Schubert's Final Sonata
Schubert Listening Challenge, week four
Schubert completed his final three piano sonatas (along with the C-Major Quintet, which we heard a couple of weeks ago) in the final months of his life. He was very ill from syphilis, but he had been very ill before, so he did not necessarily know that he was dying. That said, there is a profound melancholy in the first two movements of the B-Flat Major Sonata, D. 960, but also a remarkable tranquility. The opening theme is gorgeous and sounds (as do many of Schubert’s most memorable tunes) like a folk melody. That serenity, however, is interrupted by a soft, low trill on dissonant g-flat, which suggests that all is not well.
The brooding qualities continue through the first two movements, but the mood lightens in the final two charming movements. If you really want a deep dive, watch this amazing lecture-recital by Sir András Schiff on the sonata:
It’s long but totally worth it.
Our recording today is by the late, great Radu Lupu, whom we lost in 2022. There are many wonderful recordings—so many that I had a hard time choosing one—so do explore them. Pollini and Uchida (who we heard last week playing D. 958 and D. 959) are particular favorites of mine.
Links to the PCF Schubert Playlist:
The PCF Schubert Playlist on Apple Music
The PCF Schubert Playlist on Spotify
And here is a link to an excellent four-disc set of Lupu playing Schubert, for purchase at Presto Music.
I’ll be back later this week with the next installment of the Emma Reading Challenge. Join me in Highbury.
Thanks for reading, from my fancy internet typewriter to yours.
Schiff is FUNNY. I love the way he engages the audience. A true teacher-musician.
I've sent this also to my professional pianist friend. Lovely stuff, John!
In this final Sonata, I can hear the music moving further away from the Classical style. I would say Mendelssohn picks up where Schubert left off.
I always had the impression that Schubert died of TB, but in thinking about it, I learned about Schubert from accounts intended for children, which did not specify his illness, and I suppose I concluded it was TB because that was the slow illness that killed so many in the 19th century. Looking now at the insert for my TIME record set of Schubert, it says syphilis was killing him slowly, but typhoid, being opportunistic, accelerated the end. We forget how much antibiotics have done to spare lives that once would have been cut short by such infections.