Obscure Music Monday: Montgeroult's Piano Sonata No. 9

Hélène de Nervo de Montgeroult (March 2, 1764 - May 20, 1836) was a French pianist, composer, and professor. Born in to an aristocratic family, she studied piano with Jan Ladislav Dussek. She married the Marquis de Montgeroult, and it was her compositions that saved her during The Terror of the French Revolution. She performed one of her works for the Committee of Public Safety (she was imprisoned for being an aristocrat) and they let her go. Her husband died in prison in 1793, and afterward she taught at the Paris Conservatory for two years, and published much of her music.

One of her many lovely works for piano is her Piano Sonata No. 9, Opus 5, No. 3, a piece written in 1811 that straddles both the Classical and Romantic eras very well. While there is a cleanliness and clarity in her writing, there are many moments of lush, innovative writing that point very much toward the Romantic era. The spirited and passionate first movement is constantly in motion as if impatient to share an involved story. As busy as the right hand is with the melody, the left is equally busy and equally important. In the second movement, Andante, the drama of the first movement is no longer present, and there's a stateliness to the main theme, and it feels much more rooted in the Classical era. The final movement, Presto, is passionate much like the first movement with lighter writing, but still just as mesmerizing and impressive!