Piano Sonata No. 1 (Rachmaninoff)

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Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 28, is a piano sonata in D minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff, completed in 1907.[1] It is the first of three "Dresden pieces", along with Symphony No. 2 and part of an opera, which were composed in the quiet city of Dresden, Germany.[2] It was originally themed after Goethe's tragic play, Faust, and although he abandoned the idea soon after beginning composition, traces of this influence can still be found.[1]

It has three movements,[3] and takes about 35 minutes to perform.[4]

Contents

[edit] Background

Dresden sits on the Elbe river, providing a quiet environment for Rachmaninoff (1900)
Dresden sits on the Elbe river, providing a quiet environment for Rachmaninoff (1900)

In November 1906, Rachmaninoff, with his wife and daughter, moved to Dresden primarily to compose a second symphony to diffuse the critical failure of his first symphony, but also to escape the distractions of Moscow.[2] There they lived a quiet life, as he wrote in a letter, "We live here like hermits: we see nobody, we know nobody, and we go nowhere. I work a great deal,"[5] but even without distraction he had considerable difficulty in composing what would be his first piano sonata, especially concerning its form.[2] The original idea for it was to be a program sonata based on the main characters of the tragic play Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Faust, Gretchen, and Mephistopheles,[1] and indeed it nearly parallels Franz Liszt's own Faust Symphony which is made of three movements that reflect those characters.[2] However, the idea was abandoned shortly after he began composition, but the theme is still clear in the final version.[1] With input from Riesemann and contemporaries Nikolai Medtner and Georgy Catoire, he shortened the original 45-minute long piece to around 35 minutes.[2]

[edit] Composition

The piece is structured as a typical sonata in the Classical period: the first movement is a long Allegro moderato (moderately quick), the second a Lento (very slow), and the third an Allegro molto (very fast).[3]

[edit] Reception

He played early versions of the piece to Oskar von Riesemann (who would later become his biographer), who did not like it.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Norris, Geoffrey (1993). The Master Musicians: Rachmaninoff. New York City: Schirmer Books, 87-88. ISBN 0-02-870685-4. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harrison, Max (2006). Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings. London: Continuum, 132-5. ISBN 0-8264-9312-2. 
  3. ^ a b (2001) Sergei Rachmaninoff: Sonata No. 1 and Other Works for Solo Piano. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-41885-5. 
  4. ^ Brisson, Eric (2008). Rachmaninov - Sonata no.1 in D minor, op.28. Pianopedia. Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
  5. ^ Bertensson, Sergei; Jay Leyda (2001). Sergei Rachmaninoff: A Lifetime in Music. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 131-152. ISBN 0-2532-1421-1. 

[edit] External links

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Solo piano works by Sergei Rachmaninoff
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