Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Allegro, op. 8
Grande Sonate en fa dièse mineur, op. 11
Sonate n° 2 en sol mineur, op. 22
Final original de la sonate n° 2 en sol mineur, op. 22

Florian Uhlig, piano

The early decades of the nineteenth century were a time of severe crisis for that heretofore highly regarded, noble genre of piano music, the four movement piano sonata, which had seen major contributions not only from the Big Three of Viennese Classicism – Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven – but also from Clementi, Dussek, Hummel, Weber, Moscheles and, last but not least, Franz Schubert. Now the interest of composers and audiences was turning rather to brilliant variation cycles, lyrical character pieces such as impromptus or “songs without words”, stylized dances (polonaises, mazurkas, waltzes) or etudes intended more for performance than prac- tice. Robert Schumann, who was also an attentive observer, remarked in 1839 that the sonata was a “kind of music which in France draws at best a pitying smile, and in Germany itself is hardly more than tolerated”.