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The top single movement sonatas, symphonies, and concertos, and chamber pieces

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15K views 71 replies 15 participants last post by  spradlig  
#1 ·
Perhaps this could be another one of those rating threads where we vote for the best pieces in a certain category? We could start by mentioning names of symphonies, concertos, and sonatas, and other similar chamber pieces that follow a similar form.

First off, I want to point out that (being a Medtner fanboy)Medtner is a wealth of single movement works of incredible quality. The most notable is his First Piano Concerto, and then we have several piano sonatas, Sonata in G minor, Sonata Tragica, Sonata Reminiscenza, Sonata Elegia, Sonata in E minor(night wind), Sonata in A minor, and also the three parts to the Sonata Triad! Now that's intense!

Now we have other composers. Sibelius's 7th is one that comes to mind for many. Roy Harris's 3rd is a great example. Liszt's Piano Sonata. And though I don't know his work as well, I think Scriabin is another wealthy composer in this style! And there is William Schuman's almost incomprehensible 6th symphony.

I hope there is enough variety so we don't just have to crown Medtner or Scriabin.
 
#22 ·
3 of Gubaidulina's string quartets, Holmboe's 7th symphony, Kancheli's symphonies 4 and 5, Langgaard's 10th, 11th and 12th symphonies, Lourie's 2nd string quartet, Melartin's 2nd symphony, Norgard's 4th string quartet (I think), almost all of Pettersson's symphonies, Porter's 8th and 9th string quartets, Rangstrom's 3rd symphony, Rautavaara's 5th symphony, Rihm's 1st and 2nd string quartets, Schnittke's 4th symphony, Veklarte Nacht, Scriabin's piano sonatas from 5 onward, both of Silvestrov's string quartets, Simpson's 5th and 6th symphonies, Sumera's 5th symphony, Ustovolskaya's 3rd piano sonata, Isang Yun's 3rd symphony...for starters.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I find single movements work in general very interesting - an interesting twist on the traditional multi-movement form, usually a lot freer and often more fulfilling. A few examples I can think of off the top of my head:

Piano Sonatas:

Berg "The wondrous"
Liszt (The one and only)
Medtner - Sonata Reminiscenza
Medtner - Sonata Tragica
Medtner - Sonata in G minor
Scarlatti - Sonata in B minor (k. 27)
Scarlatti - Sonata in D minor (k. 9)
Scarlatti - Sonata in E minor (k. 402)
Scarlatti - Sonata in D minor (k. 141)
Scriabin - Piano Sonata No. 5
Prokofiev - Piano Sonata No. 1 "The romantic one"
Eiges - Piano Sonata-Toccata No. 4 (an awesome unknown work)


Concertos:

Scriabin - Prometheus
Liszt - Totentanz
Schumann - Introduction and Allegro Appassionato
Schumann - Konzertstuck for Four Horns
Weber - Konzertstuck

Somehow my mind can only come up with one symphony right now - Sibelius 7.
 
#43 ·
A flash of inspiration

While playing one of my favorite composers on the piano, WF Bach, it hit me that he wrote a piece he called a symphony, perhaps the only classical era/baroque piece that fits the requirement I've made for this thread in the true sense. This is actually one of my favorite works of all time.

Ladies and Gentleman, the ever surprising eldest son of J.S. Bach's Adagio and Fugue in D minor, also known as Sinfonia in D minor
 
#47 ·
clavichorder said:
While playing one of my favorite composers on the piano, WF Bach, it hit me that he wrote a piece he called a symphony, perhaps the only classical era/baroque piece that fits the requirement I've made for this thread in the true sense. This is actually one of my favorite works of all time.

Ladies and Gentleman, the ever surprising eldest son of J.S. Bach's Adagio and Fugue in D minor, also known as Sinfonia in D minor
Click to expand...
That's in c sharp minor...by our tuning standards anyway lol
 
#44 ·
Well, I'm a bit confused member clavichorder - do you mean works in one movement only, or works that have seperate movements that continue without a break, or both?

In terms of the former - eg. one movement/expanse (eg. like Sibelius Symphony #7) -

Bax - Piano Sonata #2
Ives - Three Page Sonata
Peter Sculthorpe - Piano Concerto
Margaret Sutherland - Oboe Concertino
Morton Feldman - String Quartet #1
Villa-Lobos - Momoprecoce for piano & orch.; Rudepoema for solo piano
Schoenberg - Piano Concerto
Nikolai Roslavets - a number of his surviving Violin Sonatas

In terms of the latter - made up of distinct, seperate movements, but no breaks in between them -

Dutilleux, Lutoslawski - Cello Concertos
Schumann - Cello Concerto
Beethoven - String Quartet Op. 131 (depending on how it's played, I think some performers pause, others play it through continuously)
Villa-Lobos - Fantasia for soprano saxophone & orch.
Carter - a number of his string quartets, eg. Nos. 1, 2, 5; Violin Concerto; Concerto for Orchestra
Ives - Emerson Concerto (reconstructed by Prof. David Porter); possibly also his Concord Sonata for solo piano (though I can't remember exactly)
 
#45 ·
Sid James said:
Well, I'm a bit confused member clavichorder - do you mean works in one movement only, or works that have seperate movements that continue without a break, or both?

In terms of the former - eg. one movement/expanse (eg. like Sibelius Symphony #7) -

Bax - Piano Sonata #2
Ives - Three Page Sonata
Peter Sculthorpe - Piano Concerto
Margaret Sutherland - Oboe Concertino
Morton Feldman - String Quartet #1
Villa-Lobos - Momoprecoce for piano & orch., Rudepoema for solo piano
Schoenberg - Piano Concerto

In terms of the latter - made up of distinct, seperate movements, but no breaks in between them -

Dutilleux, Lutoslawski - Cello Concertos
Schumann - Cello Concerto
Beethoven - String Quartet Op. 131 (depending on how it's played, I think some performers pause, others play it through continuously)
Villa-Lobos - Fantasia for soprano saxophone & orch.
Carter - a number of his string quartets, eg. Nos. 1, 2, 5; Violin Concerto; Concerto for Orchestra
Ives - Emerson Concerto (reconstructed by Prof. David Porter); possibly also his Concord Sonata for solo piano (though I can't remember exactly)
Click to expand...
A good distinction. Now that you make it I don't know if Liszt's piano sonata or Medtner's 1st piano concerto fall into the 1st or second category. We could certainly expand it, the definition would then become a bit less black and white and more confusing...

But you provided new suggestions in the former category, so perhaps it needs no expansion. Maybe we should stick to strictly single movement pieces.

Also, take note of my W.F. Bach piece. More people should know it!
 
#46 ·
Yeah, it's fuzzy, I remember reading somewhere (it may have been just on Wikipedia), that scholars have been in a never-ending argument about things like where one movement in the Liszt Sonata in B Minor begins and another ends. I don't know if it's that important, really, but I suppose musicologists don't mind having a good old stoush about anything, really, whether it really matters or not...
 
#50 ·
Now I'll list all those that I've actually devoted a fair amount of attention to in order of their greatness in my view

1) Medtner-Piano Concerto no. 1
2) W.F. Bach-Adagio and Fugue
3) Medtner-Sonata Reminiscenza
4) Scriabin-Sonata 5
5) Medtner-Sonata in G minor
6) Roy Harris-symphony 3
7) Medtner-Sonata in A minor
8) Stravinsky-Symphony for Winds
9) William Schuman-Symphony 6

So those are all that I've really paid a lot of attention to. I suggest that we all proceed in this fashion now that we have so many pieces thrown out there.
 
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