Clara Schumann wrote her Piano Sonata in G minor in 1841/42. The work was not performed during the composer's lifetime, however, and remained neglected until it was first published in 1991. Clara Schumann borrowed the Scherzo a few years after writing the piece when she integrated it into Quatre Pièces fugitives Op. 15. Nevertheless, as a whole, the sonata marks an important step in her compositional development between her two other larger-scale works, the Piano Concerto in A minor Op. 7 (1833/34) and the Piano Trio in G minor Op. 17 (1846).