This work was written in 1913, three years after the publication of Piano Concerto No. 3. By then, Rachmaninoff, who had already completed three piano concertos and two symphonies, had firmly established his late-Romantic style, and this piano sonata was composed in accordance with that style.

Rachmaninoff spent the summer of 1913 in Rome. He stayed in a room that his revered Tchaikovsky had used for a long time, and it was in this room that Piano Sonata No. 2 was completed.

This work consists of three movements, which are performed without interruption. The theme presented at the beginning of the first movement appears as a cyclic theme in the second and third movements, further strengthening the overall unity of the work.

In 1931, Rachmaninoff himself undertook a revision, and the original performance time of 26 minutes was, according to his own words, shortened to 19 minutes through significant cuts, as "Chopin's sonatas are 19 minutes long and express everything in that time." At the same time, sections with many moving voices were revised, changing to a simpler texture.

Incidentally, Horowitz, a close friend of Rachmaninoff, seemed dissatisfied with this revised version. Horowitz created what could be called the "Horowitz version," a further adaptation that merged the 1913 original version with this revised version, and recordings of his performance also exist.

Movements

• First Movement: Allegro agitato, B-flat minor, 4/4 time. Although in sonata form, it develops dramatically without being constrained by the form, through free variations and rich harmonies.
• Second Movement: Lento, E minor, 12/8 time. In ternary form, the cyclic theme unfolds in a slow, fantastical atmosphere, contrasting with the first movement, and quietly concludes with the second theme of the first movement.
• Third Movement: B-flat major, 3/4 time. In sonata form, but, like the first movement, exhibits free development. First, the cyclic theme is brilliantly presented, and after the second theme is elegantly developed, the cyclic theme is recapitulated. The movement concludes brilliantly with a technically embellished coda based on the cyclic theme.