The first movement of the B flat minor Sonata is for me something mighty – like a sculpture in rock. It can only be compared perhaps with the first movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. This section of Chopin's work is-to my mind – on a par with the loftiest heights reached by such composers as Beethoven. (Lutoslawski)
Chopin's sonatas occupy an exceptional place in the history of nineteenth-century music, alongside the most magnificent works of Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt and Brahms. Chopin composed four sonatas, given below in the order they were written:
Sonata in C minor, Op. 4 (composed 1827–1828, first published 1851)
Sonata in B flat minor, Op. 35 (Funeral March 1837, whole work 1839, published 1840)
Sonata in B minor, Op. 58 (1844, published 1845)
Sonata in G minor for piano and cello, Op. 65 (1846–1847, published 1847)
