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Chopin, the Poet of the Piano, Part 4

LlÅ·r Williams plays Chopin's Piano Sonata No 2 in B-flat minor, Op 35, 'Funeral March' at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Introduced by Sarah Walker.

Sarah Walker introduces the last in a short season of recitals given by Welsh pianist LlÅ·r celebrating Chopin's piano music. Recorded at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff earlier this month, today's highlights include Chopin's second piano sonata, known best through its third movement. This famous funeral march was used at Winston Churchill and John F Kennedy's funerals, as well as Chopin's own in 1849. From a dramatic opening, the sonata's four movements show Chopin making full use of all the advances in piano development with the light and shade of flashes of brilliance in the scherzo, while the solemnity of the funeral march is set alongside his melodic gifts. The briefest of final movements adds a brilliant conclusion.

Programme includes:
Chopin: Piano Sonata No.2 in B-flat minor, Op 35
Chopin: Ballade No.3 in A-flat major, Op 47

Producer: Johannah Smith

57 minutes

Last on

Fri 18 Feb 2022 13:00

Music Played

  • Frédéric Chopin

    Polonaise in F sharp minor, Op 44

    Performer: LlÅ·r Williams.
  • Frédéric Chopin

    Piano Sonata No 2 in B flat minor, Op 35

    Performer: LlÅ·r Williams.
  • Frédéric Chopin

    Mazurkas, Op 41 (Nos 1 & 4)

    Performer: LlÅ·r Williams.
  • Frédéric Chopin

    Ballade No 3 in A flat, Op 47

    Performer: LlÅ·r Williams.

Broadcast

  • Fri 18 Feb 2022 13:00