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The Sonatina for the Left Hand is a wonderful example of Dinu Lipatti’s audacity and almost unlimited capabilities at the keyboard. Composed “in a brilliant style on Romanian themes”, in three movements it encapsulates a folk music based on simplicity and filled with expression. Lipatti composed this work at his parent’s country house in Ciolcesti-Fundateanca in 1941. It was an invigorating, Carpathian summer and the occasion was twofold: Mihail Jora, his teacher in Bucharest, was celebrating his 50th birthday, and his godfather Georges Enescu was turning 60. And the reason for composing a work for the left hand was due to the isolated location of his parents’ residence and a lack of music paper — he had to limit himself to writing on one stave of music! In homage of his talented godson Enescu wrote in hope “that [his] homeland would discover in Lipatti a worthy poet capable of giving expression to its infinite nostalgia, its beautiful landscapes and its sorrows...” Ernest Ansermet was filled with unending admiration for this musician who both composed and played the piano with such apparent ease: “He had the precision of a born composer — as soon as he began to write it was not a question of searching but of finding.” (Naxos Music Library) Please take note that the audio AND sheet music ARE NOT mine. Change the quality to a minimum of 480p if the video is blurry. Performance by: Dinu Lipatti ( Original sheet music: (Lipatti,_Dinu) (Salabert, 1953)
