Piano Sonata No. 1 (Rachmaninoff)

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

Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 28, is a piano sonata by Sergei Rachmaninoff, completed in 1908.[1] It is the first of three "Dresden pieces", along with the Symphony No. 2 and part of an opera, which were composed in the quiet city of Dresden, Germany.[2] It was originally inspired by Goethe's tragic play Faust; although Rachmaninoff abandoned the idea soon after beginning composition, traces of this influence can still be found.[1] After numerous revisions and substantial cuts made at the advice of his colleagues, he completed it on April 11, 1908. Konstantin Igumnov gave the premiere in Moscow on October 17, 1908. It received a lukewarm response there, and remains one of the least performed of Rachmaninoff's works.

It has three movements,[3] and takes about 35 minutes to perform.[4] The sonata is structured like a typical Classical sonata, with fast movements surrounding a slower, more tender second movement. The movements feature sprawling themes and ambitious climaxes within their own structure, all the while building towards a prodigious culmination. Although this first sonata is a substantial and comprehensive work, its successor, Piano Sonata No. 2 (Op. 36), written five years later, became the better regarded of the two. Nonetheless, it, too, was given serious cuts and opinions are mixed about those.[5]

  1. ^ a b Norris, Geoffrey (1993). The Master Musicians: Rachmaninoff. New York City: Schirmer Books. pp. 87–88. ISBN 0-02-870685-4.
  2. ^ Harrison, Max (2006). Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings. London: Continuum. pp. 132–5. ISBN 0-8264-9312-2.
  3. ^ Sergei Rachmaninoff: Sonata No. 1 and Other Works for Solo Piano. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications. 2001. ISBN 0-486-41885-5.
  4. ^ Brisson, Eric (2008). "Rachmaninov – Sonata no.1 in D minor, op.28". Pianopedia. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
  5. ^ Nelson, Lee-Ann (October 2006). "2.2.2" (PDF). Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Sonata op. 36: Towards the Creation of an Alternative Performance Version (MMus). University of Pretoria. Retrieved 24 May 2018.