Frédéric Chopin's Piano Sonata No 2 in B flat minor, Funeral March [HD]

Frédéric Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35, popularly known as The Funeral March, was completed in 1839 at Nohant, near Châteauroux in France. However, the third movement, whence comes the sonata's common nickname, had been composed as early as 1837.

The third movement is structured as a funeral march played with a Lento interlude. While the term "funeral march" is perhaps a fitting description of the 3rd movement, complete with the Lento Interlude in D-flat major, the expression "Chopin's Funeral March" is used commonly to describe only the funeral march proper (in B-flat minor).

The emotive "funeral march" has become well known in popular culture. It was used at the state funerals of John F. Kennedy, Sir Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher and those of Soviet leaders, including Leonid Brezhnev. It was also played in the funeral of the Spanish poet Miguel Hernández and at the graveside during Chopin's own burial at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

The sonata's opening bars allude to Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 32, Op. 111, Beethoven's last. The basic sequence of scherzo, funeral march with trio, and animated, resolving finale, repeats that of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 12 A-flat major; however, Chopin's first movement is written in sonata form while Beethoven's first movement is a set of variations on an original theme. Chopin was known to have admired these two Beethoven sonatas.
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Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._2_(Chopin)

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