Liszt: Sonata in B Minor

This book examines Liszt's B minor Sonata - regarded as a pinnacle of Romantic piano music.

Kenneth Hamilton (Author)

9780521465700, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 August 1996

108 pages, 1 table 10 music examples
22.4 x 14.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.233 kg

Liszt's B minor Sonata is now regarded as his finest work for piano, and one of the pinnacles of Romantic piano music. This handbook opens with a survey of Liszt's early attempts at sonata composition - which include some well-known pieces that, hitherto, have been unrecognised as sonata forms - and clears away some of the persistent myths regarding programme music in Liszt's output. In the central chapters, built around an analysis of the B minor Sonata, Kenneth Hamilton discusses various interpretative approaches, arguing that the contradictory writings on the subject stem from the deliberate formal ambiguity of the piece itself - one reason for its perennial fascination, perhaps. The book concludes with a chapter on the performance practice and the performing history of the work, which should be of particular interest to pianists.

Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Forms and formulae
3. Understanding the Sonata in B minor
4. Text and texture
5. Performances and pianos
Notes
Select bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Individual composers & musicians, specific bands & groups [AVH]