Shostakovich - Sonata No. 1 (Boris Petrushansky)

Описание: This one-movement sonata by Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975) is a bit of a roller-coaster ride indeed! This dissonant and complex piece of music is both exhilarating and haunting and amazingly, it was written when he was only 19 years old. Whatever was on his mind when he wrote this, he certainly wrote a very interesting piece indeed. I’m sure that some of the style of the sonata may have been influenced by Prokofiev’s later piano sonatas, most notably the 8th.

Generally speaking, it can be largely divided into three parts. The first part is fast and complex and ends with the a slow ominous passage. This young 19-year-old must have had some dark thoughts when he wrote this.

The middle part (Lento) is my favourite. This part constitutes the slow quiet haunting part of the sonata. It crawls on you in a very creepy way. A bit like the Red Weed bit in Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds.

Previously, I didn't know who played this, but Youtube identified Boris Petrushansky as the performer, someone I was not familiar with. This is a prime example where Youtube's ContentID engine can be beneficial.