ALBAN BERG
Piano Sonata Op. 1
TIKHON KHRENNIKOV
Five pieces for Piano Op. 2
GEORGE GERSHWIN
Three Preludes
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN
Nocturne in B major Op. 62 No. 1
Impromptu in A-flat major Op. 29
Impromptu in F-sharp major Op. 36
Impromptu in G-flat major Op. 51
Polonaise No. 6 In A-flat major Op. 53 ‘Heroic’
Composed in 1908 as he finished studies with Schoenberg, Berg’s single-movement First Piano Sonata isn’t officially set in a key, but mostly inhabits B minor the same key as fellow trailblazer Liszt’s monumental one-movement sonata of 1853, which feels appropriate when Berg’s language is a post-Romantic one. Khrennikov’s Five Pieces for Piano are likewise a student work, composed in 1933. However Gershwin was already a household name in 1926 when he wrote his rhythmically clever Three Préludes, thanks to his Rhapsody in Blue of 1924. Chopin’s sighing B major Nocturne No. 1 Op. 62 opens in tonality seemingly unrelated to its B major whole, before a long-lined, singing melody begins. Long-breathed melodies equally hold sway over Op. 29 and Op. 36, while the famous Op. 6 Polonaise‘s distinguishing feature is, unsurprisingly, its heroic tone.
