Enquête autour de la Sonate en Si mineur de Liszt: quand à la mesure 153 arrive cet étonnant «cantando espressivo»

Franz Liszt’s conception of larger forms developed progressively between 1835-1836 and 1841 in his operatic fantasies. Influenced by the proximity of opera – notably Italian opera – and by multipartite form, Liszt developed an extremely original approach to form in these fantasies that would have a lasting influence on his post-1848 compositions, particularly those of Weimar. By examining measures 153-170 of the Sonata in B minor, this article reevaluates the influence of the formal model from the operatic fantasies on the B minor Sonata. Further, the article compares the Sonata to two contemporary fantasies that were not composed on operatic themes: the Fantasie und Fugue über den Chorale ‘Ad nos, ad salutarem undam’, and the Dante Sonata. (brunomoysan@aol.com)