# Favorite Piano Sonatas, aside from Beethoven



## phoenixshade (Dec 9, 2008)

Not including those of Ludwig van Beethoven (who would probably overwhelm all others), what are a few of your favorite piano sonatas?


----------



## Isola (Mar 26, 2008)

Way too many! To name a few:

Chopin's No. 2 & 3
Brahms No. 3
Prokofiev's 'War Sonatas' - No. 6, 7, 8
Schubert's No. 21
Sibelius' Sonatina Op. 67
Liszt's Sonata in B minor
Grieg's Sonata Op. 7
Scrianbin's No. 3
Some of Mozart's and Haydn's, of course.


----------



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

With some horror and embarrassment I find I have not paid attention to any piano sonatas other than Beethoven's.

I have a few in my collection - Clementi, Prokofiev, one by Haydn, a few by Mozart.

But the *Brahms Piano sonata No. 3 in Fm* is the only one that sticks in my head. But then Brahms often seems a bit Beethovenian. I guess I'm stuck in a rut.

[Edit: I love the genre, so I'm puzzled by this lapse]


----------



## phoenixshade (Dec 9, 2008)

Weston, I too am lacking in sonatas other than Beethoven's and a handful of Mozart's, which is part of the reason for this thread... I'm looking for suggestions, rather than randomly sampling.

But I do really love Mozart's Piano Sonata no. 8, especially the development in the 1st movement. I am not as blessed as others in my ability to express musical ideas in words, so I'll just include this:

*Georges Cziffra - Mozart Piano Sonata no. 8, 1st movement on YouTube*

Enjoy.


----------



## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

I have a recording of Rachmaninoff's Second Sonata in B-flat minor, in a recording by Horowitz that I love.

Also, a piano sonata that I've only ever heard once--Schubert's late B-flat--is also one of my very favorites.


----------



## Isola (Mar 26, 2008)

Oh yes, I forgot to mention Rachmaninov's two sonatas which I like so very much. Also, some of Scarlatti's. Well, did Scarlatti write anything else apart from 555 keyboard sonatas? Here is a video clip of Martha Argerich playing K.141:






Now something different - Evgeny Kissin's Chopin Sonata No.2, the Funeral March:






And something more different - Prokofiev's No.6, played by the wunderkind Kissin at his recital in Janpan 1987:






My favourite sonatas come from all eras. I love them for their own beauty.


----------



## altiste (Jun 11, 2008)

*Elliott Carter*

Well, fresh in my mind from Thursday evening's concert is Elliott Carter's Piano Sonata of 1945/6. This was performed superbly by the pianist Noël Lee here in Paris for a Birthday Gala Concert. The Piano Sonata is an earlier-style work in Carter's output, and I very much enjoyed listening to it, so recommend it to anyone not familiar with it.


----------



## Atabey (Oct 8, 2008)

For me;
Mozart 11 (That is because i am Turkish )
Brahms 3
Rachmaninov 2
Prokofiev 8


----------



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Isola said:


> Also, some of Scarlatti's. Well, did Scarlatti write anything else apart from 555 keyboard sonatas? Here is a video clip of Martha Argerich playing K.141:


I considered the Scarlatti sonatas, but I feel they are merely called that. They are more like movements from a baroque suite than what we think of as a piano sonata. By the same reasoning, I don't think of William Boyce's symphonies as symphonies. if that makes sense.

I do love them very much, though - the Scarlatti's and the Boyce symphonies.


----------



## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

Isola said:


> Here is a video clip of Martha Argerich playing K.141:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I was going to pick the exact same three! Prokofiev's 7th is one of a kind as well.

May I add, Clara Wieck Schumann's sonata in g minor, Argerich again: P:


----------



## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

and does Ravel's Sonatine count?


----------



## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

airad2 said:


> May I add, Clara Wieck Schumann's sonata in g minor, Argerich again: P:


Robert Schumann.


----------



## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

jhar26 said:


> Robert Schumann.


Wups. Didn't see that on the comments page. It's kind of confusing, though. Apparently, both of them wrote sonata in g minors. I just listened to Clara's, too. More um, feminine.


----------



## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

airad2 said:


> Wups. Didn't see that on the comments page. It's kind of confusing, though. Apparently, both of them wrote sonata in g minors. I just listened to Clara's, too. More um, feminine.


Clara composed a quite good piano concerto in A minor also, same key as Robert's.


----------



## SPR (Nov 12, 2008)

Isola said:


> Oh yes, I forgot to mention Rachmaninov's two sonatas which I like so very much. Also, some of Scarlatti's. Well, did Scarlatti write anything else apart from 555 keyboard sonatas? Here is a video clip of Martha Argerich playing K.141:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 wow, that girl can play some serious piano!


----------



## Isola (Mar 26, 2008)

SPR said:


> wow, that girl can play some serious piano!


That girl is the Goddess for many here! Okay another pleasant Mozart sonata for four hands, played by Martha gal and Kissin boy:


----------



## carrTL1274 (Dec 29, 2008)

Scriabin's 3rd, 5th, and 10th 
Barber's *only* piano sonata
Hindemith's 2nd 
Liszt's only as well


----------



## YsayeOp.27#6 (Dec 7, 2007)

SPR said:


> wow, that girl can play some serious piano!


I had the chance to see that live...


----------



## YsayeOp.27#6 (Dec 7, 2007)

airad2 said:


> and does Ravel's Sonatine count?


Indeed. The name is related to its origin, not meaning any diminished quality.

Schumann: Sonata Nº 1
Schubert: Sonata in a minor
For a combination of both get the DG Maurizio Pollini disc.


----------



## LvB (Nov 21, 2008)

I think that you are right; Beethoven's sonatas would, collectively and individually, overwhelm the category (Op. 111, anyone?  ), so your decision to exclude them is sensible.

Alongside them, I would include the following as some of my favorites (in no particular order, and I've left out some already mentioned by others):

*Rubinstein*: I enjoy all of his, but especially #4, which is one of the grandest of all Romantic sonatas (#3 is also pretty grand, but somewhat more lyrical).
*Paderewski*: His one sonata is akin to, and possibly modelled on, the Rubinstein 4th, and is another very thunderous piece.
*Hummel*: At the other end of the century, Hummel's f# minor sonata is a fascinating piece which mixes his response to Beethoven with his incipient Romanticism.
*Ginastera*: Some of the most interesting sounds I've ever heard in a piano sonata are found in this lovely and exotic piece.
*Berg*: Profound and impressive, but you all knew that already  .
*Scriabin*: I used to like Scriabin's music rather more than I do now, but his tenth sonata (he called it "a sonata of insects") still fascinates me.


----------



## musika (Dec 24, 2008)

Don't forget Scriabin!!!
He wrote some absolutely beautiful sonatas!!!


----------

