#Medtner sonata ballade

[lesser-known-composers]

Nikolaï Medtner (1880-1951) - Sonata-Ballade for Piano in F-Sharp Major, Op. 27: I. Allegretto

Geoffrey Tozer, piano

[mikrokosmos]

Medtner – Sonata-Ballade (1914)

In his eight piano sonata, after the epic proportions of his “night wind”, Medtner dials back a bit to something more lyrical. Here, the “ballade” portion makes one immediately think “Chopin”, though here the intensity is more subdued. The opening movement comes out as one continuous flow, each section melting into the next, which helps distract the listener from the sense of ‘sonata form’ structure. The opening melody is like an idyll, a peaceful depiction of a beautiful nature scene, or trying to create this sense of calm and peace. The second melody has a mix of repeated notes and a bit of a jagged rhythm, but it is woven in with a flowing accompaniment. When the ‘idyll’ melody returns, it is always paired with a new accompaniment, glittering that makes me think of stars. Near the climax, we get a buildup of chords that makes me think of the ecstatic outburst at the end of Chopin’s barcarolle. The coda flurries with notes, and we’re thrown into a crazy storm, slamming us into the minor key. This seems bizarre, compared to the more pastoral opening, but it helps transition into the second movement, without pause, a quiet and solemn march in the lower registers of the keyboard. It grows into a fantasia, the right hand rushing up and down over a left hand melody. The movement feels like an intermezzo, the march repeats with thicker and louder chords. After that, the melody is played in unison octaves, a darker echo, and we bleed right into the last movement with a brighter figuration. The mood is uplifted, though it comes off as bittersweet and uncertain. A long melody plays in the left hand with a very “Russian romantic” flavor. The opening melody is then interlaid with the darker march in the bass, and after a few repeats, that bass line melody is given a fugato, the counterpoint here gets a bit dizzy with unexpected harmonic changes, and a few chordal breaks now and then reminding us that this isn’t a strict fugue. We then find out that this fugato part is an introduction to a louder, larger scale fugal passage. Despite the ‘structure’ expected of fugue writing, we have a lot of wild passages like a lion trying to break out of its cage. And then, we fall into silence, the bass line acting like bells, to bring us into a repeat of the happy introduction. Then the ‘Russian’ melody comes singing through under the right hand, and more so than before it feels like another buildup. After a few passionate chords, trills, and large spanning octaves, we fly into a powerful coda, where the right hand plays a rapid pattern, over the left hand playing expansive chords introducing the idyll moment again, bringing us full circle. It makes me think of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. And satisfied at this reintroduction, we soar with grand chords, a stately close. In retrospect, while I had called this sonata more “subdued” than the “Night Wind”, it still retains a sense of epic grandeur. No pauses between movements, using a handful of melodies echoing through them, the work does live up to its name, “Sonata-ballade”, a mix of formal sonata, and more free-form poetry.

Movements:

1. Allegretto

2. Introduzione: Mesto

3. Finale: Allegro

Pianist: Geoffrey Tozer