Composed in November 1926 at the Leningrad Conservatory and premiered by Shostakovich himself in December of the same year. At that time, Shostakovich showed deep interest in new Western European music and was greatly influenced by Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Hindemith, Krenek, and others. This work is one of the peculiar masterpieces that clearly demonstrate Shostakovich's early modernism and radical stance. However, perhaps due to its overly avant-garde nature, Shostakovich himself later made negative remarks about this work. The numerous compositional techniques, seen only in his early works, are noteworthy. The performance duration is approximately 15 minutes.

The music consists of a single movement, in which two main themes undergo free development. Although it does not adhere to traditional sonata form, there is a quiet middle section played Lento, which is given the role of a slow movement.

The music is non-melodic, and its impression is extremely abstract. Within the powerfully weighty music, which can even be described as violent, a wide array of compositional techniques are incorporated, including dizzyingly active passages, dense textures, chromatic movements, successions of dissonances, frequent use of parallel chords, organ-like sonorities, and cluster effects. This work also reveals Shostakovich's outstanding skill as a pianist. Incidentally, the year after composing this work, Shostakovich participated as a Soviet representative in the First International Chopin Piano Competition, where he was awarded an honorable mention.