Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828) was an Austrian
composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras.
Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a vast
oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works
(mainly Lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred
music, operas, incidental music, and a large body of
piano and chamber music. His major works include the
art songs "Erlkönig", "Gretchen am Spinnrade", and
"Ave Maria"; the Trout Quintet; the Symphony No. 8 in B
minor (Unfinished); the ...(+)
Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828) was an Austrian
composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras.
Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a vast
oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works
(mainly Lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred
music, operas, incidental music, and a large body of
piano and chamber music. His major works include the
art songs "Erlkönig", "Gretchen am Spinnrade", and
"Ave Maria"; the Trout Quintet; the Symphony No. 8 in B
minor (Unfinished); the Symphony No. 9 in C major
(Great); the String Quartet No. 14 in D minor (Death
and the Maiden); the String Quintet in C major; the
Impromptus for solo piano; the last three piano
sonatas; the Fantasia in F minor for piano four hands;
the opera Fierrabras; the incidental music to the play
Rosamunde; and the song cycles Die schöne Müllerin,
Winterreise and Schwanengesang.
Franz Schubert's last three piano sonatas, D.958, 959
and 960, are his last major compositions for solo
piano. They were written during the last months of his
life, between the spring and autumn of 1828, but were
not published until about ten years after his death, in
1838–39. Like the rest of Schubert's piano sonatas,
they were mostly neglected in the 19th century. By the
late 20th century, however, public and critical opinion
had changed, and these sonatas are now considered among
the most important of the composer's mature
masterpieces. They are part of the core piano
repertoire, appearing regularly on concert programs and
recordings.
One of the reasons for the long period of neglect of
Schubert's piano sonatas seems to be their dismissal as
structurally and dramatically inferior to the sonatas
of Beethoven. In fact, the last sonatas contain
distinct allusions and similarities to works by
Beethoven, a composer Schubert venerated. Nevertheless,
musicological analysis has shown that they maintain a
mature, individual style. The last sonatas are now
praised for that mature style, manifested in unique
features such as a cyclical formal and tonal design,
chamber music textures, and a rare depth of emotional
expression.
Each one of the three sonatas is cyclically
intraconnected by diverse structural, harmonic and
melodic elements tying together all movements, as well
as interconnecting all three sonatas together.
Consequently, they are often regarded as a trilogy.
They also contain specific allusions and similarities
to other Schubert compositions, such as his Winterreise
song cycle; these connections point to turbulent
emotions expressed in the sonatas, often understood as
highly personal and autobiographical. Indeed, some
researchers have suggested specific psychological
narratives for the sonatas, based on historical
evidence concerning the composer's life.
The lyrical Rondo movement (Mvt. 4) consists of flowing
triplet movement and endless songful melody. Its form
is a sonata-rondo
(A–B–A–development–A–B–A–coda). The
rondo's main and opening theme is taken from the slow
movement of the sonata D. 537 of 1817. Charles Fisk has
pointed out that this theme would make musical sense as
a response subsequent to the questioning leading tone
that closes the Allegro's opening fanfare; in this
capacity the Rondo's lyricism is the dramatically
delayed final goal of the sonata. The second thematic
group is written in the traditional dominant key;
however, it is very long, modulating through many
different subdominant tonalities. The development
section, in contrast, culminates in a long passage in
C♯ minor with a climax characterized by a
tension-building ambiguity between E major and C♯
minor and a greatly prolonged evasion of a cadence.
This leads to a false recapitulation in F♯ major,
which then modulates to begin again in the home key. In
the coda, the main theme returns fragmented, with full
bar pauses, which lead each time to unexpected changes
of key. This is followed by an agitated Presto section,
based on the final bars of the main theme, and the
sonata concludes with a bold evocation of its very
opening measures, with an ascending arpeggio
(essentially an inversion of the descending figure from
the Allegro's second phrase), followed by a fortissimo
full statement of the opening fanfare in
retrograde..
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schubert%27s_last_sonata
s).
Although originally composed for Solo Piano, I created
this Arrangement of the Rondo from Sonata in A Major
(D.959 Mvt. 4) for String Quartet (2 Violins, Viola &
Cello).
SHEET MUSIC