Ferocious, powerful, desperate and dramatic, what other adjectives could describe Medtner's 9th sonata, "War Sonata" so well? One of his best sonatas, just listen to the climax coming at (7:09)... Yeah, amazing. This sonata has only one movement. This masterpiece has been written during the 1st World War.
From structure analysis made by Alan Kuo ( • Medtner - Piano Sonata... ) :
EXPOSITION
THEME GROUP 1, A MINOR
0:00 T1,1. An iambic rise and fall motive.
1:09 T1,2
THEME GROUP 2, E MINOR
The second theme group contains four consecutive melodic fragments, developed individually throughout the sonata.
1:29 T2,1
1:46 T2,2
1:55 T2,3
2:08 T2,4
CLOSING SECTION
2:38 Extensive elaboration on T1,1
3:38 Repeated cadences in E minor, concluding the exposition
DEVELOPMENT
4:08 Bare statements of T1,2
4:35 T2,1
5:09 T1,2
5:29 T2,2
5:39 T2,1 against T2,3. Tension begins to build
6:07 T1,1, with increased intervals, against T2,1
6:29 T2,3 against heavily modified T1,1 (increased intervals, compressed into triplets)
6:44 Violent outburst of T1,1 and T2,3
7:09 Quartal chords moving by tritone in the RH, T2,1 and T2,3 in the LH. Possibly the most violent, chaotic passage in all of Medtner.
7:25 fff pealing of D major. IV-I cadence to...
RECAPITULATION
THEME GROUP 1, A MAJOR
7:36 fff recap, in the parallel major!
8:45 T1,2
THEME GROUP 2, A MINOR
9:07 T2,1
9:25 T2,2
9:34 T2,3
9:52 T2,4 and T2,1
CLOSING SECTION
10:10 Lots of T1,1
11:56 marked poco tenebroso, the atmosphere turns menacing. Harmonic movement by tritone in the RH, rising octatonically in the LH.
10:43 T1,1 and T2,3. Even more violent than its counterpart at 6:44.
CODA
11:09 T2,3
12:03 An E-flat7 arpeggio brings the coda to a sudden halt. A state ment of T1,1, pianissimo, with the pedal held down.
12:22 Nothing but E-flat major and A major triads until the very end.
12:41 E-flat to A cadence.
00:05 - Eckardstein
12:50 - Milne
27:28 - Tozer