was disproved in the twentieth
century by means of thematic analysis. Like Schumann, Huneker also senses an
overuse of dissonance, especially in the "working out section," which "is too
short." He does, however, feel that the funeral
march, when isolated, has a much more profound effect than in its normal
sequence. Of the finale, he proclaims that it "is too wonderful for words."
Possibly the most negative review of the sonata is that
from James Hadden. In a direct, matter-of-fact style, the only comment given to
the second piano sonata is as follows:
Of the three sonatas the same thing might be said... The
second, the B flat minor Sonata (Op. 35), appeared in 1840. Schumann said of
this work that Chopin had here "bound together four of his maddest children": a
pregnant remark. The four movements, regarded separately, are admirable, but
taken together they have little thematic or other affinity. The Marche funèbre, which constitutes the third
movement, has been popularized to death, though Schumann found in it "much that
is repulsive." It is really the finest movement in the Sonata.
This quote is taken from The Master Musicians series of the day. The minimal space devoted
to Chopin's three sonatas in a book of over 200 pages is quite staggering.
Comments relating to all three piano sonatas as well as the cello sonata opus
65 total little over twenty lines. The author obviously considered these works
as being of inferior quality and thus felt it unnecessary to devote much
attention to them. This is in stark contrast to various other authors who, even
when expressing their reservations about the second piano sonata, still give
Chopin his due where deserved.
From an analytical point of view, Hugo Leichtentritt,
although not counting Chopin among the "real composers of sonatas," was one of
the first to acknowledge that an analysis of this work showed that one could
"hardly uphold any longer the objection of imperfect structure."
He was possibly the first to read deeper into Chopin's understanding of sonata
structure, and thus come to a different conclusion as to the
