Highly respected in his day as a scholar, composer and pianist, Walter Niemann fell out of favour after the Second World War. His prolific output for piano, which includes several full–scale sonatas, is mainly romantic and reflective in style, yet with an underlying passion. The Sonata No. 1 is notable for its contrast between impassioned writing and wistful expressiveness, while the heartfelt Sonata No. 2 ‘Nordic’, which features an exquisite and plangent slow movement, is testament to Niemann’s Scandinavian sympathies.