Piano Sonata No. 2 (Chopin)

Frédéric Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B♭ minor, Op. 35, popularly known as the Funeral March, was completed in 1839 at Nohant, near Châteauroux in France. However, the third movement, whence comes the sonata's common nickname, had been composed as early as 1837.

The sonata comprises four movements:

The first movement opens with a short introduction, followed by a stormy opening theme and a gently lyrical second theme in D♭ major. After the development comes again the lyrical second theme - but this time in B♭ major (in which the movement ends). The second movement is a virtuoso scherzo in E♭ minor with a more relaxed melodic central section in G♭ major. The third movement begins and ends with the celebrated funeral march in B♭ minor which gives the sonata its nickname, but has a calm interlude in D♭ major. The finale contains a whirlwind of unremitting parallel octaves, with unvarying tempo and dynamics, and not a single rest or chord until the final bars with a sudden fortissimo B♭ octave and a B♭ minor chord ending the whole piece. James Huneker, in his introduction to the American version of Mikuli edition of the Sonatas, quotes Chopin as saying, "The left hand unisono with the right hand are gossiping after the March." Arthur Rubinstein is said to have remarked that the fourth movement is the "wind howling around the gravestones". The Sonata confused contemporary critics, who found it lacked cohesion. Robert Schumann suggested that Chopin had in this sonata "simply bound together four of his most unruly children." (See Schirmer's modern reprint of the Mikuli edition.)

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