Piano Sonata No. 2 (Shostakovich)

Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor, Op. 61 was composed in 1943 in Samara, where he had been evacuated due to the Siege of Leningrad, and was premiered by Shostakovich himself on June 6, soon after moving to Moscow. It was his first piano composition since the 1933 Preludes op.34.

Dedicated to his former teacher Leonid Nikolayev, it consists of three movements with the following markings:

1. Allegretto

The tragic first movement begins with legato runs. A semplice dotted 16th note melody is played with the left hand while the right hand plays chord inversions. The main difficulty of this movement contains wide jumps and lots of accidentals. Most of the movement contains 16th notes. The movement ends loudly.

2. Largo

The second movement is very haunting. Beginning with a rubato melody. Strange melodies, accidentals, challenging dynamics, and lots of articulation are included in this movement. After some mezzo staccato major 2nds in the left hand, the movement ends very, very quietly in a whisper.

3. Moderato

The final movement is very depressing, beginning with a Moderato con moto melody in the right hand. Shortly after, the left hand joins in. This movement contains 8th note triplets, 64th note triplets, and a haunting chromatic melody halfway to the end. The movement also contains a minor 9th and a minor 10th. A tritone is also included. The ending section closes the movement, with 16th notes. At the final close, the movement ends almost in a whisper.

References

• François-René de Tranchefort and al., Guide de la Musique de Piano et de Clavecin. André Lischke, 'Dimitri Chostakovitch' pages 250-251.

Dmitri Shostakovich Operas The Nose Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District Moscow, Cheryomushki Katerina Ismailova Orango Ballets The Golden Age The Bolt The Limpid Stream ("The Bright Stream") Symphonies No. 1 in F minor No. 2 in B major ("To October") No. 3 in E♭ major ("The First of May") No. 4 in C minor No. 5 in D minor No. 6 in B minor No. 7 in C major ("Leningrad") No. 8 in C minor No. 9 in E♭ major No. 10 in E minor No. 11 in G minor ("The Year 1905") No. 12 in D minor ("The Year 1917") No. 13 in B♭ minor ("Babi-Yar") No. 14 in G minor No. 15 in A major Concertos Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor Violin Concerto No. 2 in C♯ minor Cello Concerto No. 1 in E♭ major Cello Concerto No. 2 in G major Orchestra works Suite from "The Nose" Suite from "The Golden Age" Suite from "The Bolt" Suite from "The Limpid Stream" Suite from "Encounter at the Elbe" ("Meeting on the Elbe") Suite from "The Gadfly" Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1' Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 2 Suite for Variety Orchestra Tahiti Trot "Festive Overture" in A major for Orchestra "Novorossiisk Chimes, the Flame of Eternal Glory" for Orchestra Film music The New Babylon Alone Golden Mountains Counterplan The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda The Youth of Maxim Girl Friends The Return of Maxim The Vyborg Side Friends The Great Citizen Zoya Simple People The Young Guard Pirogov Michurin Meeting on the Elbe The Fall of Berlin Belinsky The Unforgettable Year 1919 The Gadfly Five Days, Five Nights Sofiya Perovskaya Hamlet King Lear Vocal music Anti-Formalist Rayok Song of the Forests Suite on Finnish Themes From Jewish Folk Poetry Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti Chamber music String quartets No. 1 in C major No. 2 in A major No. 3 in F major No. 4 in D major No. 5 in B♭ major No. 6 in G major No. 7 in F♯ minor No. 8 in C minor No. 9 in E♭ major No. 10 in A♭ major No. 11 in F minor No. 12 in D♭ major No. 13 in B♭ minor No. 14 in F♯ major No. 15 in E♭ minor Other Cello Sonata in D minor Piano Quintet in G minor Piano Trio No. 1 in C minor Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor Quartet Movement in E♭ major (c. 1960s) Viola Sonata Violin Sonata Piano music Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor Twenty-Four Piano Preludes and Fugues "Children's Notebook" (6) Three Fantastic Dances Related articles List of compositions by Dmitri Shostakovich Muddle Instead of Music Leningrad première of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 Shostakovich v. Twentieth Century-Fox Testimony The War Symphonies: Shostakovich Against Stalin Post-romanticism Neoclassicism Portal:Classical music