Sonate-Symphonie
Eduard de Hartog’s Sonate-Symphonie, Op. 21 is a substantial four-movement work for solo piano, shaped by the Romantic expansion of the sonata tradition. Its title suggests breadth and ambition: a classical sonata outline enlarged by dramatic contrast, lyrical writing, and passages of considerable pianistic brilliance.
This Felix Editions publication presents the work in a newly engraved critical edition, prepared for pianists who want a readable, practical score of a rarely encountered nineteenth-century sonata.
About this edition
This edition is designed as a working score for advanced pianists, teachers, students, and researchers. The new engraving gives the music a clearer practical form than a scan or ordinary reprint, with notation set for use at the piano rather than for archival consultation only.
The edition also places the work in context. De Hartog was active in both the Netherlands and France, and his musical background reflects that international orientation. The accompanying editorial material discusses his Amsterdam origins, Parisian studies, later career, and the stylistic breadth that informs the Sonate-Symphonie.
The music
The Sonate-Symphonie follows a four-movement plan: a sonata-form first movement, a Scherzo, a slow movement, and a virtuosic finale. Its design is classical, but its language is Romantic and eclectic. The work shows affinities with Beethoven, Chopin, and Henry Litolff, while retaining a personal mixture of formal clarity, lyrical freedom, and theatrical energy.
The first movement grows from a compact opening motif and moves through freer harmonic and modulatory writing. The Scherzo brings rhythmic drive, parallel thirds and sixths, sforzando accents, and unexpected turns. The slow movement offers a more songlike, ornamented line, while the finale is the most openly brilliant part of the work, with rapid figurations, octave leaps, parallel arpeggios, and an extended prestissimo close.
For the performer, the attraction lies in the combination of structure and display. This is not salon music in miniature, but a large-scale Romantic sonata that asks for stamina, control, clarity of voicing, and a sense of dramatic pacing.
Who is it for?
This edition is intended for advanced pianists looking for substantial Romantic repertoire outside the familiar central works. It will also be useful to teachers and conservatoire students who want a demanding nineteenth-century sonata for study, comparison, or recital exploration.
For collectors and repertoire researchers, the Sonate-Symphonie offers a valuable view of Dutch and French-connected Romantic pianism. It broadens the picture of the nineteenth-century piano sonata by showing how a composer outside the usual canon approached the genre with ambition, technical fluency, and stylistic independence.
Available formats
Available as a Felix Editions score for practical study and performance. PDF download and printed edition details may be added when publication data and ordering links are finalised.