Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 03/29/2010, uploaded on 03/29/2010

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

I. Allegro, II. Andantino, III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace – Trio: Un poco più lento, IV. Rondo. Allegretto – Presto

The Sonata in A major, D. 959 is the second of Franz Schubert's final three sonatas for the piano that were composed during the last months of his life. Despite their virtues and an overall growing interest in Schubert's music toward the end of 19^th century, his last piano sonatas were mostly neglected until the 20^th century. In large part, they were thought to be too similar and, thus, inferior to the great sonatas of Beethoven. While Schubert did make deliberate references to the works of the composer he so revered, the Sonata in A major and its two siblings display Schubert's unique mature compositional style. Interest in these sonatas grew steadily over the course of the 20^th century and today they are standards in the piano repertoire.

The sonata's first movement is cast in a large sonata form. Rather conventional in its broader structure, the two themes of the exposition appear in the tonic and dominant keys, respectively, and both embody a small ternary form within themselves. The development, however, forgoes the material of the exposition in favor of its own melodic ideas while the harmony wavers between the keys of C major and B major. The recapitulation, prepared by an extended passage in the tonic minor, conforms mainly to the expectations of sonata form. Schubert ends the movement with a striking augmented sixth chord on the flattened supertonic.

The following Andantino is in a large ternary form and moves to the relative minor key. Its principal melody is mournful, making prominent use of the ubiquitous "sigh" motif (falling seconds). The middle section is more improvisatory in character and passes through several jarring modulations. A quasi-recitative section brings about the return of the principal melody though with altered accompaniment.

The Scherzo, back in the tonic key, begins quietly with chords thrown between the hands. The following section, however, places the keys of C major and C-sharp major in close juxtaposition and moves between them with little regard for any modulatory procedures. Set in ternary form, the opening section returns to close out the Scherzo. The Trio moves to D major and, partly mimicking the Scherzo, moves to F major for its middle section.

The Finale, in sonata-rondo form, abounds in lyricism and is predominated by a relentless triplet rhythm. It terms of key structure, it is rather conventional—the second theme appears in the dominant key though its length forces it to wander from its central tonality. The development section ends with a passage in C-sharp minor, prompting a sort of "false" recapitulation in the relative minor somewhat analogous to the false entries that sometimes occur in the final section of a fugue. The recapitulation is then resumed in the "correct" key. Finally, a coda based on fragments of the main theme closes the movement.      Joseph DuBose