Gaia Sokoli

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Gaia Sokoli is a pianist who became known through a recording with a remarkable story behind it. In May 2020 she was the first to record the Ostersonate under the name of Fanny Hensel, also known as Fanny Mendelssohn. The recording was released in 2021 by Piano Classics on the album Piano Sonatas.

Music and breakthrough

The sonata in A major dates from 1828. The manuscript was found in France in 1970 and bore the signature F. Mendelssohn. It was therefore assumed to be by Felix Mendelssohn, and Éric Heidsieck recorded it in 1972 under his name. In 2010 Angela Mace Christian established that the handwriting was Fanny's own and that the pages had been cut from her composition book. In 2012 the piece was first heard under her name, played by Andrea Lam.

Influence

The sonata depicts the Passion of Christ. The second movement contains a church fugue, and the finale gives musical form to the moment when the veil of the temple is torn. The piece ends with a fantasia on the chorale Christe, du Lamm Gottes. With her recording, the work was for the first time placed under the name of its own composer.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 2021Piano Sonatas