Sonata for piano in E flat minor

Composed in 1899-1900, the premiere of Dukas’ work, given on 10 May 1901 by Édouard Risler, at the Salle Pleyel, was regarded as an event of the utmost importance. The last major piano sonata to be written in a century which had seen the genre largely spurned by French composers, this work is a synthesis of the principal elements of Romanticism. Dedicated to Saint-Saëns (who also shunned the piano sonata, with the exception of the one he wrote at the age of 12), this work owes a debt to Beethoven, Alkan and Liszt. Signalling its ambitions by its length (four movements lasting about 45 minutes), the sonata places the emphasis on formal and thematic development: two initial movements in sonata form, a third movement containing a central fugue on a complicated subject, and a finale displaying an original use of variation techniques. The work, which favours infrequently used keys rich in accidentals (in the first place, E flat minor as the home key), is harmonically innovative and calls for consummate virtuosity, particularly in the third movement (with its frenetic writing in alternating hands in the extreme parts), and the finale, which is symphonic in scale. Durand later described being given a private performance of the work by Dukas: “I followed this music with wonder, turning the pages for Dukas. […] At the end of the finale, I could stand it no longer and I threw myself into the arms of the composer, who was just as moved as me.” This somewhat fulsome account was, however, accompanied by sincere admiration, since the publisher brought out the sonata in December 1900.