Piano Sonata in g minor (The “Classical”)

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My Piano Sings

My Piano Sings

Several years ago I took took composition lessons.  At one point my instructor had me write a “classical style” piano sonata.  Below is the little Sonata in C (or Sonatina in C)

OK, it’s kind of cute and there are moments (my instructor raved about the second movement, which starts at about 3:25), but I wasn’t satisfied.  I wanted to write a large, Beethoven style sonata.  A Piano Sonata, in capitals, not a little sonatina in small letters.

After I took lessons I started my own, very in depth studies.  There came a time I decided I was at last ready to write that Beethoven style Piano Sonata.  It is in four movements, covering most of the forms Beethoven used.  I tried to be inspired by the Great Master’s music, but I did not copy one note.  The last two movements are both musical jokes.

After I finished this I moved on to Liszt, Chopin and other Romantics.  My next sonata was in a much more modern style.  I’ll most likely post it some day.

I hope you enjoyed this bit of piano music.

10 thoughts on “Piano Sonata in g minor (The “Classical”)”

    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Thanks! Real quick – the third movement is a “scherzo”, which means little joke. It is based on the more traditional minuet, but has some twists and turns, and… a big part of it is the that it seems to get pretentious, but then turns around and says, “kidding”. The last movement takes that mock seriousness a step farther, but then has a theme that I call the “tin soldier” theme – I think of it as a windup toy with a few teeth on the gears missing some it skips and stumbles a little. So the “joke” here is that pompous little tin soldier soldier of a theme which takes itself too seriously but is actually light and fun.

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      1. Crystal Byers

        Thanks so much for the thorough tutorial. It seems I could learn a thing or to about classical music. I wouldn’t have said pompous, but I heard the light and fun part. So I get the scherzo. 😂

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  2. Pingback: Video – Piano Sonata in g minor, 1st Movement | Trent's World (the Blog)

  3. Pingback: New Music – Flashback Now | Trent's World (the Blog)

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