Hyperion Records

Eight of the remaining nine sonatas bear either an epigraph or, as here, a title indicating their general nature. The present work, otherwise called by its composer, reversing the order of priority, Märchen-Sonate, combines elements of both genres of the titles, being a sonata in layout, with the first of its three movements in regular sonata form, and a Märchen (or Skazka) in substance, particularly in the monothematic following movements: the second has a melody remarkable for anticipating Rachmaninov’s famous eighteenth variation of his ‘Paganini’ Rhapsody, written twenty-three years later; the third, a stern march in 5/2 time, incorporates reminiscences of the preceding movements.

from notes by Barrie Martyn © 1998