Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 56: Allegro moderato
Sigismond Thalberg (1812–1871) · sheet music
- Key C minor
- Time 2/4
- Levels 7
- Passages 1
Your turn · both hands
Preparing your passage…
Sigismond Thalberg, Austrian romantic (1812–1871). The reading release has 1 passage from this piece at level 7; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–4 for both hands together.
The hardest stretch is bars 1–4 at level 7.
Your practice path
Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 56: Allegro moderato.
- Hands together · bars 1–4 level 7
How to play Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 56: Allegro moderato
- Tempo:Take the opening at a steady, moderate speed where every sixteenth note is even; the passage sounds serious and controlled rather than flashy.
- Right hand:The right hand starts high, with ledger lines above the staff; learn the shape of the figure as a C minor chord plus a neighbor note so you can read it at a glance.
- Left hand:The left hand plays the same notes as the right hand one octave lower, reaching a low B natural; read it in bass clef as the same pattern, not new material.
- Hands together:Because the hands double each other an octave apart, any unevenness shows at once; practice slowly until both thumbs land on each C together.
- Dynamics:Shape each group of sixteenths with a slight swell toward its highest note, and keep the overall level restrained so later climaxes have room.
- Fingering:Choose one fingering for the figure and mirror it in both hands so the two lines stay locked together.
- Practice:Block each group of sixteenths as a chord first, then play it as written, hands separately and then together, slowly with a metronome.
Common mistakes
- Rushing the sixteenth notes and losing evenness. Fix: Practice with a metronome well below performance speed until every note speaks evenly.
- Forgetting the three flats of C minor, or missing the B natural. Fix: Play the C harmonic minor scale before starting and circle the B natural.
- Misreading the high ledger-line notes at the start. Fix: Name the first and highest notes of each group before playing, using the C above the staff as a landmark.
Structure: sonata (opening of a four-movement work)
Op. 56 is a full four-movement Romantic sonata. The page's single passage is its opening: a sixteenth-note figure that circles through the C minor chord, played by both hands in unison an octave apart as it winds down the keyboard. The sources available here do not analyze the rest of the movement, so the sections below describe only what the opening shows and the work's overall plan.
- Opening · C minor figure
- A restless sixteenth-note figure outlines the C minor chord with a neighbor note, both hands doubling it an octave apart as it descends; read the shape, not the individual notes.
- Movements · Four-movement plan
- The opening movement is followed by three more; together they last about thirty-five minutes, so this page offers only a first glimpse of the work.
About Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 56: Allegro moderato
Sigismond Thalberg (1812-1871) was one of the great virtuoso pianists of the nineteenth century. He studied with Ignaz Moscheles in London and became famous for the so-called three-hand effect, in which a melody sounds in the middle of the keyboard, played by the thumbs, while the other fingers surround it with arpeggios. His rivalry with Liszt peaked in 1837, when both played at a benefit concert in Paris on 31 March.
Next to his dazzling opera fantasias, such as the fantasia on Rossini's Moses, Op. 33, the Grande sonate in C minor is an unusual and ambitious work: it is his only piano sonata. IMSLP dates it to 1844 and lists first editions from about 1845, dedicated to Charles Louis, Duke of Lucca.
The sonata has four movements and lasts nearly thirty-five minutes. A reviewer of a recording found it demanding and very serious in tone, which sets it apart from its composer's showy reputation.
- Thalberg's American tour of 1856-58 took in nearly 80 cities and more than 320 regular concerts in the United States.
- The sonata's dedicatee, Charles Louis, Duke of Lucca and Infante of Spain, employed the pianist Theodor Döhler.
- Thalberg's fantasia on Rossini's Moses became one of the most famous concert pieces of the nineteenth century.
- The Op. 56 sonata appeared from two publishers, Schlesinger in Paris and Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, around 1845.
Why the first passage is level 7
That passage is level 7 rather than 6 because a hand covers more than one position, it reaches 3 ledger lines, it runs fast figuration.
This is a single level 7 passage from the opening: both hands play the same sixteenth-note figure an octave apart, so read it as one shape in two clefs.
Questions about Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 56: Allegro moderato
- How hard is Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 56: Allegro moderato to play?
- Its passages grade from level 7 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 1–4 at level 7.
- Is there an easy part of Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 56: Allegro moderato for beginners?
- Its easiest passage is level 7, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–4 for both hands together, the level-7 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 7 because a hand covers more than one position and it reaches 3 ledger lines.
- What key and time signature is Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 56: Allegro moderato in?
- Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 56: Allegro moderato is in C minor, 3 flats. The engraving on this page is in 2/4 time.
- Who composed Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 56: Allegro moderato?
- Sigismond Thalberg, Austrian romantic (1812–1871). Sigismond Thalberg (1812-1871) was one of the great virtuoso pianists of the nineteenth century.
- Can I practice Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 56: Allegro moderato online for free?
- Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the one graded passage from Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 56: Allegro moderato in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
- Who is the Grande sonate dedicated to?
- To Charles Louis (1799-1883), Duke of Lucca and Infante of Spain, according to IMSLP.
- How long is Thalberg's Op. 56 sonata?
- A review of a recording describes the four-movement work as lasting nearly thirty-five minutes in performance.
- Is Thalberg's sonata in the public domain?
- Yes. Thalberg died in 1871, and the first editions from about 1845 are in the public domain.
Every passage, easiest first
The reading release grades one passage of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:
- Level 7
- bars 1–4 both hands
More pieces to sight-read
Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.