H235
Easter Sonata in A Major
The Easter Sonata (H235) is Fanny Hensel’s third piano sonata, composed in April-May 1828 with the first movement dated Easter Monday. The work is influenced by Bach’s Passion music and has programmatic elements. Read more about the rediscovery of the sonata here.
The sonata has four movements:
I. Allegro assai moderato
II. Largo e molto espressivo
III. Allegretto
IV. Allegro con strepito
The first movement is in sonata-allegro form in A major, and the influence of Beethoven is apparent. The second movement, in E minor, has allusions to Bach; it is in prelude-and-fugue form and quotes the St. Matthew Passion (Fanny and Felix would have been rehearsing the Passion at the time of composition, one year before the famous revival concerts in 1829). The third movement is a scampering Frühlingslied (spring song), primarily in E major. The finale is a turbulent movement in A minor which depicts the earthquake at the moment of Jesus’s death, followed by an A-major chorale on Bach’s “Christe du Lamm Gottes” (BWV 23).
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HenselPushers edition notes:
The autograph of this work is held at the Morgan Library in New York City.
First version (v1.9) uploaded May 15, 2026.