Sophia Gorlin

Shostakovich's Piano Sonata No. 2 (cont'd)

Summary

Shostakovich’s Piano Sonata No. 2 holds a unique place in his musical legacy. Written at the beginning of the middle period of Shostakovich’s life, the Sonata featured many of the distinctive characteristics of the composer’s individual style.

The most representative stylistic features in the Sonata:

1. Forms:

   1. modification of the sonata form in the first movement (see the ‘mid-summary’); employment of polyphonic principles of thematic development in the sonata form; ‘Beethovenian’ interpretation of the sonata form as a dramatic scene exposing the conflict between ‘self’ and ‘fate’;

   2. modification of the three-part form in the second movement (non-contrasting thematic material, modified recapitulation with inclusion of a canon and ornamentation);

   3. creation of the perfectly shaped variation form in the third movement: the three-part structure of the variation theme, with a ‘long-reaching’ climactic point, predetermines the structure of the entire variation cycle (the three-part structure on a ‘hyper-function’ level).

   4. creation of a thematic and structural continuity of the sonata cycle:

      1. by creating obvious thematic (motivic), tonal, structural, and conceptual arches between the different themes and images of the Sonata. The conflict between ‘self’ and ‘fate’ exposed in the first movement is extended to the Sonata’s other movements.

         Best examples:

         1. Exposition of the two leitmotives of the Sonata (the tonic structure and the descending diminished tetrachord) in the opening phrase of the first movement followed by an extensive use of these motives in the third movement (in the variation theme and the variation cycle);

         2. Deployment of a major conflict between the two main groups of images, the ‘self’ and the ‘fate’ (or ‘evil’) motives:

            1. in the first movement: the primary and the closing theme (the ‘self’ group), on the one side, and the secondary theme, on another; the bridge from the secondary to the closing theme in the sonata form’s recapitulation, on one side, and the following closing (‘victim’) theme, from the other (for the first time in the Sonata, the triadic motive transforms into the aggressive ‘evil’ motive);

            2. in the second movement: the first (A) and the second (B) sections, respectively;

            3. in the third movement: the ‘self’’ motives (diminished tetrachords) from the variation theme, on the one side, and the triadic motives transformed into the ‘evil” images, from the other (the ‘march-like’ C Major episode in Variation 5; the ‘evil’ attacks based on the dotted rhythmic pattern that create the persistent ‘trembling’ effect);

         3. Use of different methods of thematic development for the ‘self’ and ‘fate’ motives, respectively, throughout the Sonata: the ‘self’ motives are developed polyphonically (‘phased-in’, relentless, non-cadential development); the ‘fate’ motives are developed homophonically (closed periodic structures, homophonic texture). Best examples: the secondary theme of the exposition of the first movement – 17-bar period (16+1); the second theme of the second movement – 33-bar (32+1) parallel period;

         4. An obvious thematic and structural connection between the coda of the finale and the primary thematic section of the first movement (in other words, the coda of the finale also functions as a coda for the entire cycle);

         5. An obvious tonal connection between the two C Major episodes (two ‘evil’ or ‘fate’ images) – the first (the ‘mesmerising’ episode) is the middle section of the second movement, the second is the march-like, ‘aggressive’ episode in Variation 5 of the third movement;

      2. by using similar tonal relationships (chromatic mediant relationships between the two main themes in both first movement and the second movement);

      3. by using a lowered fourth degree (Eb) in the variation theme of the third movement, which is an obvious arch to Eb Major, the key of the secondary theme of the first movement;

2. An extensive use of polyphonic methods of thematic development based on the ‘phased-in’, gradual unfolding process.

   Best examples:

   1. First movement:

      1. Exposition: the primary thematic section (the ‘first development’);

      2. Development and ‘absorbed’ recapitulation of the primary theme (the ‘second development’);

      3. The ‘third development’ of the primary theme (after the recapitulation);

   2. Second movement: the first thematic section (A) and the recapitulation (A1);

   3. Third movement: the variation theme.

3. An extensive use of counterpoint: a) contrapuntal imitations (the best example - the canon in the recapitulation of the second movement); b) contrapuntal combination of different themes (the best example – the simultaneous recapitulation of the sonata form’s primary and secondary themes );

4. Use of the rarefied texture where the upper and the lower layers are placed in ‘marginal’ (extremely high or low) registers (the most striking example: second development in the first movement – the distance between the highest [Bb4] and the lowest [Dc] notes spans almost seven octaves!)

5. Use of ‘expanded’ tonality: the tonic is usually exposed briefly at the beginning and at the end of the piece (episode) whilst the development process may involve the full chromatic scale (the best example: the variation theme of the third movement); the tonal relationships (mediant chromatic, ‘common third’) are mostly of a late-romantic or post-romantic nature;

6. An extensive use of church modes: in Shostakovich’s works, church modes often take precedence over the regular major and minor scales. Best examples: the secondary theme of the first movement – in Lydian major; the beginning of the development – in Phrygian minor;

7. An extensive use of mixed and changing meters and tempo rubato (the best example: the first section of the second movement);

8. Crystallisation of a unique melodic style: based on the use of wide intervals (mostly fourths, sevenths, and ninths), with broken melodic contours (the best example: the first motive of the main theme of the second movement); the same intervals permeate ‘verticalities’ (see examples) which are usually subordinate to horizontal melodic lines.

9. Creation of a unique type of scales (modes) with lowered 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th degrees based on the diminished tetrachords within a diminished fourth, which will later be transformed into Shostakovich’s monogram (the best example: the variation theme of the third movement). In fact, in the Sonata, by creation and implementation of the diminished tetrachords, Shostakovich incubates and crystallizes the future ‘monogram’ motive which will permeate his most personalised works of a later period (such as the Tenth Symphony, the Fifth and the Eighth String Quartets. See Epilogue.)

Through various combinations of the above-listed stylistic features, the composer creates a number of unique ‘effects’:

1. grotesque or farce effect (the best example: the secondary theme of the first movement);

2. eerie effect (the best example: the second development of the first movement);

3. fragility effect (the best examples: the first and last sections of the second movement);

4. mesmerising effect (the best example: the middle section of the second movement);

5. pictorial effect (the best example: the recapitulation section of the second movement);

6. martial effect (the best example: the C Major episode in Variation 5 of the third movement);

7. trembling effect created by long-lasting ostinato of dotted rhythms (the best example: Variations 6–9 of the third movement);

8. orchestral effect on the piano (under the influence of symphonic works) (the best example: the ‘martial’ C Major episode in Variation 5 – reproduces the fanfare-like sound of brass instruments – trumpets, trombones);

9. cathartic effect: As an important part of the ‘Aesopian’ language, this effect usually occurs as a reaction to the most dramatic and tragic episodes, which illustrate the ‘evil’ (‘fate’) group of images (the best example: the B Major episode in Variation 9 of the third movement).

I would like to conclude my analysis of the Sonata with the words of Shostakovich’s best friend, the distinguished Russian musicologist Ivan Sollertinsky who listened to Shostakovich’s first performance of the Sonata in Moscow in September 1943. In a private letter, he stated, ‘I was most impressed with his (Shostakovich’s) Second Piano Sonata, likely to be one of his best works’.30

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