Funeral March, Opus 35 ~ Chopin

Frédéric Chopin composed his Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35 mainly in 1839 at Nohant near Châteauroux in France, although the third movement, which comprises the funeral march had been composed as early as 1837. The sonata consists of four movements. 1. Grave - Doppio movimento 2. Scherzo 3. Marche funèbre: Lento 4. Finale: Presto The first movement features a stormy opening theme and a gently lyrical second theme. The second movement is a virtuoso scherzo with a more relaxed melodic central section. The third movement begins and ends with the celebrated funeral march in B flat minor which gives the sonata its nickname, but has a calm interlude in D flat major. The finale contains a whirlwind of unremitting parallel octaves, with unvarying tempo and dynamics, and not a single rest or chord until the final bars. James Huneker, in his introduction to the American version of Mikuli edition of the Sonatas, quotes Chopin as saying "The left hand unisono with the right hand are gossiping after the March". Arthur Rubinstein is said to have remarked that the fourth movement is the "wind howling around the gravestones".[citation needed] The Sonata confused contemporary critics who found it lacked cohesion. Robert Schumann suggested that Chopin had in this sonata "simply bound together four of his most unruly children."