Beyond Faust: How Liszt's Sonata in B Minor, S.178 Provided a Model for Rachmaninoff's Sonata in D Minor, Op.28

Fleetwood, Joseph Lionel

Beyond Faust: How Liszt's Sonata in B Minor, S.178 Provided a Model for Rachmaninoff's Sonata in D Minor, Op.28

dc.contributor	Zaheri, Amir
dc.contributor	Sargent, Joseph
dc.contributor	Cevasco-Trotter, Andrea M.
dc.contributor	Woosley, Kevin
dc.contributor	Liu, Jun
dc.contributor.advisor	Chance, Kevin T.
dc.contributor.author	Fleetwood, Joseph Lionel
dc.contributor.other	University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
dc.date.accessioned	2022-09-28T14:54:46Z
dc.date.available	2022-09-28T14:54:46Z
dc.date.issued	2022
dc.description	Electronic Thesis or Dissertation	en_US
dc.description.abstract	The Sonata No.1 in D Minor, Op.28 is one of Rachmaninoff's most neglected major works with comparatively few recordings in existence compared to his Piano Sonata No.2 in B-flat Major, Op.36. Rachmaninoff completed the work in 1908 and performed it for only five years before removing it from his repertoire in favor of his Second Sonata. The First Sonata has long been viewed through the lens of it being a programmatic work based on the story of Faust, as explained by the composer to pianist Konstantin Igumnov who gave the premiere. What has been overlooked in scholarly research on the sonata is its resemblance to Liszt's Sonata in B minor, S.178. Scholars have recognized that Rachmaninoff's First Sonata follows the same programmatic sequence as Liszt's A Faust Symphony in three character pictures, S.108, but all commentators have missed the striking similarity to the B Minor Sonata. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Liszt's Sonata was understood as having a program associated with the story of Faust although Liszt never confirmed this. Rachmaninoff did not publicly reveal a program for his First Sonata and was reluctant to reveal it to Igumnov although every subsequent writer has viewed the sonata exclusively in the light of the Faust narrative. This document examines some of the techniques Rachmaninoff used in the composition of his First Sonata. Chapter one provides a brief introduction to the sonata and gives context to the work including the difficulties Rachmaninoff had in bringing it to fruition. Chapter two gives an overview of the Liszt Sonata's historical context and shows how Liszt decided to break with formal traditions in its composition. The central theme of this document is in chapter three, where there is evidence shown of direct modeling in Rachmaninoff's First Sonata in the Allegro moderato, and Rachmaninoff was strongly influenced by the Liszt Sonata in the subsequent movements. Chapter four demonstrates how Rachmaninoff modeled his Concerto in F-sharp Minor, Op.1 on Grieg's Concerto in A Minor, Op.16, which sets precedent for him borrowing structural and thematic ideas from other composers.	en_US
dc.format.medium	electronic
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf
dc.identifier.other	http://purl.lib.ua.edu/186471
dc.identifier.other	u0015_0000001_0004430
dc.identifier.other	Fleetwood_alatus_0004D_14874
dc.identifier.uri	https://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/9457
dc.language	English
dc.language.iso	en_US
dc.publisher	University of Alabama Libraries
dc.relation.haspart	Supplementary files include audio recordings of the pieces by Rachmaninoff and Liszst and a pdf file of the CD cover they were recorded onto.
dc.relation.hasversion	born digital
dc.relation.ispartof	The University of Alabama Electronic Theses and Dissertations
dc.relation.ispartof	The University of Alabama Libraries Digital Collections
dc.rights	All rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.	en_US
dc.subject	Grieg
dc.subject	Liszt
dc.subject	Piano
dc.subject	Rachmaninoff
dc.subject	Sonata In B Minor S.178
dc.subject	Sonata In D Minor Op.28
dc.title	Beyond Faust: How Liszt's Sonata in B Minor, S.178 Provided a Model for Rachmaninoff's Sonata in D Minor, Op.28	en_US
dc.type	thesis
dc.type	text
etdms.degree.department	University of Alabama. School of Music
etdms.degree.discipline	Music
etdms.degree.grantor	The University of Alabama
etdms.degree.level	doctoral
etdms.degree.name	D.M.A.