Pianist: Yi-Chung Huang (LaDivinaFanatic)
Original performance video available at • Salon Concerts: 105. Y...
Karol Szymanowski's Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 21, M25, is a piano sonata in two movements. It was completed in 1911 and published in 1912 by Universal Edition Vienna. The sonata is still a relatively early work of Szymanowski, but represents the apogee of his Late Romantic period. It was premiered by Arthur Rubinstein on 7 May 1911.
1. Allegro assai (Molto appassionato)
While seemingly rhapsodic, the first movement is in classical sonata allegro form, albeit that used by Chopin in his 3rd sonata--in which the development is heavily based on the first thematic group, with the recap omitting that group and arriving in the middle of the bridge to the 2nd thematic group. While ostensibly in A major, the first unambiguous A major chord occurs in the last measure of the piece. The movement enfolds a whole world of mercurial emotion: from tenderness, through great passion, to passages marked furioso, to quasi heroic affirmation-all undermined by constant, restless chromatic harmonic movement which gives it a sense of edgy anxiety.
2. Theme and Variations:
The second movement comprises a theme, nine variations, and a fugue whose subject is itself based on the opening theme.
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1. Allegro assai 0:00
Theme: Allegretto tranquillo 6:02
Var. 1: Poco più vivace 6:35
Var. 2: Poco meno (Andantino tranquillo) 7:00
Var. 3: L'istesso tempo 7:29
Var. 4: Allegretto scherzando e capriccioso 8:05
Var. 5: Tempo di sarabanda 8:36
Var. 6: Tempo di minuetto con moto 10:59
Var. 7: Molto energico 12:18
Var. 8: Largo 13:55
Var. 9: Moderato 15:32
Fugue: 16:04
I found this performance to be quite rushed in sections; it is often too fast, to its own detriment. In some places, particularly the fugue it was difficult to follow along with the score and time the page turns correctly, so some may be incorrect.
Information from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_S..., released under CC BY-SA 4.0
8 авг 2024
