Piano Sonata no. 5 complete!!

I finished the other two movements hooray!! Here's the YouTube upload. Please let me know what you think so I might apply the advice for future piano works 🙂

As for the piece itself, it's so personal to me I'm not willing to change anything, though I recognise it's not flawless. I think it is my very best piano piece and I'm extremely proud of it despite its issues. 

I'll do a rundown of the piece real quick so ya'll know what to expect. 

Movement 1. Sonata form, both themes are derived from the same rhythmic idea. A theme for desolation and a theme for consolation, which alternate in rotations becoming less and less certain until neither resolve. closes on a 6 4 chord. attaca into...

Movement 2. Ternary form. A is a waltz with violent interruptions. B is more restless and dramatic. The return to A is based on first movement closing 6 4. Ending of A is infected with B motifs. Closes with a satisfying cadence at last.

Movement 3. Ternary form. This movement is meant to be "looking back" at the events of the previous movements. B section is turbulent again. A section returns. The movement closes with a chorale "prayer." attaca into...

Movement 4. Sonata form. Opens with a return to the consolation motifs from movement 1. First theme is dramatic and modulates constantly. Second theme is a combination of consolation and prayer. The climax of the development (and I think the climax of the whole piece really) with the minor version of the consolation theme from the first movement is in E minor which is a tritone away from tonic key. Recap has no proper second theme, only fragments. It ends resolved on a single note all by itself. All alone.

Thank you for listening and for any feedback :3 

Hey Jonathon! @ComposaBoi

Thx for your review on my Sextet, I am going to return the favour to your huge work lol!

1st movement: I like the beginning, though I feel like it can has less repetition and moves more quickly away to the 2nd theme. I like the D flat Major theme as it sounds like Liszt, but I find the exposition repetition too much personally, especially with the very slow first theme! I love the development, it’s much more dramatic especially when tremolo is introduced at the latter half. I also love your modulation to G major, a very distant key as consolation giving its refreshing quality. I love the retransition to B flat Major very much, as with all those diminished 7ths it sounds really Lisztian. I find the B flat Major theme as it bit short, so the return back to tonic minor a bit abrupt for me, but the 1st theme sounds much better with tremolo under it. The reintroduction of 2nd theme in coda is unexpected for me, but it’s lovely.

2nd movement: Like the waltz theme and your flat 6th to denote the dangerous tonic minor. Love the G minor theme, but I find the transition to the quicker variant of A minor in b.93 a bit abrupt for me. Maybe a longer dominant preparation before modulating to A minor? It helps both the transition of harmony and speed. I love your return to the open transition from the 1st movement before returning to the 2nd movement first theme! The quick part reminds me of the Scherzo of Chopin’s 2nd movement, though less crazy here haha. B.222 should add a further Meno Mosso for an even slower tempo!

3rd movement: Nice melody, and like the arppegiated octave theme. Nice playing in b.23! The theme in b.53 reminds me of the turbulent theme in Chopin’s Fantasies in F minor. Again b.66 should have a Meno Mosso marking I think.

4th movement: I like the reintroduction of the motive from 1st movement with tremolo under it like the coda of 1st movement. I think you can change the key signature earlier. I love the outburst in b.15! It’s kind of foreshadowed in mov.3. The modulation to E major is very unexpected and a nice change! Probably the warmest key ever especially as the tritone key, like how I use that in my Clarinet Quintet and Sextet LoL! I lie b.133 since it’s probably the first time you introduce imitations between hands! You should do more of that! The Rachmanioffian E minor theme is a nice change of the consolation theme! I have no comment towards the ending since I like it. I love the ending too!

7 hours ago, ComposaBoi said:

ents. It ends resolved on a single note all by itself. All alone.

Who’s not alone in the world, especially for artists!

7 hours ago, ComposaBoi said:

As for the piece itself, it's so personal to me I'm not willing to change anything, though I recognise it's not flawless. I think it is my very best piano piece and I'm extremely proud of it despite its issues. 

You should be, especially given how difficult this is to perform! Well done Jonathon and thx for sharing!

Henry

Hi @ComposaBoi!

I know I've heard the 1st movement before but am not sure if I reviewed it.  I don't hear the following chord in your performance:   I just hear a Db both in the left and right hands.  Also, didn't you mean to mark this as 8vb?  8vb means an octave lower while 8va means an octave higher:   That aside, I find the main theme to be so happy-go-lucky in comparison to the bleak introduction!  LoL I think the way you present the main theme in measure 78 is more appropriate to be the main theme proper, being darker and more suited to follow the bleak introduction.  I know you said you won't be changing it but I'm going to give you my impressions nonetheless.  The version of the main theme at 151 is also nice - not overly happy-go-lucky but rather, bittersweet.  The version of the main theme at 220 where it is used as a modulating sequence is really good!  I much prefer this treatment of the happy-go-lucky material as it sounds more developmental and suited for modulation.  When you return to the material of the bleak introduction the 2nd time it sounds really empty and like the momentum of the piece just stops and falls dead (especially with the left hand staccato notes).

The 2nd movement waltz sounds like it really flourishes perfectly out of the 1st movement!  It really creates a lucid listening experience.  The only thing that brings me out of it is the allegro furioso.  I think it sounds way too fast and intense for the bittersweet mood you set with the beginning of the waltz.  I like how you reference back to your 1st movement material with the molto meno mosso part.  With how fast and furious this part gets it's amazing that you managed to perform it!  I think bringing back the dreamy main waltz theme towards the end really releases some of the furious tension you build up with the fast tempo sections.  Great job with these two movements!  I'm looking forward to reviewing the last two at another time.  Thanks for sharing!

Hi Peter!

4 hours ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

I don't hear the following chord in your performance:   I just hear a Db both in the left and right hands.

I play it, but my piano is really bad with dynamic control and at such a quiet dynamic it's impossible to voice it properly with consistency :<

4 hours ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

Also, didn't you mean to mark this as 8vb?  8vb means an octave lower while 8va means an octave higher:  

So 8va means "Ottava" and can mean above or below depending on placement. It does not mean octave above. 8vb means "Ottava bassa" and is not a standard notation, though it's increasingly common in the United States.

4 hours ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

I find the main theme to be so happy-go-lucky in comparison to the bleak introduction!

I think that's kind of unfortunate, because it's not supposed to be happy-go-lucky. I certainly don't hear it as such. I hear it as hopeful. I can see why it feels happy-go-lucky to you though: back and forth V-I, bouncy rhythm. Try not to think of it as bouncy though, more like the funeral march esque rhythm of the first theme. Maybe it'll make more sense that way.

4 hours ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

LoL I think the way you present the main theme in measure 78 is more appropriate to be the main theme proper, being darker and more suited to follow the bleak introduction.

I actually like that idea. Thanks ❤️

5 hours ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

I think it sounds way too fast and intense for the bittersweet mood you set with the beginning of the waltz.

Maybe. I thought the same but about the 3rd movement, which is kind of similar

5 hours ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

I think bringing back the dreamy main waltz theme towards the end really releases some of the furious tension you build up with the fast tempo sections.

me too!

Thanks for the review!!