it would probably not be wrong to claim the same for the tenderly syncopated second subjct in the relative major. The latter theme does not figure in the development, although a new and apparently unrelated but also syncopated theme does. The general tendency is to sustain the momentum implied in the tempo direction at the head of the movement: “as fast as possible.” The two further tempo directions in the coda, “quicker” and “still quicker” present a problem to the pianist who taks the first one literally.

The two middle movements are both short. Th C major Andantino consists of two variations on the 1818 song, Im Herbste, a brief development, a restatement of the melody combined with an inversion of the Clara theme, and a poetic coda. The G minor Scherzo, on the other hand, plunges impulsively into the world of Carnaval, with Arlequin making two fleeting appearances in the episodes between the three appearances of the main theme.

The first version of the Sonata in G minor was completed in 1835, with a finale quite different from the present Rondo. This one was written as a replacement of the original finale and, if it lacks the spontaneity of the original finale, it does share the concise proportions of the rest of the work. It is a sort of sonata-rondo, with a first subject in G minor, a slower Clara-influenced second subject in B flat major, and a developmental episode which is repeated after the recapitulation of the two main themes – before the toccata cadenza which so splendidly ends the work.

So rasch wie möglich – schneller – noch schneller

Andantino

Scherzo: sehr rasch und markiert

Rondo: presto

Schumann’s Second Piano Sonata in G minor is dedicated not to Clara Wieck, like the First in F sharp minor, but to Henriette Voigt who (unlike Ignaz Moscheles, dedicate of the Third in F minor) has no place in musical history. She does, however, have a place in Schumann’s biography since, as a confidante of both the composer and Ernestine von Fricken, she was the first to know of their secret engagement in August 1834. Although the earliest material in the Sonata in G minor originated in 1828 and the present version of the last movement was completed in 1838, most of the work was written in the year that the engagement lasted.

So it is an Ernestine work as much as it is a Clara work and, in that, a relation of the contemporaneous Carnaval, where Clara appears as the passionate Chiarina and Ernestine as the scarcely less intense Estrella. In fact, Carnaval and the Sonata have melodic ideas in common, including the theme always associated in Schumann’s mind with Clara. It is presented as an inner-voice counterpoint in Chiarina and – although the 15-year-old Clara felt neglected at this time in favour of the 18-year-old and “superbly feminine” Ernestine – as the main theme of the first movement of the Sonata. It is driven throughout by the impulse demanded by the tempo heading, “As quickly as possible,” and the supplementary directions towards the end, “Quicker” and “Still quicker” – which is neither a mistake on Schumann’s part nor a joke but (as the similarly anomalous Prestissimo possibile and Più presto markings in the last movement of the Sonata No.3 in F minor surely confirm) a way of securing the unfailingly pressurised kind of interpretation he wanted.

The two middle movements are both short. The C major Andantino is based on a song, a setting of Kerner’s Im Herbst, written when the composer was no more than 18. Originally in duple time, it is presented here in 6/8, which has a rather more sophisticated effect, particularly where it necessitates setting twos and fours against threes on its introduction in the openng bars. There are two tender variations on the song, a brief development and, after a final restatement of the melody, a poetic coda. As an extreme contrast, the G minor Scherzo plunges impulsively into the world of Carnaval, with Arlequin making two fleeting appearances in the episodes between the three appearances of the main theme.

The first version of the Sonata in G minor was completed in 1835 with a finale quite different from the present Rondo. This one was written three years later at Clara’s heartfelt request to replace a movement she considered too difficult. If it lacks the spontaneity of the original finale, it does share the concise proportions of the rest of the work. It is a sort of sonata-rondo, with a first subject in G minor, a slower Clara-influenced second subject in B flat major, and a developmental episode which is repeated after the recapitulation of the two main themes and before the toccata cadenza which so splendidly ends the work.