The Piano Sonata in B-flat minor is a work written by Julius Reubke between December 1856 and March 1857.
Although it remains very obscure and is little performed (unlike the composer's Sonata on the 94th Psalm[1] for organ), it combines the Lisztian technique of thematic transformation, colourful harmonies, virtuosic piano writing and a wide array of characters and sentiments.
[2] The work opens with an Allegro maestoso, characterised by a dramatic, rising forte first subject.
This rising motif (a minor semitone followed by a major third jump), is a significant theme of the movement, recalled at various points throughout (including the cadenza-like passagework).
Its melancholy second subject, in the distant key of E major, recalls something of Reubke's own sadly short life.