composed in 1831 - Dédié à Mademoiselle la Baronne Ernestine de Fricken
The
Allegro in B minor was actually the first movement of a sonata that remained
unfinished despite the imprecation “God grant that I can bring this
gigantic work to conclusion.” Schumann’s diary for 1832 reads: “I
was happy with the sonata—the last movement is still missing—yet I am quite
exhausted and desolate.” The opening triad motif, which also functions
as its own answer in tonal inversion at the close of the movement, is the
seed of additional themes. The work is one of Schumann’s more improvisatory
pieces, containing several long cadenzas and some unusually free transitional
passages.
Translation: William Melton
© Franz Vorraber
© Franz Vorraber