Sonata Ecstasie (1917?)

The autograph manuscript Ms. 2268 is housed at the Japan Modern Music Archive. Alongside "Impromptu," "Memories of Kobe," and "Serenade," which Yamada never completed, this piece was completed and supplemented by the promising composer Masanori Enoki in 2022.

Commentary by Masanori Enoki

As the title suggests, this fragment is strongly influenced by Scriabin, whom Yamada deeply admired. Up to measure 57 is Yamada's original, featuring several motifs with distinctive rhythms and melodic shapes. It is presumed that Yamada abandoned its completion due to the extreme difficulty in connecting these elements. However, during the supplementation and completion process, I attempted to structure the entire work in a fantasia-like sonata form. In the autograph manuscript, the tempo is dotted half note = 80. However, this is too fast to be performable and would cause the loss of its lyrical quality, so I decided to slow it down to dotted half note = 60.

Score Information

Kōsaku Yamada: Piano Works Miscellany Vol. 3 "Supplementation and Completion of Unfinished Works" (Muse Press)