Captivating Unsung Piano Sonatas

[Gareth Vaughan]

The fact that it is mentioned in Grove is no guarantee that it is still extant - or even existed. When it comes to lesser known composers Grove is unreliable: a recent edition credited Bronsart with a second piano concerto (wrong) and stated that Felix Dreyschock was Alexander's son (wrong - he was his nephew). A lot of Ketelbey's music was lost in a fire - I suspect the piano sonata was a casualty.
As to the surviving Dreyschock sonata, I have a copy of this. It is indeed v. difficult, but I'm not sure it's that good. I remember thinking the opening theme sounded rather silly. I must dig it out and have a look at it again.

[FBerwald]

I kind of agree with you about the Grove being unreliable. My piano teacher has the complete A-Z volumes; Under Glazunov's works Grove mentions a second Violin concerto in "A major" (not sure what Op. no .. i think 77). I tried searching every possible place I could think about and came up with nothing. I guess being a Glazunov fan I found the aspect of another violin concerto titillating. Glazunov is by no means a lesser known composer so I still find it hard to believe they could have bungled up so. Anybody come across this "phantom" concerto if only as a mention ??!!??

[Alan Howe]

Maybe Grove online is better? There is no mention there of any 'phantom' VC by Glazunov - and his Op.77 is, of course, his 7th Symphony. Curious...

[FBerwald]

i didnt mean "Phantom" literal i meant they mentioned a Violin concerto in A major by glazunov

[Alan Howe]

I understood perfectly what was meant! However, Grove online makes no mention of another VC by Glazunov, so we are no nearer to the source of information regarding this supposedly lost concerto. Do you by any chance mean Goldmark's 2nd VC? Now that is mentioned in Grove online, but I have never managed to find out anything about it...

[FBerwald]

No it was a Glazunov concerto i read about, infact it was an earlier Op before the famous a minor concerto..but hey! maybe Groves did make an honest mistake!?!
The Goldmark no 2 is only in manuscript and was never published and seems never performed. Its quite possible its somewhere in some unknown catalogue or lib. in same as the case with the  Moscheles PC No 8.

[TerraEpon]

There's no listing for any other violin and orchestra piece by Glazunov in the big-book-o-worklists that I own either. He DID write a piece for cello and orchestra in A (Spanish Serenade) but that's as close as it gets.

[Alan Howe]

The Glazunov VC debate has now been made into a separate thread...

[FBerwald]

This sonata isn't quite obscure but one doesn't encounter it much either Clementi - Piano Sonata in G major, Op. 37/2.

[Peter1953]

Now here is a real find: Draeseke's "Sonata quasi Fantasia" in C sharp minor, op. 6 (1862-67, published 1869). Draeseke's piano sonata is coupled with Liszt's, marvellously performed by Claudius Tanski on an only 53min.41sec. lasting Altarus CD.
Draeseke's sonata is "progressive" (like the Reubke, see Reply #9) in the style of Liszt who wrote in 1884 that he "knew no more important work in this form since Schumann's F minor Sonata". I disagree of course, because there was a Real Giant and that was Brahms. Just listen to his piano sonatas. Or did Liszt meant "in this form the way I like it"?
Having said that, Draeseke's sonata is very intriguing, and you can hear it already in the opening theme. I had to listen to his sonata a few times, spread over a few days, to fully appreciate it. A fascinating first movement called "Introduzione e Marcia funebre", followed by a short, surprising brilliant waltz before the last movement begins. And now I cannot stop playing the disc over and over again. It's a delightful musical experience for me.
The Liszt sonata, well... Brilliant in every respect. A difference with the Draeseke is that the main theme remains easily in my memory.
The booklet notes are very informative and on an academic level, written by William Kinderman. The cover shows an ominous picture of a graveyard in the snow.

Thanks very much, Alan, for your good suggestion. A strong recommandation for those who like exciting piano sonatas.

[Alan Howe]

This is a very insightful review, Peter. I think you have captured the essence of the Draeseke PS - and I am sure that you are right about Liszt having neglected Brahms' sonatas, but then Liszt and Brahms were ideological opponents.

[Josh]

I am not familiar with those works. I have a disc of Czerny's 3 sonatas for piano 4 hands, which I find disappointingly dull, and therefore I have not been encouraged to explore him further.

Off-topic, but... you'll be missing out on Czerny's monumental symphonies 1&5 if you do this.  The scherzo of each of these symphonies in particular is outstanding.  Like Clementi before him, he was known for the piano but was better with the orchestra. In my opinion, of course; though I love Clementi's solo piano music, I don't care that much for Czerny's, with a handful of exceptions.

[Peter1953]

My latest discoveries. Bortkiewicz's piano sonatas nos. 1 in B major, op. 9, and 2 in C minor, op. 60. Just brilliant. These jewels easily fit between most masterpieces of the sung heros. I will come back to these works in the thread on Bortkiewicz.

Lovers of the genre: don't wait till Santa Claus is coming with gifts, spoil yourself and buy these winners. You will definitely not be disappointed.

[Peter1953]

Other very pleasant piano sonatas are those by Robert Fuchs. His 1st piano sonata is op. 19 (1877) and is much inspired by no-one less than Schubert, despite the fact that he deceased about half a century earlier. Never mind, it's a lovely sonata. More interesting and totally different are his other two sonata's op. 88 (circa 1910) and op. 109 (circa 1919). Sophisticated, well-crafted piano music in a romantic style of a high level and reminiscent of Brahms. In those days Fuchs's sonatas might be considered as old-fashioned and incomparable with progressive contemporaries like Berg, Schönberg and Webern. But for the classical music lover of today that is uninteresting.
The 1st is coupled with the 2nd on a Marco Polo disc (what else?), and the 3rd is on a MP disc with the lovely "Jugendklänge" (Memories of Childhood) op. 32 and 12 Waltzes, op. 110.

Anyone familiar with the 3 Fuchs piano sonatas and what is your opinion?