Piano Sonata (Liszt)

Franz Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor (dedicated to Robert Schumann) is widely considered to be his greatest work for the instrument, and one of the seminal works of the Romantic piano literature. Composed in 1853, the Sonata is notable for being constructed from a small number of motivic elements that are woven into an enormous musical architecture. The motivic units are continuously transformed throughout the work to suit the current musical context. A theme that in one context sounds menacing and even violent, is then transformed into a hauntingly beautiful melody. This technique helps to bind the sonata's sprawling structure into a single cohesive unit, although the architectural powers of the musician need to be highly developed to achieve this in performance.

External links

Piano Society - Free recording of Liszt's Piano Sonata.

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