Franz Liszt(1811-1886) was one of the best Romantic composers in the nineteenth century. His music was influenced by the techniques of Paganini and the musicality of Chopin, in addition to his own unique luxuriousness.
Liszt's Piano Sonata in b min...
Franz Liszt(1811-1886) was one of the best Romantic composers in the nineteenth century. His music was influenced by the techniques of Paganini and the musicality of Chopin, in addition to his own unique luxuriousness.
Liszt's Piano Sonata in b minor is the only sonata written by him. However, before the sonata was composed, sonata form had been utilized in some of his works. Among his works, <Après une Lecture du Dante, Fantasia quasi Sonata>, commonly known as Dante Sonata, has considerable similarities to the sonata in b minor, in terms of the usage of sonata form and thematic transformations. Both works are considered as creative and innovative sonatas that have evolved from the existing sonata form in the Classical period, as they have accomplished the unification by using thematic transformation and cyclic form. This dissertation is to study how the Dante Sonata influenced the Sonata in b minor by the comparison of two works.
The Sonata in b minor has the structure of multiple movements, while the Dante Sonata consists of a single movement. Though the tonality of the two follows the classical method, the harmony is written in more innovative way. In order to examine the similarities and differences between both works, this study concentrates especially on the thematic transformations : in ways of melodic similarity, variation of motives, tone, intervals and inversions, the augmentation and diminution of rhythm, and characteristic transformation. Additionally, the Sonata in b minor used the melodic extension, complex variation of the themes, fugato and counterpoint, ostinato. In particular, such thematic transformation appears more frequently in the Sonata in b minor than in the Dante Sonata.
The sonata in b minor is culmination of all the musical elements that Liszt tried to express on the piano and a representative sonata of the Romantic period that presented new compositional techniques for the next composers.