Piano Sonata No. 2 (Sessions)
Encyclopedia
Roger Sessions
' Piano Sonata No. 2 was composed in 1946. It has three movements
:
The first two movements each end in a slight pause, followed by a briefer pause .
The opening motive of the first movement, an upward-leaping fourth followed by a minor second
and a major second
, is related to the major second-minor second alternation of the main theme of the Lento.
The first two movements are tripartite in form while the third has been compared by Richard Dyer to a toccata
.
Sessions worked on the sonata in conjunction with his second symphony
, completed the same year, and his opera Montezuma
, but the latter did not achieve final form until much later.
The sonata is one of Sessions' relatively often-recorded works . Of his others the First String Quartet (1936), Pages from a Diary (1939) and his First (1930) and Third Piano Sonatas (1965) have been recorded as often or about as often.
Roger Sessions
Roger Huntington Sessions was an American composer, critic, and teacher of music.-Life:Sessions was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a family that could trace its roots back to the American revolution. His mother, Ruth Huntington Sessions, was a direct descendent of Samuel Huntington, a signer of...
' Piano Sonata No. 2 was composed in 1946. It has three movements
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
:
- Allegro con fuoco (tempoTempoIn musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
quarter noteQuarter noteA quarter note or crotchet is a note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note . Often people will say that a crotchet is one beat, however, this is not always correct, as the beat is indicated by the time signature of the music; a quarter note may or may not be the beat...
=120) - Lento (quarter note=50)
- Misurato e pesante (quarter note = 66 - 72)
The first two movements each end in a slight pause, followed by a briefer pause .
The opening motive of the first movement, an upward-leaping fourth followed by a minor second
Minor second
In modern Western tonal music theory a minor second is the interval between two notes on adjacent staff positions, or having adjacent note letters, whose alterations cause them to be one semitone or half-step apart, such as B and C or C and D....
and a major second
Major second
In Western music theory, a major second is a musical interval spanning two semitones, and encompassing two adjacent staff positions . For example, the interval from C to D is a major second, as the note D lies two semitones above C, and the two notes are notated on adjacent staff postions...
, is related to the major second-minor second alternation of the main theme of the Lento.
The first two movements are tripartite in form while the third has been compared by Richard Dyer to a toccata
Toccata
Toccata is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer's fingers...
.
Sessions worked on the sonata in conjunction with his second symphony
Symphony No. 2 (Sessions)
The Symphony No. 2 of Roger Sessions was begun in 1944 and completed in 1946.It is in four movements:#Molto agitato - Tranquillo e misterioso #Allegretto capriccioso...
, completed the same year, and his opera Montezuma
Montezuma (opera)
Montezuma is an opera in three acts by the American composer Roger Sessions, with an English libretto by Giuseppe Antonio Borgese that incorporates bits of the Aztec language, Nahuatl, as well as Spanish, Latin, and French.-Performance history:...
, but the latter did not achieve final form until much later.
The sonata is one of Sessions' relatively often-recorded works . Of his others the First String Quartet (1936), Pages from a Diary (1939) and his First (1930) and Third Piano Sonatas (1965) have been recorded as often or about as often.
Recordings
Sources: Olmstead Discography ; WorldCat- Noël LeeNoël LeeNoël Lee is an American classical pianist and composer living in Paris, France.He studied music in Lafayette, Indiana, then attended Harvard University, studying with Walter Piston, Irving Fine, and Tillman Merritt and was also a student at the Longy School of Music in the early 1940s...
, piano on 1960s Valois LP "MB 755", "La Musique Américaine de piano au XXe siècle : Volume 2" with works by Aaron CoplandAaron CoplandAaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
and Elliott CarterElliott CarterElliott Cook Carter, Jr. is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. He studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 1930s, and then returned to the United States. After a neoclassical phase, he went on to write atonal, rhythmically complex music...
. - Alan Marks, piano on Composers Recordings S-385 LP from 1978.
- Rebecca La Brecque, piano on a ca. 1981 Opus One LP, Opus One 56, "The Three Piano Sonatas".
- Randall HodgkinsonRandall HodgkinsonRandall Hodgkinson is an American pianist. He won the International American Music Competition which was sponsored by Carnegie Hall and the Rockefeller Foundation...
, piano on New World Records LP "Fantasies and Impromptus", 1984. Coupled with Donald MartinoDonald MartinoDonald Martino was a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer.Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Martino studied composition with Ernst Bacon, Roger Sessions, Milton Babbitt, and Luigi Dallapiccola...
's Fantasies and Impromptus. Reissued on CD with Sessions' Piano Sonata no. 3 played by Robert HelpsRobert HelpsRobert Helps was an American pianist and composer....
. - Barry David Salwen, piano on Koch International Classics CD 3-7106-2H1, The Complete Piano Music of Roger Sessions (absent a few brief piano works from the 1930s), released 1992.
- Peter Lawson, piano on Virgin ClassicsVirgin RecordsVirgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
1993 CD 61928. Coupled with works by Charles Tomlinson Griffes and Ives. - William Cerny, piano on Wilmarc Records, 1998 CD. Coupled with the Sonata, 1967 of Peter MenninPeter MenninPeter Mennin was an American composer and teacher. He directed the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, then for many years ran the Juilliard School, succeeding William Schuman in this role...
. - Robert Helps, piano on 1998 CRI CD 800.