Piano Sonata in F major (Sibelius)

The Piano Sonata in F major, Op. 12, is a three-movement composition for piano written in 1893 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece received its premiere in Helsinki on 17 April 1895; Oskar Merikanto was the soloist.

Ilmari Hannikainen, a prominent Finnish composer, said "the F major Piano sonata... a splendid work. Fresh, refreshing and full of life. … I have sometimes heard people mention the orchestral tone of the sonata (the left-hand tremolos) … In my opinion the sonata shows Sibelian piano style at its most genuine. There is no question of there being any tremolos in it. Everything that looks like that is really to be played in quavers or semi-quavers, in the manner of, say, Beethoven's piano sonatas. … When it is well and carefully rehearsed - and performed - the F major sonata is truly a virtuoso piece".

Structure and music
1. Allegro molto

2. Andantino

3. Vivacissimo

Reception
Robert Layton displays a certain ambivalence towards the Piano Sonata. On the one hand, he dismisses the piano writing as "inept", characterized by "immaturity and uncertainty". On the other hand, he concedes not only that "there is [nevertheless] a good deal to admire in this sonata", but also that relative to the Six Impromptus (Op. 5) from earlier in the year, the Sonata shows that Sibelius had matured as an artist in the span of just a few months: "[It] stands head and shoulders above most of Sibelius's early piano music both in quality of invention and the growing mastery of form it evinces".

Discography
The American pianist David Rubenstein made the world premiere studio recording of the Piano Sonata in 1971 for the Musical Heritage Society. The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:

Notes, references, and sources

 * Notes


 * References


 * Sources