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).

download PDF

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.

Print edition available:

Easter Sonata [Book]

from $25.00

The Easter Sonata is one of Fanny Hensel’s greatest works, believed to be lost, then mistakenly attributed to her brother Felix Mendelssohn, and finally correctly attributed to Hensel in the 21st century. The work is in four movements:

The first movement—Allegro assai moderato—is in sonata-allegro form in A major, and the influence of Beethoven is apparent. The second movement—Largo e molto espressivo—in E minor, in prelude-and-fugue form, and quotes the St. Matthew Passion. The third movement—Allegretto—is a scampering Frühlingslied (spring song), primarily in E major. The finale—Allegro con strepito—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).

This are the same urtext scores you can download for free here, but this layout is slightly different since it is optimized for printing.

This book measures 8.5” x 11” (21.5 × 28 cm) and has 46 pages in total, with the score being 42 pages. It is available in three cover/binding options: 1) glossy cover and coil binding, 2) soft-touch matte cover and saddle stitch binding, or 3) soft-touch matte cover and perfect binding.

These scores are printed on demand when you order, so please allow ~3-4 weeks for printing and shipping.

Ships to: USA, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands. If your country isn’t on this list and you want to order, email me (address at the bottom of the page) and let me know.

Binding & Cover:

Select Binding & Cover Coil/Glossy Saddle Stitch/Matte Perfect/Matte

Add to cart