Piano Sonata in B minor (Liszt)

Lore & Background

At this point in his life, Liszt's career as a traveling virtuoso had almost entirely subsided, as Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein had influenced him to concentrate on composing rather than performing. The Sonata was dedicated to Robert Schumann, in return for Schumann's dedication of his Fantasie in C major, Op. Pianist and composer Clara Schumann did not perform the Sonata despite her marriage to Robert Schumann; according to scholar Alan Walker she found it 'merely a blind noise'.

Reader's Guide

No other work of Liszt's has attracted anywhere near the amount of scholarly attention paid to the Sonata in B minor. It has provoked a wide range of divergent theories from those of its admirers who feel compelled to search for hidden meanings. Possibilities include the Faust legend, autobiographical conflicts, divine and diabolical themes, an allegory of the Garden of Eden, or no programmatic allusions at all. The complexity of the sonata means no analytical interpretation has been widely accepted. Some analyses suggest that the Sonata has four movements, although there is no gap between them. Superimposed upon the four movements is a large sonata form structure, although the precise beginnings and endings of the traditional development and recapitulation sections have long been a topic of debate. Others claim a three-movement form, an extended one-movement sonata form, and a rotational three-movement work with a double exposition and recapitulation. It was attacked by Eduard Hanslick who said 'anyone who has heard it and finds it beautiful is beyond help'. It took a long time for the Sonata to become commonplace in concert repertoire because of its technical difficulty and negative initial reception due to its status as 'new' music. However by the early stages of the twentieth century, the piece had become established as a pinnacle of Liszt's repertoire and has been a popularly performed and extensively analyzed piece ever since.

Did You Know?

• The sonata was dedicated to Robert Schumann in return for Schumann's dedication of his Fantasie in C major, Op. 17 to Liszt.
• Clara Schumann did not perform the sonata; according to scholar Alan Walker she found it 'merely a blind noise'.
• The sonata was first performed on 27 January 1857 in Berlin by Hans von Bülow.