Liszt: Sonata in B MinorLiszt's B minor Sonata is now regarded as his finest work for piano, and one of the pinnacles of Romantic piano music. This handbook opens with a survey of Liszt's early attempts at sonata composition - which include some well-known pieces that, hitherto, have been unrecognised as sonata forms - and clears away some of the persistent myths regarding programme music in Liszt's output. In the central chapters, built around an analysis of the B minor Sonata, Kenneth Hamilton discusses various interpretative approaches, arguing that the contradictory writings on the subject stem from the deliberate formal ambiguity of the piece itself - one reason for its perennial fascination, perhaps. The book concludes with a chapter on the performance practice and the performing history of the work, which should be of particular interest to pianists. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Forms and formulae | 8 |
Orchestral sonata forms | 22 |
Understanding the Sonata in B minor | 28 |
Programmatic interpretations | 29 |
Musical analyses | 31 |
Text and texture | 49 |
From manuscript to printed text | 58 |
Performances and pianos | 65 |
Performance practice | 73 |
The compositional legacy | 79 |
Notes | 83 |
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87 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Allegro energico Andante Andante sostenuto bars bass Beethoven beginning Berlioz Brahms Bülow cadence cantilena Chopin coda composition concert Concert-solo corda d'Albert Dante Sonata development section diminished-seventh chord Eb major Erard example exposition F minor Faust Symphony first-subject Franz Liszt Friedheim fugal fugue Grandioso theme Hammerklavier Sonata Hans von Bülow harmonic Hungarian idea initial introduction Karl Klindworth keyboard Klindworth later Lento Liapunov Liszt Edition Liszt Pädagogium Liszt student Liszt's music Liszt's pupils Liszt's Sonata Longyear Longyear and Winklhofer Louis Köhler lyrical main theme manuscript mediant melody minor Sonata minor study Motta musicians Newman octaves opera orchestral original passage pedal markings phrase pianists piano sonata piece played préludes programme published recapitulation relative major repeated repertoire Reubke Sardanapale Sauer scherzo Scherzo and March Schumann second group second subject semiquavers seventh similar slow section sonata form structure style symphonic poem Tasso tempo thematic transformation tonal tonic key Vallée d'Obermann virtuoso Wanderer Fantasy Weimar