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PROGRAM NOTES: CHOPIN SONATA IN B MINOR

The B minor Sonata is a special work.  Dedicated to Madame la Comtesse Emilie de Perthuis, a piano student and friend, Chopin wrote it in the summer of 1844 at his seaside getaway.  He left Paris to soothe health problems, but the dampness of the sea air likely hurt matters.  Poor health plagued him, which is striking given the work's optimistic tone amidst a losing battle with tuberculosis.  He had coughing fits so horrible that summer that he coughed up blood.  He once fainted and was found on the floor by his mistress, writer George Sand, who lived with him.  He never performed the sonata in public.  He was 34, weak, perhaps sensing the inevitable.  He had five years to live.  What a work of genius this turned out to be.  The majestic first movement uses standard sonata-allegro form:  first and second themes, development, recapitulation.  For all its romanticism, the movement shows comfort with Classical form and Baroque counterpoint (devilish to play) displaying brilliant fugal writing atypical of the Romantic era.  The second movement, the scherzo (Italian for “joke”), is fast and fun.  It curiously contradicts the realities of Chopin's poor health.  Its “trio” section is sheer genius, lushly melodic, returning to the bubbly opening.  The third movement, of his nocturne style, reflects maturity and elegiac gravitas.  Sandwiched within is a sentimentalism – as if reminiscing on better times.  The sweeping finale, in rondo form (ABACA), is five minutes of dazzle and glory.  The exoticism of Chopin harmonies reflects his Polish roots and originality unlike anyone before or since.

4.  Glory

3.  Misterioso

3. Largo

4. Presto, ma non tanto

1.  Majesty

2.  Sentimental

2. Scherzo

1. Allegro maestoso