Shostakovich: Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 12

Shostakovich, Dmitri

Piano Sonata No.1 op. 12 (1926)

Duration: 14'

World Premiere

1926/12/12

Leningrad Philharmonic Malyi Hall, Leningrad

Dmitri Shostakovich, piano / 

The First Piano Sonata is one of the toughest and most abrasive of Shostakovich’s early works, full of out-and-out modernism, dissonance and virtuosity, and powered by the confidence that followed his completion of his First Symphony op.10. Although cast in a single movement, it follows the outlines of a three-movement structure (fast – slow - fast), while avoiding anything that might be thought superficially appropriate to a sonata. This is the music of a young rebel.