Silence is the Question

leadingtone:

Shostakovich
Piano Sonata Nº. 2 in B minor, Op. 61
I. Allegretto
II. Largo
III. Moderato 

Emil Gilels, piano

This sonata, in most respects drier and more conventional—but also more acutely expressive—than the First, was written in 1942 while the composer was evacuated from Leningrad due to German invasion. The themes themselves in the first movement, not to mention their tortured, continual development, are rife with nervous tension; but the colorful, languid inner movement is so profoundly introspective as to border on the static at times. The sonata closes with a contrapuntally conceived elaboration of a simple, angular theme. 

Gilels was the foremost proponent of this work, making it a staple of his repertory; but the piano sonatas of Shostakovich and this one in particular are relatively little-heard today.