Sonata for piano number 2 (Chopin)

The sonata consists of four parts:

I. Grave. Doppio movimento
Ii. Scherzo
Iii. Marche funèbre: Lento
Iv. Finale: Presto

R. Schumann called this sonata "the four of the most insane brainchildren of Chopin."

The first part opens with a brief introduction (4 bars), in which the tonic abutment immediately changes from Des to b . The first theme (main part) goes in B-flat minor. R. Schumann wrote about her that "only Chopin can begin this way and only he can end this way: from dissonance through dissonance to dissonance." This theme is notable for its stormy and constant change of forte and piano. Then it repeats, but with shifted accents. At first glance, the second theme (a side game) is directly opposite in content to the first one, but it can be considered only complementary and in some way balancing the pathos of the first. The more conspicuous becomes the explosion of the final game. The first part, in accordance with the laws of the form, is repeated twice. Development is based primarily on the theme of the main party. Initially, the theme is lowercase, which gives it an extremely gloomy tone. In the middle register, the motives of the introduction are repeated at this time, which then turn into bass, where fortissimo already sounds. These two themes develop a picture of dramatic struggle drawn in a sonata. In the reprise, the main part is skipped, as it happens in other Chopin sonatas. Reprise is written in the same name in B-flat major. In the code , the phrases of the main part reappear in the bass, while in the right hand powerful chords rush to uppercase.

The second part of the sonata is entitled Chopin Scherzo and belongs to the most dramatic works of this genre written by the composer.

The third part stands in the center of the entire sonata. Yu. Khominsky expressed the opinion that "After the heroic struggle, the funeral march is already, obviously, the last act of the drama ...". The march is written in three-part form. In the first section, uniform bass chords are especially important, emphasizing the dotted rhythm of the upper voice. It is believed that this is an imitation of bell ringing. The tonal construction of the third part is similar to the construction of the first: b - Des . The middle episode can be called elegistic-kantilennom. A. V. Lunacharsky wrote about the march: “The procession unfolds, gigantic and black, long rows of people with drooping heads ... And suddenly the black veil is torn apart. The sun's ray falls through the clouds. Something lights up in the black depths of the heart, I believe in something else, some kind of affection squeezes the throat, and almost sweet tears come out in front of my eyes. Someone sings sadly and simply - she does not promise anything, she is mysterious, this song, but she comforts for some reason. However, the swirling masses of black clouds again hide the quick ray of the sun. And again, sulking, sounds dark and funeral music ... "

The finale is, in the words of A. G. Rubinstein , "the night wind of the wind over the graves in the cemetery." The duration of its performance is about a minute. Both voices are in unison . Rhythmic tension is combined here with harmonic, achievable use of dissonant intervals and abrupt modulation shifts, although the orientation to the tonic abutment is preserved (if to be thinner, the figure relies on the sounds of successive diminished triad). Approximately from the middle, the first bars are repeated. R. Schumann's sonata finale stunned: he wrote that this part was “devoid of melody and joy” and even that it was “not music”, but noticed the presence of some kind of “terrifying spirit” in it. The sonata ends with a powerful chord fortissimo, first in the bass, and then - almost immediately - in the upper voice.

Many famous people, for example, J. Kennedy and L. I. Brezhnev, were buried under the funeral march from Chopin's sonata. Chopin himself was buried in the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris to the sound of his funeral march in the orchestration of Napoleon Henri Reber . Another orchestration was performed in 1933 by Edward Elgar , and a year later this version was first performed at the funeral of Elgar himself. .

In the USSR, the funeral march of F. Chopin was performed at most government funerals , if not during the funeral procession, then at least at the time of the burial.

• Ankhagram "... End of Everything" from the album "Neverending Sorrow" (2007)
• Atrophy "Beer Bong" from the album "Socialized Hate" (1988)
• Balrog "Funeral March Of Mankind" from the album "Kill Yourself" (2001)
• Bathory "Call From The Grave" from the album " Under the Sign of the Black Mark " (1987) (+ cover version of Daemonarch on this song from the album "Hermeticum" (1998))
• Candlemass "Marche Funebre" from the album "Nightfall" (1987)
• Carnivore "Technophobia" from the album "Retaliation" (1987)
• Die Apokalyptischen Reiter "The Human End" from the album "Soft And Stronger" (1997)
• Grave Digger "Return Of The Reaper" from the same-name album (2014)
• KYPCK "Cable, truck and dark balcony" from the album " Names on the wall " (2014)
• Lethargy Of Death "Death" from the album "Necrology" (2010)
• Lucifugum "More Life!" From the album "The Mark of Egoism" (2002)
• Shining "Through Corridors Of Oppression" from the album "Split with Dolorian" (2002)
• Somnolent "Marche Funebre" from the album "Live In Odessa" (2007)
• The Great Kat "Funeral March" from the album "Beethoven On Speed" (1990)
• Trouble "On Borrowed Time" from the album "Run To The Light" (1987)
• Until Death Overtakes Me "Marche Funebre" from the album "Prelude To Monolith" (2003)
• Corrosion of Metal "Fifteen people on the chest with the dead" from the album "Russian Vodka" (1989)
• Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows "The Goat" from the double single "The Goat / The Bells Have Stopped Ringing" (2005)
• Nargaroth "Trauermarsch" from the album "Rasluka Pt. I (2004)
• Nargaroth "Rasluka" from the album "Rasluka Pt. I (2004)
• Absurd "Sadness" from the album "Sadness (Demo)" (1993)
• The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud "17 Untitled" from the album "Rest On Your Arms Reversed" (1999)
• Time-Out "Again the Sultan overeat" from the album "Chasing a Long Ruble" (1999)
• Gleb Samoiloff & The Matrixx "Gothic" (2010)
• Army of Lovers "Like A Virgin Sacrified" from the album "Glory, Glamor and Gold" (1994)
• Merv Griffin "House Of Horrors" (1962). The track is built on the musical themes of the Funeral March and the Dance of the Death of C. Saint-Saens .
• Tiger Lillies "Crime" from the album "Brothel In The Cemetery"
• Songs From A Tomb "Mourning" from the album "Dreams" (2009)
• Gaza Strip "Vampire Bite" from the album "Dancing after the Potion"

The funeral march was one of the main musical themes of the comic television series “ Masks Show ”.

In the first match of the super series of the USSR - Canada in 1972, after the second goal of the Canadians, under the arches of the Montreal “ Forum ”, Chopin’s funeral march sounded. However, it was after this that the Soviet national team was able to get together and throw seven goals ^[1] .

• Kremlin Y. Frederic Chopin. Sketch of life and work. - M .: Muzgiz, 1960.
• Belza I. F. Chopin. - M .: Science , 1968.

• Funeral march on Wikimedia
• Sonata entries:
  • Performed by A. Kobo
  • Performed by N. Trull
  • Performed by A. Michelangeli
  • Performed by M. Pollini
  • Performed by V. Horowitz
  • Performed by A. Rubinstein
  • Performed by S. Rachmaninov
• Sonata description on the site of the XVII F. Chopin Piano Competition (English) (Polish)
• Sonata for piano number 2 (Chopin): sheet music for the International Music Score Library Project