Sonata minacciosa, Op.53, No. 2

The Sonata Minacciosa is one of Medtner's most powerful and uncompromising piano works. Written as a companion to the lyrical Sonata Romantica, it reflects a darker vision of the modern world. Medtner himself described it as his "most contemporary" work because it captured the threatening atmosphere of the age between the two World Wars. The sonata is cast in a single continuous movement and is among the most concentrated and dramatic of all his sonatas.