Reubke - Piano Sonata in B-flat minor (Part 1/3)

Piano Sonata in B-flat minor (1857)

My apologies for the faded and low-quality edition of the score. Some pages are not very legible, but one can still follow without too much strain.

Julius Reubke (1834-1858), like Tausig, was a Liszt pupil with enormous potential who died too early to make a significant mark on music history. In his Liszt biography, Alan Walker mentions that Reubke was once Liszt's favorite pupil and that he was also considered a genius in the Liszt circle. Only a handful of his compositions have survived the ravages of time and almost none are played today.

One might get the impression that there were no other important large-scale monothematic sonatas written after Liszt's. Draeseke's and Lyapunov's come to mind, but I think Reubke's Piano Sonata, dedicated to Liszt himself, is the greater specimen. In Alan Walker's estimation, the Reubke sonata is "a work of formidable originality." William Newman, in his Sonata Since Beethoven volume, also gives a good evaluation of the work: "Reubke's greatest talent appears in his impressively sonorous use of the piano, especially his dramatic rhapsodic thrusts, his ingenious runs, and his stentorian chords." If I could make a list of the top ten piano sonatas of the latter half of the 19th-century, I would instantly name Reubke's. I can't understand why it is still on the fringe of the literature.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• reubke
• tausig
• d'albert
• sauer
• liszt
• chopin
• alkan
• henselt
• schumann
• piano
• sonata

[Starwalker6978]

Anton Rubinstein wrote 4 interesting large scale sonata's, far more interesting than his large amount of smaller works (which are, most of them, somewhat shallow, though the etudes are very interesting pianisticly). Do you know some recordings of Rubinstein's sonata's? (One can't learn everything, and my sight reading doesn't reveal all!)

[Hexameron]

Indeed, I was planning on uploading some selected movements from Anton Rubinstein's piano sonatas in the far future. If I have the time and interest, I will upload the Theme and Variations Op. 88 and Fantasy Op. 77. All of these have been recorded by Leslie Howard. Rubinstein's piano concerti are also sadly underrated.

[nearenough3]

Fascinating. You hear fragments of the Liszt Sonata in this work..

How do you get all these pianists I never heard about to record these stupendous pieces? How long does it take them on the average to learn them?

[Geisterschiff]

Outstanding job posting this Sonata!!! What a loss for music that he died so young! Like Tausig, Pergolesi, William Kapell, Schubert, Mozart, Hans Rott the list is too sad to write down...

Thank you again for posting!

[mcbeastie19601]

I know and love Reubke's Sonata on the 94th Psalm and I consider it to be one of the greatest pieces of organ music ever written, but I have never heard his B-flat minor piano sonata. Thank you for posting it. It is superb and a work of genius. It just makes me wonder what other masterpieces Reubke could have given the world if he'd lived longer.

[sergiobantam]

Só posso te agradecer pela oportunidade incrível!

Absolutamente maravilhosa.

Parabéns por todo o trabalho.

[MikJFr]

Add these two to extremely promising composers who died very young: Thomas Linley the younger, 1756–1778, and Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, 1806-1826. Mozart at nearly 36 looks positively old compared to them ...

[TheBulgarianThunder]

An amazing work, inspired by the style of Liszt with a very original foundation. I wonder what other masterpieces Reubke would have contributed to society if he had lived a full, happy life. I suppose hindsight won't bring him back, but by listening to his music, his memory will forever be remembered. Dispite his lack in popularity, as long as one person listens to his music, he will live on.

[gerardbedecarter]

Thanks for uploading this major work.

[bratzko79]

@hexameron: what are the other nine sonatas???

[ohquffy]

@neongrapes.

Absolutely right in my opinion, but damn, theres some subtle yet esoteric intimacy in Brahms music i can't find elsewhere.

[Neongrapes]

I am always skeptical of "lost geniuses" but this is really good. The only thing contemporarily comparable would be Liszt or Alkan. Sorry Brahms, fans-this kills Brahms' piano music.

[classicaland]

Thank you!

[steeeeevve]

Respond to this video... Reubke's Organ Sonata is well known.