Medtner is a composer who was almost forgotten by the people in the music world. He was born in Russia and studied at the Moscow Music Conservatory. He got the highest honor, the “Golden Medal” when he was graduated from the piano department in the school.

As being a composer and pianist of exceptionally high caliber, all of his compositions involve the piano, including the piano concerto, piano sonata, piano pieces, vocal pieces and chamber music. He is expecially known by his characteristic music- the fairy tales. Although his compositions relied totally on traditional forms, his clever pianistic writing and distinctive harmony and use of rhythm makes his works unique. Rachmaninoff, who had great respect for Medtner as a pianist and composer, said: “ Medtner is too much an individual to bear resemblance to anyone except the Russian composer Medtner.”

The sonata “Reminiscenza” is the first piece in Medtner’s suite for piano entitled “Forgotten Melodies”, Opus38. This sonata was structured in sonata form, and contains a single movement. Because of the highly lyrical and poetic nature of the work, “Reminiscenza”, Medtner stated, was the most favorite all his piano sonatas.

This thesis has a total of five chapters. Chapter one is the introduction. Chapter two contains the life and the music of Medtner. Chapter three and four focus the analysis and the performing practice of the “Reminiscenza”, including the background of this piece, the form, the elements of the melody, the mode, the harmony, and the rhythm. The last chapter is the conclusion of this thesis.