The Baroque Sonata:

The Sonata from the italian sonare (To play) as opposed to The
Cantata from cantare (to sing) was the name given to a piece of
instrumental music that was suitable for performing in church or at
court.
The usual composers to start with when one refers to early piano
sonatas would be Johann Christian Bach and Carl Philipp Emanuel
Bach, sons of the celebrated Johann Sebastian Bach. But a bit of
personal history has led me to choose Domenico Scarlatti, a Naples
born composer who settled in Spain! Though they werent the most
famous pieces during his lifetime, Scarlatti composed over five
hundred keyboard sonatas as a means of exercise for harpsichord
players. This particular one shows the Spanish influence in the
composers work.
Set in the sombre and grave key of D minor, the sonata is composed
in two parts. A bright and pristine set of trills in thirds mark the
rhythmic beginning of the piece. The second part is a contrasting
and dissonant set of chords depicts the guitar strumming and exotic
harmony of Andalucian traditional music.

The Classical Sonata:

With the arrival of a new instrument: the pianoforte, the Sonata took
a new and longer form. No longer the crisp and short pieces meant
for dexterity, the Sonata was a means to show off a new instrument,
its infinite possibilities of sound and the artistry of its performers.
A much longer piece, the average Classical Sonata was now made
up of four movements. The first, a rapid movement in three parts
with the exposition of the composers ideas, a development and
constant changing of these ideas and a recapitulation. The second,
a contrastingly slow movement. The third, usually a dance
movement in the form of a Scherzo or a Minuet and Trio. The final
movement, again a fast one in the form of a Rondo, where the
composer shows a theme that is repeated periodically, like the
chorus of a song, in different ways.
It was difficult to choose a composer for the Classical period. I would
gladly have not left Haydn and Mozart out, but that would call for a
longer and different type of recital. My aim was to show off the
piano as an instrument, and nobody did that as well as Beethoven.
The first movement starts with a series of octaves across the
keyboard, like loud and pompous laughter, stopping abruptly and
starting again, only to reach a simple and contrastingly sweet
melody. Beethoven masterfully uses simple elements like scales,
octaves and arpeggios to bring out the most important aspect of the
piano, and one that will be used for centuries after him: The fact
that the instrument can encompass a whole orchestra. If you listen
carefully, you can almost hear the different sections: cellos and bass

in the left hand with contrasting violins and violas section in the
right, a series of wind quartet moments and the bellowing timpani
announcing the tutti in full splendour. It is a rich and complete
instrument, full of possibilities.
The second movement is a solemn contrast will full harmony and
the constant use of diminished seventh chords to give a feeling of
uncertainty. Depicting an organ-like sonority, Beethoven shows us
what he knows best, the deepest feeling of tragedy. It is a
desperately slow and human struggle, he constantly tests the
listener, taking them further and further away, to more suffering
that can only be met with humble resignation.
The third movement, a completely oblivious break from grief , come
in the form of a playful minuet and a sudden but comic trio that
leads to the final part of the sonata.
With the Rondo we resume this idea of an orchestra, though this
time it is more opera-like. With different contrasting outbursts from
different characters that always lead back to the main theme, till
chaos leads to an elaborate cadenza and the inevitable finale.

The Romantic Sonata

The idea of the piano as a complete instrument is even stronger
now. The instrument has evolved and offers even more possibilities
in terms of sound and timbre.
The Romantic Sonata is the type of piece that great composers like
Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Schubert and Brahms use to show off the
instrument, but even more so, the performer. The piece is that of
tremendous virtuosity and demands even more from the performer
in terms of technique and stamina.
I chose Scriabins third sonata because it was one of his earlier
pieces, composed soon after he finished his studies and started
touring Russia and Europe. It very effectively shows us the legacy of
the Classical Sonata. This piece is also set in four movements. They
are however organized somewhat differently to the Classical Sonata.
The first movement is dramatic as the title suggests. It is a constant
cycle and development of two elements: a passionate motif of
theatrical chords and a contrasting cantabile, a temporary relief. It is
also composed in three parts with an exposition, a development and
a recapitulation of these two main elements.
The second movement is a rapid and carefree but elegant
movement with light octaves and a floating melody, an idea that will
become and obsession with Scriabin in the years to come.
The third movement, quite similar in style to the preludes of the
time, is a slow movement and a meticulous exercise in counterpoint
with the theme hidden and shown in different voices and a small
flashback of the first movement that will lead to the sonatas finale.
The Fourth movement is fiery and vivid. Scriabin ends in a similar
mood in which he starts the sonata, contributing again to that idea
of cyclical music, a theme that is repeated until it explodes.

The 20th Century Sonatas

There are two types of composers in the 20th Century: those who
feel the need to go back to the style of their forefathers and those
who break away to go on and create new ideas and completely
different sounds.
The second half of the programme shows a mixture of both types of
composers.
On one hand we have Ravel, with his innovative and orchestral
sound. The timbre of the instrument is now a mass with nuances of
distinct voices here and there. It has some characteristics of
impressionist music: the undefined sound, the coming and going of
musical ideas, but it is still very classical in style and form. The
pedalling is clean, the harmony is well defined and the three
movement Sonatine, named that way for its short length, is an ode
to the Classical Sonata with its Allegro movement, composed in
three parts, its slow and contemplative Minuet and fast, impressive
and exotically harmonized third movement.
On the other hand we have Scriabin, creating a new type of Sonata.
His fourth sonata, composed in 1903 the same year as the Sonatine,
was the first of a new type sonority that would later be so typical of
all his music. We immediately hear a different type of harmony in
fourths with its jazz sounding chords. This Sonata, in two
movements has only one theme, a recurrent obsession of the
composer: the sensation of Flight. Scriabin achieves this with the
development of a small and simple motif of two notes. This motif,
always ascending to give the illusion of flight is taken further and
further away, stretched and expanded till it reached its fiery and
explosive end.
The Sonata is changed, a new sound created, and a whole window
of opportunities lies ahead.