Chopin, Piano Sonata No 3 in B minor / Kate Liu - audition guide

It is often said that Chopin was essentially a composer of miniatures. And this is true if the label is used to describe pieces for solo piano that do not exceed ten minutes. However, he was also capable of handling the sonata form with remarkable competence, as attested by the three sonatas he composed during his lifetime, or at least, the last two (the first, a youthful work... of course, Chopin was eighteen years old). No. 2 is the famous Funeral Sonata, from 1837, which incorporates as its third movement the even more famous Funeral March.

Seven years had to go by for the third venture into the form. The Sonata in B minor was begun in the quiet and peacefulness of Nohant, during the summer of 1844, and finished the same year in Paris.

The death of the father

One might think that Nohant's calmness was excessive because the production of that year only includes two pieces, the sonata No. 3 and the Berceuse op 57, the latter the only lullaby written by Chopin. It so happened that in April of that year, the Polish master received very bad news. In Warsaw, one thousand five hundred kilometers away, his seventy-three-year-old father had died. It was a hard blow for the musician, who had seen his parents for the last time almost ten years ago.

A visit from Luisa

She had not seen either her sister Louise in fourteen years. Mrs. Sand, wise and compassionate, invited Louise and her husband to visit them in Nohant. Becoming a singular master of the house, Chopin entertained his sister with gardens, fountains and groves for three weeks. They strolled in the evenings. Chopin composed in the mornings, and some music was made in the evenings, as a family. Perhaps Luisa caught a glimpse of some sketches of the sonata.

Sonata No 3 in B minor, op 58

Considered one of his most difficult pieces, harmonically and rhythmically, it lasts about 25 minutes or more. Chopin replicated in it the structure of the previous sonata: four movements, although the "funeral march" has been replaced by the largo as the third movement. Published in Leipzig the same year of its creation, 1844, and not long after in London and Paris, it is dedicated to the Countess of Perthuis, one of many noble ladies in whose salons Chopin more than once delighted a reduced audience, the one that best suited him.

Movements:
00:00 Allegro maestoso - An impetuous first theme will be followed by a lyrical second theme (sostenuto e molto espressivo, minute 1:33) that brings to mind the composer's unmistakable nocturnes. The recapitulation rests mostly on this second theme (6:43). Two vigorous chords close the movement.

09:42 Scherzo. Molto vivace - Very brief but agile and energetic, with a restful middle section (the trio: 10:18).

12:22 Largo - The core of the sonata. After a succinct introduction, the main theme is introduced at 12:55. The movement progresses to an articulated section in quiet eighth notes at 15:32. The initial theme returns at 20:08 with an accompanying left hand that murmurs rather than presses keys.

22:40 Finale. Presto non tanto - A rondo, of great tension. After a couple of dense bars, the main theme emerges, vehement and passionate (22:51). The contrasting element is a section in a major key that demands abysmal finger agility from the performer (beginning in bursts at 23:35 and continuing for more than twenty measures at 23:55). At 25:46, a grand coda initiates the magnificent denouement.

The rendition is by Singapore-born pianist Kate Liu during her participation in the 2015 Warsaw International Chopin Competition. She got there the third prize (bronze medal), stingy, in our opinion.