Encyclopedia : P : PI : PIA : Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat Minor (Chopin)
Piano Sonata Op. 35 No. 2 B flat minor
Key/Time Signature:
B flat minor, 2/2,6/4,3/4,4/4
Form:
Sonata
Date of composition:
1839
Opus Number:
35
Movements/Sections:
4
Dedication:
-
Frédéric Chopin composed his Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35 ("Funeral March") mainly in 1839 at Nohant near Chateauroux in France, although the funeral march third movement had been composed as early as 1837.
The first movement features a stormy opening theme and a gently lyrical second theme. The second contains a calmer, more relaxed melodic theme. The third movement begins and ends with the celebrated funeral march in B flat minor which gives the sonata its nickname, but has a calm interlude in D flat major which, since it is technically accessible (among the easiest to play among Chopin's works) is sometimes found separately in books for beginning pianists. The finale contains a whirlwind of unison notes with unremitting (not a single rest or chord until the final bars) unvarying tempo or dynamics (changes of volume); James Huneker, in his introduction to the American version of Mikuli edition of the Sonatas, quotes Chopin as saying "The left hand unisono with the right hand are gossiping after the March". Others have summarized remark as saying the fourth movement is wind howling around the gravestones.
The Sonata may have been influenced by the struggle for freedom in Poland. It confused contemporary critics who found it lacked cohesion. Robert Schumann suggested that Chopin had in this sonata "simply bound together four of his most unruly children."
