Piano Sonata No.3, Op.58

Sonata · in B minor · Op. 58

Frédéric Chopin 1810–1849
B minor
Key
Sonata
Form
Op. 58
Catalogue
Score
First page of Piano Sonata No.3, Op.58

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Our estimate Virtuoso
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Themes & character
His largest sonata·Contrapuntal richness·Radiant slow movement·Composed 1844

At a glance

Catalogue
Op. 58
Key
B minor
Form
Sonata

Movements

I
Allegro maestosoB minor

Expansive and densely argued, with a broad singing second theme in D major.

II
Scherzo: Molto vivaceE♭ major

Light and fleeting, over almost before it registers, with a becalmed central trio.

III
LargoB major

A vast, serene slow movement, among the most beautiful Chopin wrote.

IV
Finale: Presto non tantoB minor

A driving rondo in galloping rhythm that turns to B major for a triumphant close.

About the piece

Composed in 1844, this is the largest and most conventionally constructed of Chopin's three sonatas, and the one that most successfully reconciles his lyrical gift with the demands of large-scale form. Where the Second Sonata is fractured and strange, the Third is expansive and integrated, moving from a densely argued first movement through a radiant Largo to a finale that ends, unusually for Chopin, in unambiguous triumph.

The composer

Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
1810–1849

Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the early Romantic period who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading composer of his era whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation".

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