performed by Jean Efflam-Bavouzet, or below by Annie Fischer In the two posts from earlier this week, we discussed the other two sonatas from Beethoven’s op. 10, the fifth sonata, in Cm, as well as the sixth, in F. These … Continue reading Beethoven Piano Sonata no. 7 in D, op. 10 no. 3
performed by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, or below by Annie Fischer In today’s work, as with all previous Beethoven sonatas, and likely with all future ones as well, we turn to the wealth of knowledge to be found in the lecture series … Continue reading Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 6 in F, Op. 10, No. 2
performed by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, or below by Annie Fischer I cannot overstate the wonderfulness of Sir András Schiff’s series of lectures about the Beethoven sonatas. They make me feel like I know these works so well, and even after having listened … Continue reading Beethoven Piano Sonata no. 5 in Cm, op. 10 no. 1
performed by Christoph Eschenbach, or below by Sir András Schiff second and third movements We have now reached somewhat of a (very insignificant) milestone in our coverage of Mozart’s piano sonatas. For one, this puts us a third of the … Continue reading Mozart Piano Sonata No. 6 in D, K. 284 / 205b
performed by Christoph Eschenbach, or below by the also spectacular Mitsuko Uchida Here we are with Mozart’s fifth piano sonata, and per yesterday’s article, the two Köchel numbers reflect its original and incorrect ordering, later being given the lower number to reflect … Continue reading Mozart Piano Sonata No. 5 in G, K. 283 / 189h
performed by Christoph Eschenbach, or below by the also outstanding Mitsuko Uchida We haven’t seen Mozart in a while. Actually it hasn’t been that long. We featured him more than once or twice during the horn series and a few … Continue reading Mozart Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-flat, K. 282 /189g
performed by Andrew Clark, natural horn; Geoffrey Govier, fortepiano Who is this Beethoven? His name is not known to us. Of course, Punto is very well known. Hungarian Music Critic, in response to a performance of the work by its … Continue reading Beethoven Horn Sonata, op. 17
performed by an unknown pianist from some recording I acquired somehow, or below by Irina Emeliantseva Nikolai Andreevich Roslavets was born on January 4 1881 (23 December, 1880 in the Julian Calendar) (possibly) in the Chernigov Governorate (a day less than … Continue reading Nikolai Roslavets: Piano Sonata no. 1
performed by Matti Raekaillo, or below by Boris Berman The second sonata of Sergei Prokofiev was first performed on February 5, 1914 by the composer in Moscow. It is dedicated to Maximilian Schmidthof, to whom the composer’s second piano concerto (which … Continue reading Prokofiev Piano Sonata no. 2 in Dm, op. 14
performed by Santiago Rodriguez I’m quite glad we were able to discuss the Medtner sonata earlier this week, because today we’re discussing a work of equally epic pianistic and musical proportions, similarly Russian in nature, but also in many ways entirely … Continue reading Rachmaninoff Piano Sonata in Dm, op. 28
performed by Geoffrey Tozer In case you haven’t ever heard of Nikolai Medtner, I’d like to make the case that this, one of his earliest compositions, is undeniably one of the greatest things ever composed in the history of history. … Continue reading Nikolai Medtner: Piano sonata in f minor, op. 5
performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy (or for those of you to whom the above video is unavailable, another one here by Richter) Life is fearfully expensive, and the climate is rotten. The air in the areas where we could find an apartment … Continue reading Scriabin Piano Sonata no. 5, op. 53
performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy Well, it hasn’t been as long since we’ve visited Scriabin. He was part of the the Russian Symphony Series and the Symphonic Poem series, but aside from his multiple symphonies and other orchestral work, he arguably made his … Continue reading Scriabin Piano Sonata no. 4 in F-sharp major, Op. 30
performed by Sviatoslav Richter History does funny things to music. In the more famous cases (as we shall shortly see why), the world nearly forgot about something, or ignored it, or derided it, and it was only later generations or geniuses who … Continue reading Tchaikovsky Grand Piano Sonata in G, op. 37
performed by David Oistrakh and Sviatoslav Richter Dmitri had been wanting to write a new, second concerto for me as a present for my 60th birthday. However, there was an error of one year in his timing. The concerto was … Continue reading Shostakovich Sonata for Violin and Piano in G, Op. 134
performed by David Oistrakh and Sviatoslav Richter, from the recital in the Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatory in 1972 I’d like to say I planned it, but I didn’t. Both of Bartok’s violin sonatas, written within a year or so … Continue reading Bartok Violin Sonata no. 1, Sz.75/BB 84
performed by Viktoria Mullova and Bruno Canino (more about Mullova below), or below by Renaud Capuçon and (the outstandingly lovely) Hélène Grimaud Who would have thought the first violin sonata we’d tackle on this blog (after almost three years of pretty dedicated listening … Continue reading Ravel: Violin Sonata No. 2 in G major
performed by Paavali Jumppanen (from his album of the three sonatas) or below by Pierre-Laurent Aimard (from Boulez’s Ouvres Completes box set), both fantastic performances We now jump forward a little bit in time to another of Boulez’s still-early works, the first … Continue reading Boulez Piano Sonata no. 1
performed by Krystian Zimerman movement 1 below; the rest of the piece in the playlist here Zimerman is back because he’s amazing. Ditto for Brahms. Last time we saw Brahms (well, before his sextet on Sunday) was last summer. How … Continue reading Brahms Piano Sonata No. 2 in F#m, Op. 2
performed by Mitsuko Uchida We’ll get around to the other incomplete sonatas and stuff later, but for now, we feature the first piano work of his that really blew me away, and the earliest completed sonata. I was fascinated with his Wanderer … Continue reading Schubert Piano Sonata no. 4 in C, D. 537
performed by Wilhelm Kempff If, as Messiaen stated and many others might agree, Mozart is ‘an extraordinary rhythmician,’ one of the most talented and gifted rhythmic composers, then Schubert must be one of the most lyrical. With Mozart’s first string quartet from a … Continue reading Schubert Piano Sonata in E, D. 157
Fugue for Thought 