Lilya Zilbersten: The complete Piano sonata no. 1 in C minor Op. 4 (Chopin)

Piano sonata in C minor (Op. 4):
I. Allegro maestoso 00:00
II. Menuetto 10:00
III. Larghetto 14:42
IV. Finale. Presto 18:18

Chopin, Fryderyk (1810-49) -composer
Lilya Zilbersten -piano

Scores: Available for free at imslp.org

Description by Robert Cummings:
Chopin is not known as a major figure in the genre of the piano sonata, despite the popularity of his Second and Third Sonatas. He was not concerned with innovations in development or structure in the manner of Beethoven or Schubert. The freer forms appealed to him, thus giving his three piano sonatas less structural discipline, and at times even an air of improvisation.

That said, the weaknesses of this First Sonata owe less to structure and development than to thematic mediocrity and derivative elements, which are sourced in Hummel and Weber. Yet the music still sounds mostly like Chopin, but a wayward and youthful Chopin. The composer was still a student when he wrote this four-movement work. The opening panel, marked Allegro maestoso, is stormy and full of the passion the composer would become noted for. But so much of its music is repetitive and without significant development.

The second movement Menuetto is lively and colorful and features an attractive trio. The ensuing Larghetto is perhaps the least distinctive movement, but the muscular, driving finale may be the best. Its lively first subject may overstate its case in its many repetitions, but its colors and dazzling writing rescue its weaknesses and deliver a convincing closing movement. What is remarkable here are the many stylistic traits and thematic fragments that foreshadow the composer's Piano Concerto No. 1, which Chopin would write just two years later. All in all, this is an interesting early work whose flaws cannot be overlooked, but whose many charms make it a compelling and attractive work. Even in his lesser compositions Chopin does not disappoint.