Pollini plays Chopin Sonata No.2 in B flat Minor, Op.35 - 1. Grave - Doppio movimento

One of the most beautiful pearls in the history of music.

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Piano Sonata No. 2 (Chopin)
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Frédéric Chopin composed his Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35 mainly in 1839 at Nohant near Chateauroux in France, although the third movement, which comprises the funeral march had been composed as early as 1837.

The sonata consists of four movements.

1. Grave; Doppio movimento
2. Scherzo
3. Marche funèbre: Lento
4. Finale: Presto

The first movement features a stormy opening theme and a gently lyrical second theme. The second movement is a virtuoso scherzo with a more relaxed melodic central section. 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. 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[weasel words] have remarked that the fourth movement is "wind howling around the gravestones".[citation needed]

The Sonata 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." (See Schirmer's modern reprint of the Mikuli edition)