The coda, clearly in B-flat minor, repeats two themes seen earlier in the movement. The final section of an extension to the recapitulation alternates between B-flat major and B-flat minor, leaving the tonic unclear until the coda. The recapitulation restates the first two themes in B-flat minor. Parts of this section use the left hand to imitate bells, with chromatic descending, alternating sevenths and thirds. In the development section, which is split into three parts, there is much tonal instability with constantly changing key centers. The second theme is in D-flat major, with a chorale-like texture that contrasts with the brilliance of the first theme. The first theme area lasts until a cadenza-like passage creates a bridge into the second theme area. The exposition begins with the first theme, which has a descending arpeggio that ends with a low B-flat octave followed by a B-flat minor chord. The first movement of the second piano sonata is in sonata allegro form. Original edition First Movement ( Allegro agitato) It is unified by two Non allegro bridges between the movements.

The sonata is in three interrelated movements: Its premiere took place in Kursk on 18 October 1913 (5 October in the Julian calendar). When the girls were well enough, Rachmaninoff traveled with his family back to his Ivanovka country estate, where he finished the second piano sonata. Instead, Rachmaninoff moved his family on to Berlin in order to consult with doctors. However, because both of his daughters contracted typhoid fever, he was unable to finish the composition in Rome. It was during this time in Rome that Rachmaninoff started working on his second piano sonata. Three years after his third piano concerto was finished, Rachmaninoff moved with his family to a house in Rome that Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky had used. 36, is a piano sonata in B-flat minor composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1913, who revised it in 1931, with the note, 'The new version, revised and reduced by author.' JSTOR ( March 2016) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.įind sources: 'Piano Sonata No. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification.

Chopin sonata in b flat minor