Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013)

Piano Sonata, op. 1 (1947/48)

Pianist : Emil Reinert

"Choral et variations" is the 3rd movement of Dutilleux's piano sonata, op. 1.
It was dedicated to and premièred by his wife Geneviève Joy on 30 April 1948. It has since become one of the most acclaimed post-World War II works in the genre and has been championed by major pianists such as John Ogdon, Robert Levin, John Chen and Emil Reinert.

Although Dutilleux had been active as a composer for ten years when he wrote his piano sonata, he viewed it as his Opus 1, the first work that he considered up to his mature standards.

Debussy, Ravel, Bartók and Prokofiev have been cited as influences on the piece although critics have also stressed that its language is original and distinctive, a personal synthesis of French Impressionism and Soviet music.