Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 10/18/2009, uploaded on 10/18/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Franz Schubert composed his final piano sonatas in the last months of his life. Facing the final stages of the illness that claimed his life, Schubert ironically began seeing better fortunes before his death. For much of his life his music was largely neglected by the Viennese public, however a successful concert given on March 6, 1828 began to raise interest in the composer’s work and drew the attention of publishers. It even brought him a brief period of financial security. It was around this time that the last three sonatas were sketched, and they were completed by September. Even as his health began to quickly deteriorate, Schubert attempted to get the sonatas published but was turned down. After his death, his brother Ferdinand sold the autographs to Anton Diabelli, who eventually published the sonatas in 1839. Despite the growing interest in Schubert’s music by this time, the last piano sonatas were unable to garner a following as did the composer’s symphonies and many lieder. They were mostly neglected for roughly the next century, being viewed as too similar to the sonatas of Beethoven and thus lacking in originality and depth. However, opinions began to change in the middle part of 20^th century. Research into the sonatas revealed a deeply personal voice. Since then they have become a standard part of the repertoire.

Owing to their simultaneous genesis, Schubert’s last sonatas are often viewed as a trilogy. Each follows a four-movement design with the same ordering of movements. Yet even beyond this, they share many of the same structural elements. As evidenced by the titles, Schubert clearly intended to publish the three sonatas a set. Some scholars have even suggested musical links that not only span the movements of each single sonata but the entire trilogy, indicating that, whether consciously or subconsciously, Schubert designed the sonatas to complement each other.

The first sonata of the set, often referred to as No. 19, is a dramatic and at times mysterious work in the fateful key of C minor. An intense movement, the opening Allegro is nonetheless a typical sonata form movement, adhering closely to the Classical model. The following Adagio, however, is quite unique. Beginning in A-flat major, the second movement traverses an eerie harmonic landscape, marked by half-step modulations, and reaching the distant keys of G-flat minor and C major. While the other two sonatas possess scherzos for their third movements that of the C minor Sonata is marked as a Menuetto. It is a somewhat somber movement, with a Trio section that passes by in hushed, mysterious tones. The finale adopts a tarantella style with an unrelenting and omniscient galloping rhythm, imbuing the movement with a restless and fiery temper that pervades until the final cadence.      Joseph DuBose

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Franz Schubert’s final three piano sonatas, his last major compositions for the piano, were sketched in the spring of 1828 and completed in September of the same year, only a few months before he died. Like many of Schubert’s piano works, his last sonatas were largely neglected during the 19^th century. They were eventually published about ten years after his death in 1838 or 1839 and dedicated to Robert Schumann, who had praised Schubert’s compositions in his critical writings. Even then, however, they were considered significantly inferior to the sonatas of his great contemporary, Ludwig van Beethoven. It was not until the end of the 20^th century that public and critical opinion had turned in favor of Schubert’s last piano sonatas, which are now prominent pieces in the modern piano repertoire.

The Sonata in C minor is the first of Schubert’s last sonatas. Cast in the traditional sonata form, the first movement begins with dramatic, fortissimo chords over a pedal bass on the tonic C. The first theme is largely motivic, presenting the musical building blocks of the rest of sonata in a quasi-improvisatory manner. Modulating to the customary key of the relative major, E-flat, the lyrical second theme builds on an inversion of a motif from the first theme. After a repetition of the second theme, a change is made to E-flat minor and an agitated sixteenth-note figuration is introduced that will become a prominent figure of the development section. The development, beginning in C minor, is based on a new chromatic melody that occurs first in the bass and reappears in various keys and registers. Preceded by a brief transition period based on the rhythm of the opening chords of the movement, the recapitulation follows a similar plan to the exposition. The second theme returns in the key of the tonic major. This, then, leads to a return of C minor and a coda based on the material of the development.

The Adagio second movement begins with a lyrical tune in A-flat major. The appearance, however, of a plagal cadence in D-flat major toward the end of the theme, which is further emphasized by its own subdominant, G-flat, mildly disturbs the otherwise tranquil theme. The first episode initially seems unsure of its key but then settles into E minor with agitated triplets in the bass. From E minor, it then moves to G minor and leads to a return of the A-flat major melody. This restatement of the opening theme is embellished with the triplet rhythm of the prior episode. When the plagal cadence at the end of the theme is reached, it is reinterpreted and used as a means of modulating into the remote key of A major, thus preparing the transition to the second episode. Beginning first in D minor and then moving to F minor, the second episode also presents a melody against agitated triplets, this time with a greater emphasis on counterpoint than harmonic foundation. The first episode is heard again in the key of F minor before the opening melody makes its final return. Before the conclusion of the movement, Schubert once again sidesteps into the key of A major only to pause and close in the tonic key.

The following Minuet and Trio is relatively straightforward. The Minuet theme, beginning in C minor and ending in E-flat, is built on a motif from the first movement. Towards the end of the Minuet, this theme returns embellished and interrupted every four measures by a bar of silence. The Trio follows a ternary design and is in A-flat major.

In 6/8 meter, the Finale is lively and set in the tarantella style. The exposition is expansive, encompassing two remarkably broad thematic sections. The first theme, beginning in C minor shifting later to C major, gives way eventually to the second theme in D-flat. Though beginning in D-flat major, the second theme proper actually begins in C-sharp minor, its parallel minor. The more traditional key of E-flat major is eventually reached as a new melody closes out the exposition. The development begins in the key of B major and builds on the new melody just mentioned. Gradually, material from the exposition is introduced into the development. The recapitulation mostly follows the scheme of the exposition. The first theme is condensed while the second theme is transposed into the key of B-flat minor. The tonic key is ultimately returned to and a coda based on the tarantella first theme closes the piece.      Joseph DuBose

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.