Grand Sonata in G, Op. 37

Tchaikovsky’s Grand Sonata in G, Op. 37 was written in Spring 1878 at his sister’s estate at Kamenka. It is four movements long, and the movements are as follows: Moderato e risoluto, Andante non troppo quasi Moderato, Scherzo/Allegro giocoso, and Finale/Allegro vivace. A performance of this Sonata would last about 30-35 minutes.

How did the sonata come to be? The first reference found was in a letter to Anatoly Tchaikovsky in March 1878. He stated that he was working on a piano sonata, but that it was not easy, and he has had little to no enthusiasm to work on it. However, he had hoped that down the line, he would find the spark that would make the process easier. What is interesting is that he did get the spark, but not for the sonata. Instead, he got an idea for a violin concerto (which would turn out to be Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35), so he put the sonata off to the side. Correspondence after this would only talk about the concerto.

When he got to Kamenka in April, he committed to working on the sonata once more. He had written to Nadezhda von Meck that he was working on the sonata, and he wrote to Anatoly later on, saying he had finished three movements of the sonata and some other pieces. Around late May and early June, he wrote a letter to Nadezhda to confirm he was done writing the Grand Sonata as well as many other pieces, but it would take a while to get them all in order. The sonata would begin to get put in order and copied out in June. The first performance was in November 1879 by Nikolay Rubinstein at a concert for the Russian Musical Society, and it was first published in 1879 by Pyotr Jurgeson. The Grand Sonata is dedicated to Karl Klindworth (1830-1916), a German pianist, conductor, and teacher whom Tchaikovsky met back in 1868.

This piece was well-received in Russia, but it is basically unknown to the rest of the world. It is a difficult piece of piano literature to perform. Tchaikovsky was not the best piano player, and used the piano more to compose than to perform. It may be assumed that the sonata was well received because of Rubinstein’s performance of it, rather than the composition itself.

The first movement of the Grand Sonata is Moderato e risoluto. It is in G major, it is 301 measures long, and it is in sonata form (exposition-development-recapitulation-coda). It is the longest movement in the sonata with a duration of around 11 minutes. Overall, this movement is very pesante, homorhythmic, and thick in texture. It is also almost at fortissimo or on the loud side of dynamics. The movement starts off with block chords that feel orchestral at the beginning, and they are at fortissimo. The rhythmic figure of the dotted eighth-sixteenth gives forward motion to the music. There are some moments, whether it’s subtle or actually developed, where the music steps away from this. For example, the rubato section in the exposition actually demonstrates melody in stepwise motion as opposed to just block chords. The tranquilo section (3:00) is my favorite part of this movement as there is more contrast being shown with the dynamics; the melody is gorgeously moving and brought out due to the thin texture, and the rhythmic activity is actually enjoyable and has a purpose of bringing the melody out. Also, the rhythmic activity here is not needlessly frantic. This is my least favorite of the four movements. I feel like after the first 8 measures, I’ve pretty much heard the whole movement. It’s a shame because the lyrical stuff is beautiful and written in such a genius way, but it gets covered up with the frenzied motion and the thick textures.

The second movement is Andante non troppo quasi Moderato. It is in E minor, it is 152 measures long, and it is in ternary form (ABA’-coda). It is the second longest movement with a duration of around 9:30 minutes. This is, without a doubt, the most expressive movement in the entire Grand Sonata. It starts off in 9/8, thinner in texture, cantabile, and it lets the somber harmonies sink in to the listener. This movement also does a great job of balancing different styles and demonstrating contrast in dynamics and articulation. The B section switches to the key of C major, and this brightens up the somberness presented by the A section with its tonality of E minor. It plays around with its chromaticism in its rhythmic activity. It’s also higher in tessitura, and this brings brighter colors to the sound. As the B section develops, it gives the listener a false sense that they are in the A’ section. It has phrases and sounds reminiscent of the A section, but it’s embellished. It is pianissimo, and as it finishes, it has the instruction of morendo and perdendosi as the LH plays an inverted E minor chord. This movement does a great job of demonstrating different emotions, and it sounds like its own tune when compared to the other 3 movements. This is my favorite movement from the entire sonata.

The third movement is Scherzo/Allegro giocoso. It is in G major, it is 217 measures long, and it is in ternary form (ABA’-coda). It is the shortest movement in the sonata with a duration of around 2:20 minutes. It starts off in 6/16, and the melody is frantic. Though it is in G major, the harmony with some chromaticism makes it feel a bit unstable. The dynamics in this movement feel like swells. It starts off in mf, and it will do slight crescendos to forte or slight diminuendos. When it gets to the B section, the key switches from G major to its chromatic mediant, Eb major. The melody is still frantic, but now it alternates back and forth between ranges, unlike in the A section where the RH would stay in the treble clef and the LH in the bass clef. When it gets to the coda, the style slightly changes to staccato, and the melody is not as frantic. The dynamic also diminuendos. I find this movement to be average. It’s meant to be fast, and I do appreciate how chromaticism was thrown in to keep me guessing where the tonal stability will lie. However, it just sounds like a shorter variation of the first movement to me.

The fourth and final movement is Finale/Allegro vivace. It is in G major, it is 484 measures long, and it is in rondo form (ABACABA-coda). It is the third longest movement in the sonata with a duration of around 6 minutes. It starts off in 2/4 with block chords like the first movement, then it goes into the frantic melody like the third movement. When it gets to the B section, the music gets a little thicker in texture as the melody is then accompanied by harmony. The music gets homorhythmic here; it’s staccato, and it’s at mezzoforte. The dynamic experiences a number of subito changes. As the music starts heading into the A’ section, the dynamic changes to piano, the texture becomes polyphonic and thinner. Then it starts getting thicker and louder to prepare for the A’ section. Getting into the C section, it is much more expressivo, and the harmony switches back and forth between the melody and the accompaniment. It is also now in the key of Eb major, and the rhythm is much more relaxed. As it develops, the music becomes legato and starts moving either by arpeggios or by stepwise motion, then it starts heading back to how it was at the beginning of the section. As it approaches the A’’ section, the chords thicken and the dynamic goes to fortissimo while the melodic line ascends and descends. The bridge into the coda uses homorhythmic patterns and a rising melody before it comes descending into the chords. As it descends, the RH is right on the downbeats while the LH is on the upbeats (27:58). Leading into the coda are D major chords in different inversions and registers. With the coda, there is a sense of relaxation as the rhythm is calmer at first using eighth notes. The LH has ostinato eighth notes in the bass with chords on top of it, and the RH plays the melody in octaves. As the coda comes to an end, the RH evolves to playing the chords, and so does the LH to the point of it being homorhythmic at the end. This movement is more expressive than the first and doesn’t rely much on homorhythm. It has more of a dancing feel to it. It has more dynamic contrast and more style changes. It has more polyphonic lines and has more arpeggios and stepwise motion. This is more of how the first movement should have been, However, I still prefer the second movement over this one.

The Grand Sonata in G, Op. 37 had issues getting composed as Tchaikovsky could not find the inspiration to write it, and some of that shows in the piece itself. Once the 4-movement sonata was finished, it was then performed and received local praise, but that was due to the performer’s ability and not due to the sonata itself. While there are definitely some good hidden qualities in the composition, it feels like it takes one idea and just repeats it throughout while not developing it in interesting ways. There is no sure answer as to why this piece is obscure outside of Russia. It may be due to its repetitive ideas or it may be due to the difficulty at which it could reach. Either way, this piece will not get that answer until it is explored more by pianists.

Omar A. Cordova

Bibliography

“Grand Sonata.” Grand Sonata – Tchaikovsky Research. Accessed February 19, 2020. http://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/Grand_Sonata.

“Grand Sonata, Op.37 (Tchaikovsky, Pyotr).” IMSLP. Accessed February 19, 2020. https://imslp.org/wiki/Grand_Sonata,_Op.37_(Tchaikovsky,_Pyotr). 

Nikolov, Dimitar N. “Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Grand Sonata in G Major, Op. 37: A Critical Reevaluation.” Order No. 3117803, The University of Nebraska – Lincoln, 2003. http://lib.utep.edu/?url=/docview/305310033?accountid=7121.