Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 14

1. 0:00
   First theme, duplets against triplets

   The right hand groups its melody in pairs over triplet arpeggios in the left. A percussive passage follows, and then the opening theme returns.

2. 1:10
   Second subject in 3/4

   A faster bridge, Più mosso in 2/4, leads to Tempo primo in 3/4 and the second idea, marked p. Zanetti called it sweetly lyrical and noted that the development dwells on it.

3. 2:55
   Origins of the sonata

   Prokofiev built the sonata partly from earlier music. An earlier sonatina became the first movement, and a piece written for Lyadov’s composition class became the scherzo. He added the Andante and finale in 1912.

4. 3:52
   Recapitulation

   The development ends fpp, and the recapitulation alters the opening bars only slightly. The faster bridge returns marked pp, then the 3/4 second idea, pp dolce. A later phrase is marked tristemente (sadly).

5. 4:25
   Sabaneyev on the First Concerto, 1912

   In the summer of 1912 Prokofiev played his First Piano Concerto in Moscow, and the public received it warmly. The critic Leonid Sabaneyev called it harsh and coarse, primitive and cacophonous. The Second Sonata dates from the same year; the printed score gives 1912.

6. 5:50
   Scherzo, Allegro marcato

   The scherzo is marked Allegro marcato, meaning fast, with the notes clearly struck. Short phrases sound against repeated chords. The pace slackens in the middle section, and then the opening section returns.

7. 7:34
   Andante, melody over rocking bass

   The Andante opens with a rocking bass under a long melody. The melody expands over the repeated bass figure, and a contrasting middle section follows.

8. 8:40
   Dedication to Maximilian Schmidthof

   Prokofiev dedicated the sonata to Maximilian Schmidthof, a friend and fellow student at the St Petersburg Conservatory. Schmidthof took his own life in 1913, before the sonata was first played in 1914.

9. 9:40
   Andante, middle section

   In the middle section of the Andante, a chromatic inner line moves in semitones between the melody and the bass, while the upper voice moves in longer phrases. For a few bars the accompaniment changes to an uneven seven-quaver measure.

10. 11:20
    Prokofiev’s autobiography, 1941

    In his autobiography of 1941, Prokofiev placed the lyrical side of his music ahead of its toccata-like drive. He recalled how little attention critics had paid to the melodies of his youth.

11. 11:52
    Finale, tarantella

    The finale is a tarantella in quick groups of three. A leaping episode with sharp accents breaks into the running notes, and the cantabile second theme of the first movement returns briefly. The tarantella then continues to the end.

12. 13:10
    Finale, perpetual motion

    The finale is a perpetual motion, with a tightly pulsing rhythm under a sharp, ironic theme high on the keyboard. Arrigo Quattrocchi called it the high point of the sonata and a prototype, perhaps unequalled, of many similar pages by Prokofiev.

13. 14:50
    First performance, Moscow, 1914

    Prokofiev gave the first public performance of the sonata in Moscow on 5 February 1914. Jurgenson had published it the previous year. At the time the composer was still a student at the St Petersburg Conservatory.

Joins

1. 5:50
   From first movement to Scherzo

   The first movement ends in D minor. The Scherzo is a separate movement, marked Allegro marcato. It opens with short accents and repeated chords in the piano. The first movement’s singing line and triplet arpeggios are replaced by short rhythmic phrases in both hands.

2. 7:34
   From Scherzo to Andante

   The Scherzo, a short movement built on repeated chords and brief figures, ends before the Andante begins. In the Andante the piano plays a slower rocking bass, and a long melody rises above it. The upper voice holds its notes while the harmony changes several times beneath it.

3. 11:52
   Andante to Vivace tarantella

   The Andante ends, and the finale is marked Vivace. Fast groups of three take the place of the Andante’s longer notes. Both hands play the tarantella together, and leaps and accents cut across its running figures.