This is an altogether more confident and developed work than either of the first two sonatas, showing a movement away from the influence of the Liszt school towards a more tonal, modal style. The Russian influence of the first sonatas has gone completely and the Celtic mysticism found in much of Bax's orchestral work of this period is entirely assimilated into this new personal style. The progress of the work, once again premièred by Harriet Cohen (to whom it is dedicated) is much more restless than in any previous piano writing and demonstrates the extensive use of pedal which was so characteristic of Bax's own piano technique. An early draft of ideas for this sonata prompted Cohen to comment on its symphonic form, which led Bax to convert it to a movement of the First Symphony.

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