The Piano Sonata in B minor (German: Klaviersonate h-Moll), S.178, is a musical composition for solo piano by Franz Liszt. It is often considered Liszt's greatest and most technically and emotionally difficult composition for solo piano.
The Sonata was composed in 1852-1853, and first performed on January 27, 1857 in Berlin by Liszt's pupil and son-in-law, Hans von Bülow. It was attacked by conservative critics such as Eduard Hanslick, Brahms (wh...
more
The Piano Sonata in B minor (German: Klaviersonate h-Moll), S.178, is a musical composition for solo piano by Franz Liszt. It is often considered Liszt's greatest and most technically and emotionally difficult composition for solo piano.
The Sonata was composed in 1852-1853, and first performed on January 27, 1857 in Berlin by Liszt's pupil and son-in-law, Hans von Bülow. It was attacked by conservative critics such as Eduard Hanslick, Brahms (who reputedly fell asleep during Liszt's performance of the work at their first meeting), and the pianist and composer Anton Rubinstein. However, the sonata drew an enthusiastic compliment from Richard Wagner. The German newspaper Nationalzeitung referred to it as "an invitation to hissing and stomping". The sonata was published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1854. It was dedicated to Robert Schumann, in return for Schumann's dedication of his Fantasia in C, Op.17 (1836) to Liszt. Schumann, however, did not like the sonata.
The sonata is notable for...
less
