My second piano sonata

Hello, here is my second piano sonata, in D flat major. It has four movements.

You can hear the sonata here:

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The score is attached with this post.

Best wishes,

Andr

sonata no 2 full protected.pdf

I just listened to movement one. The piano side of it sounds very beautiful and the piano sustain sounds very nice. nice playing... anyway, the forte moments are verrry expressive, hense the 'molto expressivo'. I think the melody would be better suited for voice.. I really loved the first movement and will extend my comments further when I finish the sonata. Thanks a lot, very nice job!

I checked out your web site and its pretty apparent that you have a firm grasp of what a piano can do and what sounds good on a piano. This was enjoyable to listen to. I'm not really sure if its my place to comment since its finished it fits the style that you write and you seem to be more than experienced in both composition and piano performance. Great job. Maybe you could give some masterclasses on the site to help out the up and coming composers.

i really love some of your ideas you have in here, you develop them all really well and also variate them in some subtle ways that are really easy on the ear. I must say my favorite part is the move from measure 34-35 and 51-52, beautiful. Great job I wish I had more experience to comment more but it sounds lovely, keep it up.

Greetings!

I'm going to listen to each movement and make some comments on them as I hear them. If I encounter anything I think sounds troubling, I'll let you know.

Movement I:

It is reassuring to see that somebody knows what Sonata-allegro form is. You use the double exposition very nicely, something not many composers from 1850 on have bothered with. Your first theme has two sides, the rich melodic character, and the stormy but upbeat second half. Very nicely constructed, and your bridge material works very well, helping us subside into the second theme without nary a missed beat. And you put the key in the dominant for the second theme, thank you! Your second theme even has a brief minor key flair, which gives it extra poignancy. I love the way you use those fast triplets in the upper register to create a flashing effect. It sounds very much like what you might hear from contemporary artists, but within a classical context.

The development section is a true development section, with snatches of both these interwoven and chromatically developed. You achieve some of your most gripping music in the 1st movement in this section. I am very grateful that you actually modulate several times as you wind your way back through to the original theme. In fact, when we arrive, I almost missed it! You have so naturally woven your piece together, that I almost missed the start of the recapitulation; quite extraordinary!

The recapitulation does not appear to introduce much new, no other development of the themes, so that is rather disappointing. I direct you to Scriabin's 1st Piano Sonata to see how he added more development in his recapitulation and made the piece that much more satisfying. The end provides a good culmination; I very much like the sudden burst of chord sin measure 147. However, I think you can do more than just rehash both first and second theme in the tonic key of Db Major.

Movement II:

Okay, we have a simple ABA piece here. The opening material is in Bb Minor, which is a little surprising. Usually the middle movements are in the dominant or subdominant keys, but I'll take a minor movement! Your opening material is somber, almost hypnotic at times. It occasionally veers on a happy note, but until we hit the B section, it never quite makes it.

The B section is a decidedly happier tune. I love the rhythm in the left hand at 32. Very effective. You manage to hint at the sweeter moments of your first movement here. The transition back to the A material seems unwanted, at least I didn't want to return to its brooding melancholy. But it is effective for clearing the air. Over all, good Adagio. It doesn't really need anything more.

Movement III:

This movement is in the classical Scherzo - Trio form. You do start in a different key, the dominant to last key's minor, so we're all over the map now! Your A section material is exciting and fits the Scherzo mood very well. I really like the dissonance and chromaticism in the second half of the A material. That catches the ear very nicely. Also, you have a bit of a melodic line here that I can follow, and that gives it the character it needs. The first half didn't really have any sense of melody.

The trio is quiet, relaxed, but doesn't seem to have any real sense of direction. It happens, but I confess it is a little boring for me. The transition from minor to major in measure 96 is a welcome change, but amounts to the only excitement in the trio. The rhythmic structure fits in very well with the rest of the movement and the Sonata as a whole, but melodically its dull.

The return of the A material again produces no new surprises, a weakness I think that makes your endings less exciting than they should be. Ending the Scherzo quietly was a nice touch though.

Movement IV:

Back to Db Major, as we would expect, but you create an interesting Rondo subject, because you modulate to B Major halfway through! And your transition to the B section comes off so smoothly I almost missed it again. You have really blended all of your section together very smoothly. I really like the C section, very tender without loosing any of the tempo. Your pdf dropped the fermata on the final note though.

The rondo theme on its third time through is exactly the same as it is on the first time through. Why not before hitting the B' section, make the A material a little different too?

After the B' section, you do modify the Rondo theme to give it fresh vitality heading into the coda, and it works very well. The piece comes to a satisfying if quick end. This movement more than any of the others reminded me of Mozart, at least a Mozart willing to modulate like a madman. :toothygrin:

I love the B Major section and the middle C section best of this final movement.

Overall:

Like many Piano Sonatas, the first movement is the most satisfying of the four. The middle two movements accomplish their jobs, bringing us to the dogged relentlessness of the final movement. I wonder if perhaps you might want to make the Scherzo the second movement, given the bravura in the fourth. Another thing that I found missing in the later movements was the contemporary eloquence in the first. You shower us with gorgeous melodies and figurations that tantalize our ears in the first movement, and they are notable for their absence in the last three movements.

So, I enjoyed this work, and you are definitely a very good pianist to polish this off with so reckless a tempo. I'm just not one hundred percent convinced by the last three movements.

Matusleo