# Underrated Piano Sonatas



## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

Dukas' Piano Sonata is one of the great ones of all time!

Janacek's is amazing too!


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Beethoven - Sonata no. 13 in e-flat, op. 27
Strauss - Sonata op. 5


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Brahms - Piano Sonata No. 1
Brahms - Piano Sonata No. 2
Brahms - Piano Sonata No. 3


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Polednice said:


> Brahms - Piano Sonata No. 1
> Brahms - Piano Sonata No. 2
> Brahms - Piano Sonata No. 3


Oh, I thought those were overrated...by you


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## jdavid (Oct 4, 2011)

The *Piano Sonata No. 2, Concord Mass., 1840-60* by Charles Ives.
1. Emerson
2. Hawthorne
3. The Alcotts
4. Thoreau

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51g1d5e0n5L._AA115_.jpg recent recording - pianist, Marc-Andre Hamelin (who also has recorded the PAUL DUKAS Sonata in Eb minor mentioned in OP)





 - excerpt from 'Emerson' - pianist, John Kirkpatrick


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

kv466 said:


> Strauss - Sonata op. 5


Is it the same sonata which surpasses Brahms in wanna-be-Beethovenism? I thought it was pretty weak piece.

The most underrated sonata that comes to my mind is Szymanowski's 2nd, highly original and beautful work. Then there's charming sonata in F major by Sibelius, flowing with wonderful melodies - one of his best non-orchestral works.


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## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

Ravel's _Sonatine_ - even Ravel himself under-rated it, calling it une sonatine instead of une sonate. It's not easy, not short, and full of exquisite music.


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

All of those by Medtner.
Beethoven Nos. 13 and 22.


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## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

Beethoven 24.

Edit: also I agree with you about Janacek's.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Henri Dutilleux


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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

In honour of his 200th birthday a few days ago, the Liszt B Flat sonata;
All, but especially the last few, of Schubert's sonatas

UPDATE: I should withdraw this post, I misread the term "underrated"

Would we call the Berg sonata underrated?


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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

jdavid said:


> The *Piano Sonata No. 2, Concord Mass., 1840-60* by Charles Ives.
> 1. Emerson
> 2. Hawthorne
> 3. The Alcotts
> ...


There's a fine recording at the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum website!


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

waldvogel said:


> Ravel's _Sonatine_ - even Ravel himself under-rated it, calling it une sonatine instead of une sonate. It's not easy, not short, and full of exquisite music.


I was going to insult Ravel for false modesty, and am reminded of a Brahms(?) quote I can't quite remember - something about responding to a comment on one of his larger, obviously monumental compositions, calling it little and wistful or something?


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## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

Polednice said:


> I was going to insult Ravel for false modesty, and am reminded of a Brahms(?) quote I can't quite remember - something about responding to a comment on one of his larger, obviously monumental compositions, calling it little and wistful or something?


It was about the second piano concerto - apparently he described it as 'some little piano pieces' with a 'little wisp of a scherzo'.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

jalex said:


> It was about the second piano concerto - apparently he described it as 'some little piano pieces' with a 'little wisp of a scherzo'.


Good ol' Brahmsy!


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## Dodecaplex (Oct 14, 2011)

Alkan the Alkanian Super-Master-Virtuoso.

Also, Sorabji the True Essence of Insanity.


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## Praeludium (Oct 9, 2011)

I agree so much about Dukas' Sonata, it's an incredible work, very rich and very dense. This is one of my favourite piece of the piano repertoire - I love it so much that I'm not sure I want to listen to it again before a while !


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

Brahms 3
Beethoven Op 27 no 1

On this site...Liszt. 16TH GREATEST PIANO PIECE? SMH


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## DavidMahler (Dec 28, 2009)

Barber's is great too!


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Most of Medtner's Sonatas, particularly these that I've listened to: G minor sonata, Sonata Reminiscenza, Sonata Tragica, Sonata Skazka, A minor sonata, Night Wind sonata, and Sonata Ballade. G Minor is my top of the Medtner with Reminiscenza and Tragica trailing close behind. I partly give the award to the G minor due to Gilels's interpretation, but also its themes and structure





Scriabin's, particularly 3, 5(still underrated despite its acclaim), 9 and 10(these are the one's I know well.
No. 3 has the most wonderful theme


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Two composers come to mind.

John Field's sonatas are nowhere near Beethovenian, but are certainly underrated.

And Clementi, who is more enjoyable than Mozart to me, but only sometimes. I am championing one of his sonatas in the TC Top 200 Keyboard works thread, but without much success.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Weston said:


> Two composers come to mind.
> 
> John Field
> 
> And Clementi, who is more enjoyable than Mozart to me, but only sometimes. I am championing one of his sonatas in the TC Top 200 Keyboard works thread, but without much success.


Good job Weston with the Clementi. I don't participate in that thread much, but how are you championing his works? Are you picking any set in particular? I like the op. 50 set an F sharp minor one from the 1780s that is brilliant, op. 25 something I think. Also, op. 42 or 41, I'm not sure which, has a fantastic set with a great D major/minor and G major


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

There's also CPE Bach and WF Bach, who wrote great sonatas that have yet to be recorded on modern piano to this day!


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Something for fans of Ravel:


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

Weston said:


> Two composers come to mind.
> 
> John Field's sonatas are nowhere near Beethovenian, but are certainly underrated.
> 
> And Clementi, who is more enjoyable than Mozart to me, but only sometimes. I am championing one of his sonatas in the TC Top 200 Keyboard works thread, but without much success.


I agree on Clementi. I have heard some of his stuff and definately enjoyed it, however i'm not familiar enough with any of his individual pieces to join you in championing him in TC 200 keyboard works thread.


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

Definitely Mozart's piano sonata #15 in F major. This one, which I first thought was just an odd piece, is his most contrapuntal(more than the last piano sonata) and chromatic piano sonata. The long florid melodies in the second movement are supposedly modeled after CPE Bach and the F minor section of the rondo movement is divine. He also later added a cadenza to the rondo movement that uses the lowest piano keys that were available to him at the time.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Aramis said:


> Something for fans of Ravel:


Wow, what a great Piano Sonata by Lutoslawski, coming from a huge fan of Ravel - nice recommendation. :tiphat:


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

Aramis said:


> Something for fans of Ravel:


This is absolutely gorgeous. I like the trippy iTunes Visualizer flick, by the way. 

Anyone want to help me support this on the TC Top 200 Keyboard Works thread? Good thing we discovered it before it was too late.


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## Sofronitsky (Jun 12, 2011)

Rachmaninoff 1


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

Tchaikovsky Grand sonate
Balakireff second
Khatchaturian


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Glazunov's 2 piano sonatas.


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## Guest (Dec 4, 2011)

Peter Maxwell Davies' Sonata and Per Norgard's Sonata No.2 don't get played enough. Perhaps their enormous difficulty has something to do with their neglect.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I think Beethoven's Pathetique sonata and Moonlight sonata are quite underrated....

Just kidding!!! 

I do think many of his sonatas are underrated compared to the popular ones, #2, 4, 7, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 22, 24, and 25 specifically.

American composer Persichetti wrote a set of 12 really great piano sonatas. 

I think Hindemith's piano sonatas should get a bit more acclaim than they do. 

Thats all I can think of off the top of my head.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I agree about Hindemith's. I think I said on another thread some time back that if they're of sufficient quality to make Glenn Gould go in and record them then that's good enough for me.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

elgars ghost said:


> I agree about Hindemith's. I think I said on another thread some time back that if they're of sufficient quality to make Glenn Gould go in and record them then that's good enough for me.


That's the recording I have too. Man, that last movement fugue of the 3rd is so epic!


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Wait! I just thought of some more. I agree with Clavichorder's mention of Scriabin and would like to add 2, 4 and 6-8 to his list. So...basically the rest of them  

I think Szymanowski is quite well known by a good handful people on this thread, but remains largely underrated still. Therefore, his piano sonatas I think are underrated too. They should appeal to those who like the Hammerklavier sonata as each one ends in a massive fugue, and in #2, that massive fugue is the last variation in a massive theme and variations. 

Then there is Viktor Ullmann's piano sonatas...not really underrated in the grand scheme of things but they are quite forgotten and I really like them so I am adding them.


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

I think a few of Beethoven's are underrated. Some on the top of my head now are Op 2 No. 3, Op 7, Op 10 No. 3, Op. 26, Op. 27 No. 1, and Op. 54.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Odnoposoff said:


> Tchaikovsky Grand sonate
> Balakireff second
> Khatchaturian


I would definitely agree with Balakirev's 2nd. I've never warmed up to the Grand Sonate, though I love Tchaikovsky. Don't know the Khatchaturian.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

violadude said:


> I think Beethoven's Pathetique sonata and Moonlight sonata are quite underrated....
> 
> Just kidding!!!
> 
> ...


7 and 13 are two of my absolute favorites of van Beethoven's.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Okay, so not a sonata and as far as I know not underrated...so I'm just gonna share...what an exquisite and wonderful piece; one of many I feel would not be so without such great interpretation.


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

kv466 said:


> 7 and 13 are two of my absolute favorites of van Beethoven's.


I played 13 a couple of years ago...It is a tremendous piece. It is a shame that it is overshadowed by its sibling. I think that it is at least as good a work.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Lisztian said:


> I played 13 a couple of years ago...It is a tremendous piece. It is a shame that it is overshadowed by its sibling. I think that it is at least as good a work.


Both are over shadowed by their following sonatas... I enjoy them both immensely, I'm in total agreement with KV.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Question: is Beethoven's op. 49,1 overshadowed by op. 49,2? I'm playing his op. 49,1 at the moment and I think it really is a beautiful piece of music. It's one of his easier piano sonatas; I've only been taking piano lessons for jsut over a year and a half.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Weston said:


> John Field's sonatas are nowhere near Beethovenian, but are certainly underrated.


John Field is such a curious little shape shifter of tones. Very smooth and simple, I like his nocturnes as well.


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