Anton Rubinstein - Piano Sonata No. 2 in C minor, Op. 20

0:00 I. Allegro con moto
7:37 II. Andante: Theme and variations
15:51 III. Vivace

Anton Rubinstein (1829-1894) was a russian pianist, composer, teacher and founder of the St. Petersburg conservatory. Today he doesn't get nearly enough credit as he deserves. He was a very prolific composer, having written over 20 operas, five piano concertos, six symphonies and many solo piano works along with a substantial output of works for chamber ensemble, two concertos for cello and one for violin, free-standing orchestral works and tone poems. His pianistic skill was legendary at the time - Rachmaninoff about Rubinstein: "It was not so much his magnificent technique that held one spellbound as the profound, spiritually refined musicianship, which spoke from every note and every bar he played and singled him out as the most original and unequalled pianist in the world."

Rubinstein’s second sonata was composed between 1852 and 1854 and was published in 1855. The shortest of the four sonatas, it replaces the conventional slow movement and scherzo with a theme and variations.

Unlike the other sonatas, the second begins with a rather tentative version of the main theme and it is only after subsidiary material, derived from rapidly arpeggiated chords, that the melody appears in full strength. Also a reversal of the conventional role is the fanfare-like second subject. The development is straightforward enough, with excursions into E flat minor and A flat minor, then A major and E major before an enharmonic modulation almost violently restores the home key.

The theme and variations, which Rubinstein often played separately, form a graceful intermezzo, simple and lyrical until the Schumannesque third variation alters the mood. After the mild solemnity imposed by the minor key of the fourth variation, a short coda restores the tranquillity of the beginning.

The finale is another movement in sonata form, characterized by a favourite Rubinstein device of constant very rapid triplets. The excellent second subject is hurried aside and the exposition is repeated. The development relies rather heavily on sequential repetition of phrases from both main themes, but the return is handled very deftly, with almost orchestral colouring. Mendelssohn is clearly the model for the nonetheless effective coda.

Leslie Howard, piano