The ''Easter Sonata'' () is a piano

sonata In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...

in the key of A major, composed by

Fanny Mendelssohn Fanny Mendelssohn (14 November 1805 – 14 May 1847) was a German composer and pianist of the early Romantic era who was known as Fanny Hensel after her marriage. Her compositions include a string quartet, a piano trio, a piano quartet, an or ...

. It was lost for 150 years and when found attributed to her brother Felix, before finally being recognized as hers. It premiered in her name on 7 September 2012, played by Andrea Lam. It received a second performance by Sofya Gulyak on 8 March 2017 for BBC Radio 3. It was the second sonata composed by Fanny Mendelssohn and was completed in 1828. During most of her lifetime, Fanny Mendelssohn's works remained unpublished. A few were published under her brother's name, with her knowledge and consent. The ''Easter Sonata'' was not published, but is mentioned as her work in her diary and letters written to her family members in 1829. The manuscript, which is signed "F. Mendelssohn", was found in France in 1970 and the piece was recorded for the first time in 1972 by

Éric Heidsieck Éric Charles Michel Heidsieck (born 21 August 1936) is a French classical pianist. Biography Born in Reims on 21 August 1936, Heidsieck gave his first recital at the age of nine and his first concert with orchestra a year later. He studied w ...

, attributed to Felix Mendelssohn. Some musicologists suggested that the piece might be by Fanny Mendelssohn, but the proposal was not seriously considered by most because of the lack of a known autograph manuscript. In 2010 the manuscript was examined by Angela Mace Christian who verified that the manuscript was in Fanny Mendelssohn's handwriting and determined that it had been cut from her book of compositions. In May 2020, the Easter Sonata was recorded under Fanny Mendelssohn's name for the first time by pianist Gaia Sokoli (Piano Classics, 2021). The sonata depicts the

Passion of Christ The Passion (from latin language, Latin , "to suffer, bear, endure") is the short final period before the death of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, described in the four canonical gospels. It is commemorated in Christianity every year during Holy ...

and the second movement contains an "ecclesiastical fugue". The Finale expresses the moment of Christ's death when the curtain of the Temple is rent asunder, and ends with a fantasy on the

chorale A chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of " Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one o ...

tune "

Christe, du Lamm Gottes "" (lit. "Christ, you Lamb of God") is a Lutheran hymn, often referred to as the German Agnus Dei. Martin Luther wrote the words of the hymn as a translation of the Latin Agnus Dei from the liturgy of the mass. The tune, Zahn 58, was taken ...

" ("Christ, thou Lamb of God").

Structure

The sonata contains four movements: * I. Allegro assai moderato. * II. Largo e molto espresso - Poco più mosso. * III. Scherzo: Allegretto. * IV. Allegro con strepito. *

References

External links

Performance by Sofya Gulyak at BBC website
{{Authority control Compositions by Fanny Mendelssohn 1829 compositions Piano sonatas Music on the Passion of Jesus Compositions in A major Rediscovered musical works