# Piano Sonata in F major (Sibelius)

The Piano Sonata in F major, Op. 12, is a three-movement composition for piano written in 1893 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece received its premiere in Helsinki on 17 April 1895; Oskar Merikanto was the soloist.
Ilmari Hannikainen, a prominent Finnish composer, said "the F major Piano sonata... a splendid work. Fresh, refreshing and full of life. … I have sometimes heard people mention the orchestral tone of the sonata (the left-hand tremolos) … In my opinion the sonata shows Sibelian piano style at its most genuine. There is no question of there being any tremolos in it. Everything that looks like that is really to be played in quavers or semi-quavers, in the manner of, say, Beethoven's piano sonatas. … When it is well and carefully rehearsed - and performed - the F major sonata is truly a virtuoso piece".

## Structure and music

* Allegro molto
* Andantino
* Vivacissimo

## Reception

Robert Layton displays a certain ambivalence towards the Piano Sonata. On the one hand, he dismisses the piano writing as "inept", characterized by "immaturity and uncertainty". On the other hand, he concedes not only that "there is [nevertheless] a good deal to admire in this sonata", but also that relative to the Six Impromptus (Op. 5) from earlier in the year, the Sonata shows that Sibelius had matured as an artist in the span of just a few months: "[It] stands head and shoulders above most of Sibelius's early piano music both in quality of invention and the growing mastery of form it evinces".

## Discography

The American pianist David Rubenstein made the world premiere studio recording of the Piano Sonata in 1971 for the Musical Heritage Society. The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:
| No. | Pianist | Time | Rec. | Recording venue | Label |
| 1 | David Rubenstein | 18:36 | c. 1971 | | Musical Heritage Society |
| 2 | Erik T. Tawaststjerna | 17:56 | 1979 | Nacka Aula [sv], Nacka | BIS |
| 3 | Annette Servadei [ja] | 19:18 | 1993 | St George's Church, Brandon Hill | Olympia |
| 4 | Marita Viitasalo [fi] | 19:23 | 1994 | Järvenpää Hall [fi] | Finlandia |
| 5 | Håvard Gimse | 17:48 | 1997 | St Martin's Church, East Woodhay | Naxos |
| 6 | Eero Heinonen [fi] | 17:49 | 1998 | YLE M2 Studio, Helsinki | Finlandia |
| 7 | Kikuo Watanabe | | 2003 | Tokyo Bunka Kaikan | Exton |
| 7 | Folke Gräsbeck [fi] | 16:57 | 2005 | Järvenpää Hall [fi] | BIS |
| 8 | Jean-Frédéric Neuburger | 16:56 | 2013 | Husum Castle | Danacord |
| 9 | Janne Mertanen | 16:08 | 2015 | [Unknown], Helsinki | Sony Classical |
| 10 | Joseph Tong | 18:26 | 2016 | Jacqueline Du Pré Music Building | Quartz |
| 11 | Fabiano Casanova | | 2019 | Morsasco Castle, Morsasco | Da Vinci Classics |

## Notes, references, and sources
### Notes

* ↑ Refers to the year in which the performers recorded the work; this may not be the same as the year in which the recording was first released to the general public.
* ↑ D. Rubenstein–Musical Heritage Society (MHS 1218) 1977
* ↑ E. Tawaststjerna–BIS (CD–153) 1987
* ↑ A. Servadei–Olympia (OCD 633) 1997
* ↑ M. Viitasalo–Finlandia (4509–98984–2) 1995
* ↑ H. Gimse–Naxos (8.553899) 1999
* ↑ E. Heinonen–Finlandia (8573–80776–2) 2000
* ↑ K. Watanabe–Exton (OVCX–00009) 2004
* ↑ F. Gräsbeck–BIS (CD–1909/11) 2008
* ↑ J. Neuburger–Danacord (DACOCD 739) 2014
* ↑ J. Mertanen–Sony Classics (888751614222) 2015
* ↑ J. Tong–Quartz (QTZ 2123) 2017
* ↑ F. Casanova–Da Vinci Classics (DV–C00297) 2020

### References

* 1 2 3 4 Dahlström 2003, p. 39.
* ↑ Dahlström 2003, pp. 38–39.
* ↑ Layton 1993, pp. 190–191.

### Sources

* Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11159-0.
* Dahlström, Fabian [in Swedish] (2003). Jean Sibelius: Thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke [Jean Sibelius: A Thematic Bibliographic Index of His Works] (in German). Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel. ISBN 3-7651-0333-0.
* Layton, Robert (1993) [1965]. Sibelius. (The Master Musicians Series) (4th ed.). New York: Schirmer Books. ISBN 0028713222.
* Classical Music