Piano Sonata in C# minor 3rd Movement – Scherzo (Video)

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Back in 2007 I was working on a series of 24 Piano Preludes. As I finished each prelude I would often post it on a music forum. The Prelude in C# minor got a lot of attention, and several people said I should expand it and make a larger piece out of it. And so I did. But after that, I decided to continue and create an entire Piano Sonata.

This piano sonata is one of the best things I did back in my “classical” days. The 24 Preludes, when taken as a whole, and The Hamlet Symphony are the only other pieces that in the same league, though I do like my “classical” sonata in g minor.

Of the Sonata in C# minor, the 3rd movement, the Scherzo, is a favorite. Compositionally it isn’t as good as the other movements, but it is a heck of a lot more fun – Scherzo means “little joke”, and this was a joke all around.

Since this is the most accessible of the movements, I thought it would make a good video. I hope you enjoy!

(Click here if you don’t see the video below)

31 thoughts on “Piano Sonata in C# minor 3rd Movement – Scherzo (Video)”

  1. Pingback: Piano Sonata in c# minor, 4th Movement | Trent's World (the Blog)

  2. Pingback: Piano Sonata in c# minor, 2nd Movement | Trent's World (the Blog)

  3. Marilyn Armstrong

    It does indeed have a “hurrying” sound to it, but it’s also melodic and hangs together nicely. Now, all I need is that middle movement — slow I’m assuming since this is classical-style? This must be exhausting to perform. Well done on every level!

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Thanks again, Marilyn. I did put the 2nd movement up on Youtube and will do a blog post in a day or two. It is the slow movement. And then there is at he fourth, which I will put on Youtube sometime during the week and a blog post either at the end of the week or early next. I put these up slightly out of order because i was at first just going to do this one, which I think is the most accessible, but then decided to fill in the blanks since I actually like the others as much if not more.

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  4. Pingback: Piano Sonata in c# minor 1st Movement | Trent's World (the Blog)

    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Not a joke in the same way as the Nursery Crimes video I posted a few weeks back was – that had a lot of real musical jokes in it! But the original scherzo replaced the old fashioned minuet, and so a bit of fun in the middle of what people expected to be “serous”. Glad you liked the mad rush :)

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Thanks. Although this was a very longtime ago, I think I was thinking more Halloween than spring, on the other hand, there are the quieter , lilting passages together with what might seem like thunderstorms, so, I guess i can hear Spring…

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Thanks, Robbie. Actually, this was recorded 8 years ago, so I doubt if I could play this. I’ve been practicing more lately, but still a long way to go to get back where I used to be….

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  12. Marilyn Armstrong

    Not only is it surprisingly good music (I’m very picky, so I don’t always like what “everyone” likes), but wow, you play really WELL. I play almost that well a long, long time ago, but between one thing and another, I was only able to get back to the pianos periodically. Then I’d practice, improve, and something else would happen — newborns who would wake up the moment I hit a key, long LONG commutes, illness, more long commutes, more illness, and finally, enough arthritis to make my hands unable to perform. I am lucky I can still type, though I have to be very careful.

    It’s wonderful that you can still perform so beautifully. It warms my heart. Do you remember everything you ever played — other than what you wrote of course — ? Every time I hear a piece in a movie or a TV show, my musical memory lights up and I yell at the TV, “Hey, I used to play that!” Of course, I couldn’t play it now.

    Congratulations. Do you write anything choral? I only ask because we have a close family connection in the choral arena(Garry’s brother) — so if you have anything like that which you’ve written something worth performing. It would help if there was some vague religious (any religion) connection (Anton Armstrong is the super honcho for the St. Olaf’s choir and chairman of the department, with his own “seat,” etc. etc. etc. A LOT of accolades. He is the REALLY famous brother. So, we might be able to help — if you write that kind of music — or would LIKE to write that kind of music. I hate opera, but I love choral music and his choir is nothing short of amazing.

    I think this is the longest comment I’ve written in years!

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Thanks, Marilyn, but I have some bad news. This was record 12 years ago, and I doubt if I could reproduce it now. Also, I really haven’t composed “classical” music in about a decade, so there is no way I could write anything like this right now.

      I had just begun to explore vocal music when I took my long break, but didn’t try anything choral. I had started to compose a song cycle of the type that Mahler did, but it was for large orchestra and solo voice. I really only finished one song of the cycle…

      I may post the rest of the sonata in the near future. I’ve been thinking of packaging up the best of my piano work as a downloadable CD. Doing this will make it all accessible on all of the streaming services. Unfortunately I don’t think I will push being a “serious” composer – it would take me years to get back to were I was a decade ago!

      Thanks for the super long comment – hopefully you’ll like the rest of the sonata when I post it.

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