Sonata No. 21 in B-flat Major, Op. Posth

Piano Sonata No. 21 in B-Flat Major, Op. Posth., D. 960: I. Molto moderato

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Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat… | Details | AllMusic

Select a specific search field: See below Quantity available: Sell a similar item Add to favorites Add to Wish List? Sell a similar item Add to favorites Add to Wish List. Schubert composed his three last sonatas in close succession; furthermore, he intended to publish them together as a set, as evident by the sonatas' titles. He has argued that the sonatas complement each other in their different characters, and demonstrated that the entire sonata trilogy is based on the same basic group of intervallic motifs.

In some cases, however, Schubert quotes a theme or passage from an earlier movement with little alteration, inserting it in structurally significant locations, creating an immediately audible allusion. Such explicit connections are related to the cyclic form , one of the musical forms associated with the Romantic period in music. The most manifestly cyclical work of the three sonatas is the Sonata in A major. This unique moment is one of the most explicit, audible cyclic references in the sonata trilogy. Another important cyclic element in the A major Sonata is the subtle similarities and connections that exist between each movement's ending and the following movement's opening; the connection between the opening and ending of the sonata as a whole, is even bolder: Charles Fisk, also a pianist and music scholar, has described another cyclic element in Schubert's last sonatas — a unifying tonal design, which follows a similar, basic dramatic scheme in each of the three works.

According to Fisk, each sonata presents at its very beginning, the generative kernel of a musical conflict from which all the ensuing music will derive. The first movement, beginning and ending in the sonata's home key, confronts this key with a contrasting tonality or tonal stratum. Moreover, the contrasting tonality becomes the main key of the second movement, thus increasing the harmonic tension in the middle of the sonata, while projecting the first movement's tonal design home key — contrasting tonality — home key on the sonata as a whole.

In the first half of each sonata, the musical material in the contrasting tonality is presented in sharp conflict with the material in the home key — in each appearance boldly detached from its surroundings. However, in the third movements and especially in the finales, this contrasting tonal realm is gradually integrated into its environment, bringing a sense of unity and resolution to the tonal conflict which was presented at the beginning of the sonata.

Schubert's last sonatas

Besides the internal references that they often make to earlier passages within them, Schubert's last sonatas contain distinct allusions and resemblances to some of his previous works, mostly earlier piano works, as well as many of his songs. Important similarities also exist between certain passages in the sonatas and works from other genres that were composed in parallel, during the same months in The finale of the A major Sonata, uses as its main theme, a transformation of an earlier theme from the second movement of the Piano Sonata in A minor, D.

Schubert introduced some changes to the original melody, which make it conform better with the sonata's basic motifs, in accordance with the cyclical scheme of the sonata. An important, unique work for solo piano written by Schubert, stands apart from his sonatas, but is closely related to them in its concept and style: The harmonic scheme inherent in each of Schubert's last sonatas, according to Charles Fisk, of a tonal conflict gradually resolved through musical integration, finds its precedent in the Fantasy.

Another composition from the song genre, also mentioned by Fisk and others, as intimately related to the last sonatas, and also depicting a feeling of wandering and homelessness, is the Winterreise A Winter's Journey song cycle. Numerous connections between different songs from the cycle and the sonatas, especially the C minor Sonata, have been mentioned. These allusions to Winterreise retain the alienated, lonely atmosphere of its songs. Several of Schubert's last songs the Schwanengesang collection , composed during the period of the sketching of the last sonatas, also portray a deep sense of alienation, and bear important similarities with specific moments in the sonatas.

Schubert's famous String Quintet was written in September , together with the final versions of the sonatas. The slow movements of the quintet and the B-flat Sonata bear striking similarities in their main sections: Schubert's mature music often manipulates the listener's sense of time and forward movement. Passages creating such an effect appear frequently in the last sonatas, mainly in the first and second movements. Two harmonic devices are employed in the sonatas to create this effect:. Harmonic manipulations of this kind create a sense of standstill, of arrest of time and motion; they often suggest a feeling of detachment, of entering a new dimension, independent of the preceding material, such as the realm of dreams and memories if the preceding material is conceived as reality ; some tonally detached passages may convey a feeling of an alienated, inhospitable environment, an exile if the preceding material is conceived as home.

Schubert's frequent use of similar harmonic, textural and cyclical devices in his settings of poems depicting such emotional states, only strengthens the suggestion of these psychological connotations. Extramusical connotations of this kind have sometimes been used as a basis for the construction of a psychological or biographical narrative, attempting to interpret the musical program behind Schubert's last sonatas. Discrete tonalities or tonal strata, appearing in complete musical segregation from one another at the beginning of each sonata, suggest contrasting psychological states, such as reality and dream, home and exile, etc.

Once these contrasts are resolved at the finale, by intensive musical integration and the gradual transition from one tonality to the next, a sense of reconciliation, of acceptance and homecoming, is invoked.

It is often suggested that the Last Sonata, in B-flat major, is a farewell work in which Schubert faces his own death somewhat analogous to the myths surrounding Mozart's Requiem ; this is usually ascribed to the relaxed, meditative character which dominates the two opening movements. It is well acknowledged that Schubert was a great admirer of Beethoven , and that Beethoven had an immense influence on Schubert's writing, especially on his late works. There are two outstanding examples for this practice in the last piano sonatas:.

Numerous additional, less obvious similarities to works by Beethoven have been frequently mentioned in the literature. In these cases, the question of whether or not Schubert had actually borrowed his ideas from Beethoven is open to musicological debate. Here are some examples:. A striking feature of many of these alleged borrowings from Beethoven is that they retain, in their borrowed state, the same structural position they had in Beethoven's original design — they appear in the same movements, at the same structural points.

However, despite all this evidence in support of Schubert's borrowing from Beethoven, "he evokes the memory of Beethoven and the classical style, but is no docile follower", as Alfred Brendel points out. Schubert relates to Beethoven, he reacts to him, but he follows him hardly at all.

Similarities of motif, texture or formal pattern never obscure Schubert's own voice. Models are concealed, transformed, surpassed". Once Schubert's theme has reached A-flat — the highest note in Beethoven's theme — instead of the original, witty cadence in the tonic, Schubert's theme continues to ascend to higher pitches, culminating fortissimo on another A-flat, an octave higher, tonicized as a downward rushing A-flat major scale. From this A-flat major interlude — an evasion of the opening material's harmonic goal, the main generative thematic material for the entire sonata will arise.

In this way, what had initially appeared to be a mere note-to-note plagiarism of Beethoven has eventually given way to a radically different continuation, one which invokes Schubert's own, idiosyncratic compositional style. But perhaps the best example of Schubert's departure from the style of his idol is the finale of the A major Sonata.

Although starting from themes of equal length, Schubert's movement is much longer than Beethoven's. The added length comes from the episodes within the rondo structure: Charles Rosen , who unraveled this unique borrowing of a Beethovenian structure in Schubert's A major Sonata, has also referred to Schubert's departure from the former's style in this instance: He has, however, considerably loosened what held it together, and stretched its ligaments unmercifully Some of the excitement naturally goes out of these forms when they are so extended, but this is even a condition of the unforced melodic flow of Schubert's music".

Rosen adds, however, that "with the finale of the A major Sonata Schubert produced a work that is unquestionably greater than its model". Schubert's piano sonatas seem to have been mostly neglected during the entire nineteenth century, often dismissed for being too long, lacking in formal coherence, being un-pianistic, etc.

He seems to have been largely disappointed by the sonatas, criticizing their "much greater simplicity of invention" and Schubert's "voluntary renunciation of shining novelty, where he usually sets himself such high standards", and claiming the sonatas "ripple along from page to page as if without end, never in doubt as to how to continue, always musical and singable, interrupted here and there by stirrings of some vehemence which, however, are rapidly stilled". Brahms's attitude towards the last sonatas was different. Brahms found special interest in Schubert's piano sonatas, and expressed his wish to "study them in depth".

In her diary, Clara Schumann mentioned Brahms's playing of the B-flat Sonata, and praised his performance. The negative attitude towards Schubert's piano sonatas persisted well into the twentieth century. Only around the centennial of Schubert's death did these works begin to receive serious attention and critical acclaim, with the writings of Donald Francis Tovey , and the public performances of Artur Schnabel and Eduard Erdmann.

Some late twentieth century scholars have even argued that Schubert's last sonatas should rank together with Beethoven's most mature sonatas. Schubert's last sonatas mark a distinct change of compositional style from his earlier piano sonatas, with several important differences. The typical movement length has increased, due to the use of long, lyrical, fully rounded-off, ternary-form themes, the insertion of development-like passages within expositions, and the lengthening of the development section proper.

Certain features of Schubert's last sonatas have been mentioned as unique among his entire output, or even that of his period. Here one can mention the profound level of cyclic integration especially the cancrizans which "parenthesize" the A major Sonata ; [94] fantasia-like writing with a harmonic daring looking forward to the style of Liszt and even of Schoenberg in the slow movement of the A major Sonata, middle section ; [95] exploitation of the piano's ability to produce overtones , both by use of the sustain pedal in the slow movement of the B-flat Sonata , and without it in the A major Sonata ; [96] and the creation of tonal stasis by oscillating between two contrasting tonalities in the development sections of the opening movements of the A and B-flat major sonatas.

As mentioned above, Schubert's last sonatas have long been historically neglected, dismissed as inferior in style to Beethoven's piano sonatas. However, the negative view has changed during the late twentieth century, and today these works are usually praised for their conveying of an idiosyncratic, personal Schubertian style, indeed quite different from Beethoven's, but holding its own virtues. In this mature style, the Classical perception of harmony and tonality, and the treatment of musical structure, are radically altered, generating a new, distinct type of sonata form.

Schubert's last sonatas are sometimes compared to Mozart 's last symphonies, as unique compositional achievements: Several key issues are routinely raised by musicians and music scholars, when discussing the performance of Schubert's compositions for piano. These discussions also concern the last piano sonatas. For most of these issues, no general agreement has been reached; for example, to what extent should the sustain pedal be used, how to combine triplets with dotted rhythms, whether to allow tempo fluctuations within the course of a single movement, and whether to observe each repeat sign meticulously.

The issue of repeat signs has been debated particularly in the context of the opening movements of the two last sonatas. This has led some musicians to omit the exposition repeat when performing these movements. In the last two sonatas, however, unlike other movements, the first ending of the exposition contains several additional bars of music, leading back to the movement's opening. When performing the movement without the repeat, the music in these bars is totally omitted from the performance, as it does not appear in the second ending.

Furthermore, in the B-flat sonata, these added bars contain strikingly novel material, which does not appear anywhere else in the piece, and is radically different from the second ending. Another performance issue pertains to the choice of tempi , which is of special relevance in Schubert's major instrumental works, particularly in the opening movements. Schubert often notated his opening movements with moderate tempo indications, the extreme case being the Molto moderato of the B-flat piano sonata. The latter movement in particular, has been interpreted in vastly different speeds.

Ever since the famous performances by Sviatoslav Richter , taking the opening movement at an extremely slow pace, similar tempo interpretations for this movement have been frequent. However, the majority of Schubert scholars tend to dismiss such an interpretation, arguing instead for a more flowing pace, a measured allegro. Some Schubert performers tend to play the entire trilogy of the last sonatas in a single recital, thereby stressing their interrelatedness, and suggesting that they form a single, complete cycle.

However, since each of these sonatas is rather long as compared, for instance, with most of Mozart's or Beethoven's sonatas , such a program may prove exhausting to some listeners. One of the solutions to this problem is to shorten the program by omitting repeats, mainly those of the opening movements' expositions however, this practice is highly disputed, as noted above.

The pioneers of the Schubert sonata performance, Schnabel and Erdmann , are known to have played the entire trilogy in one evening; more recently, so did Alfred Brendel , [] Maurizio Pollini , [] Mitsuko Uchida , [] and Paul Lewis. These editions have, however, occasionally received some criticism for the wrong interpretation or notation of Schubert's intentions, on issues such as deciphering the correct pitches from the manuscript, notating tremoli , discriminating between accent and decrescendo markings, and reconstructing missing bars.

The sonatas have been performed and recorded by numerous pianists. Many, especially the devoted Schubert performers, have recorded the entire sonata trilogy and often all of Schubert's sonatas or his entire piano repertoire altogether. Others have sufficed with only one or two of the sonatas.

Of the three sonatas, the last in B-flat is the most famous and most often recorded. The following is an incomplete list of pianists who have made notable commercial recordings of the sonata trilogy, in full or in part:. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Randolph Hokanson playing D.

Allegro vivace con delicatezza. Allegro, ma non troppo. Scherzo allegro vivace con delicatezza. Allegro ma non troppo. Brown, "Drafting the Masterpiece", pp. Brown, "Towards an Edition of the Pianoforte Sonatas", p. A Biography , pp. Schubert's Illnesses and Their Background", pp. Brown, "Drafting the Masterpiece", p. The exact publication year or varies among the sources mentioned. Carlton, Schubert's Working Methods , pp. The Music and the Man , p. A Musical Portrait , pp.

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Cone, "Schubert's Beethoven", p. A Musical Portrait , p. Schubert in "; Ludwig Misch, Beethoven Studies , pp. Hatten, "Schubert The Progressive". An Exchange"; Edward T. Cone, Musical Form and Musical Performance , pp. For a different opinion, see Newbould, Schubert , p. Retrieved 8 June The New York Times. Retrieved 11 May Retrieved 6 March Larry Todd Schirmer, , 97— Essays, Lectures, Interviews, Afterthoughts , au. Alfred Brendel Farrar, Straus and Giroux, , 72— Alfred Brendel Noonday, Brian Newbould Ashgate, Martin's Press, , — Philipp Reclam, German.

Einstein, Alfred , Schubert: A Musical Portrait New York: Fisk, Charles, Returning Cycles: Fisk, Charles, "Schubert Recollects Himself: Jenefer Robinson , — Valentin Koerner, German. Hans Schneider, German. Brian Newbould Ashgate, , — History, Performance Practice, Analysis , ed. Brian Newbould Ashgate , — Cambridge University Press, Kinderman, William, "Schubert's Piano Music: Gibbs Cambridge University Press, , — Critical and Analytical Studies , ed.

Walter Frisch University of Nebraska Press, , 65— A Biography New York: Misch, Ludwig, Beethoven Studies Norman, Montgomery, David, et al. Reed, John, Schubert London: Faber and Faber, Harvard University Press, Brian Newbould Ashgate , 1— Gibbs Cambridge University Press, , 72— Rosen, Charles, Sonata Forms , revised edition Norton, Thoughts about Interpretation and Performance", in Schubert Studies , ed.

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