Liszt Piano Sonata in B-minor, S. 178:

An Analysis of Advancements in Sonata Form

by Dominick Cristofori D’Alessandro

Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B-minor is one of the most extensively scrutinized compositions in all of music history. In the work, Liszt departed from Classical sonata form and thus achieved the most significant formal advancement in the solo piano sonata since Beethoven’s late period. He combined the traditional four-movement sonata into one single- movement work, altered the treatment of thematic and motivic material so that it follows a two-dimensional sonata form, and abandoned the tonal constraints of the Classical sonata. In doing so, Liszt not only dismantled the conventions of the Classical sonata but also retained and repurposed many of its formal attributes in order to create a unique approach to a century-old genre.