Kabalevsky Sonata Op. 46

So I promised to write about this sonata. I spent some time yesterday working on it, and fall more in love with it all the time. It's the perfect antidote for too much Mozart.

The sonata was composed in 1945, right towards the end of World War II. The Soviet Union emerged from the war as one of the world's superpowers, but the victory came at a steep price. The estimated death toll was roughly 27 million. I can imagine that, despite the victory, the USSR was not a particularly bright and happy place in 1945.

According to Kabalevsky, this is not a strictly programmatic work. However, the two themes of youth and war are prevalent throughout the sonata. The themes clash through the piece, and youth is victorious in the end. And if you know Kabalevsky and his penchant for the inspiration of children, that makes perfect sense. It made really wonderful propaganda for the Communists at this time, but it also, in an under-handed way, made known Kabalevsky's opinion of the war. This is a good example of what I mentioned in the post about Kabalevsky. He was able to write truly good music under the Communist regime. He did what he needed to do to be able to write his music. Anything is possible if you are talented and clever enough to make it so.

The entire sonata is energetic and spirited. Both youth and war are energetic and spirited; they are so in completely opposite ways. The first movement opens with a theme of youth. It's bright and quick and mischievous in an innocent sort of way. It skips along. The second theme is also one of youth, perhaps less carefree but still fun and light. The rhythms here are particularly fun to play (and by fun, I mean difficult but impressive). In the development of the first movement, the war theme appears. All these really crazy rhythms come flying out of nowhere, but it's really exciting. There's a lot of big bass stuff in here as well, symbolizing the war theme. Youth and war struggle for a bit, then the war theme subsides completely and almost instantaneously. There's a sense of nervousness and agitation through the rest of the movement.

The second movement is very similar. It opens with a sweet, graceful youth theme. The war theme comes back, but it's sneakier this time around. (I prefer this) These dissonances start creeping in. Every time you hear one, it's a little bit less subtle. I'm just so inspired by the way Kabalevsky does this. It really is masterful. As in the first movement, the youth theme comes back in the end, much more raucous than we've heard it before.

The third movement portrays the triumph of youth. It's a fast waltz (*FAST* waltz) and it's witty and roguish. I think it depicts very well that overwhelming exuberance of youth.