Tchaikovsky's two piano sonatas, dating from 1865 and 1878, were written at a time when the piano sonata form was in decline.
Composer Biography
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the composer, was a good amateur pianist in his youth but did not aim to be a virtuoso or perform publicly.
Notable Performances
Nikolai Rubinstein, director of the Moscow Conservatory, gave the first performance of the Grande Sonate in G major, Op. 37, in Moscow on October 21, 1879.
Composition History
The collection The Seasons, a cycle of twelve pieces for each month of the year, was commissioned by the monthly magazine Nouvellist and published as supplements in 1876.
Composition History
Tchaikovsky's Sonata in C sharp minor, Op. posth. 80, written in 1865 during his student years, was not published during his lifetime.
Composition History
The Grande Sonate in G major, Op. 37, was written in March-April 1878 during a stay in Clarens, Switzerland, around the time Tchaikovsky was also working on his Violin Concerto.
Compositional Technique
The Grande Sonate in G major, Op. 37, is technically challenging for pianists due to Tchaikovsky's often awkward piano writing and its approximately 37-minute duration.
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