Piano Sonata No. 1

With its motoric energy and meticulous craftsmanship, Ginastera’s Piano Sonata No. 1 became a rare Latin American recital staple during the late 20th century. Composed in 1952 for the Pittsburgh International Contemporary Music Festival, and premiered by the pianist Johana Harris, the work represents Ginastera’s self-described “subjective nationalist” period. This means that the spirit of his native Argentina still laces the music, but without obvious references to existing folk songs (as in the Danzas Argentinas, Op. 2, also for solo piano). The opening “Allegro marcato” is dominated by an angular, mercurial theme that explores the extremes of the piano’s range over changing meters and dense chords. The music retains its breathless character in the “Presto misterioso”, but with lighter, otherworldly touch. At one climactic passage the pianist is called on to play double octaves spread three octaves apart; in other moments, a mysterious theme is built freely around a 12-tone row. The rhapsodic third movement provides a respite, with sensuous, lyrical melodies and florid figurations. Argentine nationalism fully emerges in the volcanic finale, a frenetic malambo dance that shifts between 6/8 and 3/4 time signatures, driven by potent left-hand octaves.