Crystallization of the Sonata Form in Frederic Chopin’s Vision

Abstract

Unlike Mozart or Beethoven, in whose case almost everything they composed for one or two musical instruments was shaped into sonata, the new generation of Romantic composers no longer considered this form to hold such importance. Mendelssohn confined himself to 13 sonatas, Schumann stopped at 8 (including Fantasia in C Major); Chopin made his first attempt at 18 years old, he created two more sonatas of great significance for the pianistic literature, and at the end of his life, he added the Sonata for Cello and Piano. One cannot however state that Romantics lost interest in the sonata genre. It still was the most prestigious instrumental genre, an obsession for many composers who endeavored to demonstrate they could cope with such complex structures. This respect for the sonata genre may be compared to the one for the fugue during the Classical period.