Dante Sonata

This work of program music was inspired by the reading of Victor Hugo's poem “Après une lecture de Dante” (1836).

D minor is a common key for music relating to death, as evidenced by other compositions such as Liszt's Totentanz[5] and the statue scene of Wolfgang Mozart's Don Giovanni.

[6] The key is also symbolic here, being the signature for other uplifting works of Liszt's, including Benediction of God in Solitude (part of Harmonies poétiques et religieuses)[7] and Les Jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este (Années de pèlerinage, vol.

[8] The secondary theme may also represent Beatrice, as it is interspersed within chromatic areas, similar to the character's appearances in hell.

The piece ends with a rapid chromatic octave section that when played at speed seems to split into three distinct themes, reflecting Satan's three faces in Dante's Inferno.

The highly programmatic themes depict the souls of Hell wailing in anguish.
Introduction
The second subject is a derivation of the first