Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 12/25/2007, uploaded on 01/12/2009

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Sonata in A Major, D 959                             Franz Schubert

Allegro -- Andantino -- Scherzo: Allegro vivace -- Rondo: Allegretto

The A Major Sonata is the second of the three final piano sonatas Schubert wrote in the extraordinary burst of creativity that marked the last year of his life. These massive works not only stand among the finest of Schubert's oeuvre, but among the best-loved of all literature written for the piano. While Beethoven, Schubert's idol, abandoned formal constraints at the end of his life with his incredibly forward-looking piano sonatas, Schubert stuck with a conventional four-movement form until the end. His own innovation was to stretch that form beyond what any other composer ever imagined possible, using his unique gifts to create pieces that Schumann adored for their "heavenly lengths".

The work begins majestically, and clearly in the vein of Beethoven. Indeed, for a composer renowned for his tunefulness, there is really no melody to speak of at the outset-just a powerful utterance of harmony and rhythm. The contrasting second theme, while lovely, is rather plain, as well. Truly, one of the remarkable features of this sonata is how completely the composer holds his lyricism in check until the final movement, at which point it bursts forth, radiantly. The first movement sustains itself, instead, by its harmonic inventiveness; the composer takes the listener on a vast journey. When it concludes with the opening theme, now rendered gently, it is all the more satisfying for all the places Schubert has taken us.

The second movement begins with a quite austere theme, in f-sharp minor-- which stands in contrast to some of the more wide-ranging and luxurious outpourings the composer offers in the slow movements of his other late works. But we are actually being set up, as it were: the simplicity of the beginning of the movement gives way to what musicologist John Reed calls "the wildest outburst of fantasy Schubert ever committed to paper". The melody of the piece breaks down entirely, and gives way to a ferocious episode unlike anything else in his music; lunatic scales, fierce chords and menacing tremolos dominate. We see Schubert looking death in the face and recoiling from the void. When the main theme of the movement returns, it has taken on a pathos and a depth that were only hinted at in its first enumeration.

The third movement, a bubbly scherzo, offers a welcome reprieve, though there is a brief outburst in the middle to serve as a reminder of the demons that we have witnessed. But it is in the final movement where Schubert gives us what we have been longing for-a song without words of unrivaled loveliness. It is an adaptation of a theme of the slow movement of one of his much earlier sonatas, but by using it at the end of such a dramatic work, he shows a lesson well learned from Beethoven: in order to make the narrative of a work compelling, put at the end of the piece what the listener subconsciously desires from the beginning.   Schubert concludes the sonata triumphantly with music that hearkens back to the very opening of the piece, giving the listener the sense of a return to home.    Jonathan Yates

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Piano Sonata in A major, D. 959      Franz Schubert

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

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.