While the Piano Sonata No. 2 gained instant popularity with the public, critical reception was initially more doubtful. Robert Schumann, among other critics, argued that the work was structurally inferior and that Chopin "could not quite handle sonata form", a criticism that did not withstand time. The work has been recorded by numerous pianists and is regularly programmed in concerts and piano competitions. The "Marche funèbre" exists in countless arrangements and is performed at funerals all over the world (including Chopin's own funeral), having become an archetypal evocation of death.