Chopin wrote three piano sonatas. The first, op. 4 in c minor (HN 942), is not as well known as its siblings, but permits interesting glimpses inside the young composer's workshop. The Sonata in b flat minor, op. 35, became known not least through the most famous funeral march in all of music history, while its mystifyingly brisk and secretive unison finale still astonishes today's hearers. The late Sonata in B minor maintains the immense musical level of opus 35 and, in spite of all its drama, also offers many moments of repose, for example in the dreamy slow movement, where one is transported by the music's cantabile character. Both sonatas belong at the summit of the virtuoso piano repertoire. |
