Franz Schubert Piano Sonata No 9 in B, D 575 Andras Schiff, piano I. Allegro ma non troppo (B major) 0:00 II. Andante (E major) 8:42 III. Scherzo: Allegretto – Trio (G major, D Major) 14:04 IV. Allegro giusto (B major) 19:28
Franz Schubert: Piano Sonata in B Major D575: Mvt.I: Allegro ma non troppo 00:00 Mvt.II: Andante 08:04 Mvt.III: Scherzo. Allegretto 13:49 Mvt.IV: Allegro giusto 19:25
Wilhelm Kempff: piano
**************************************** From Wikipedia
The Piano Sonata in B major D 575 by Franz Schubert is a sonata for solo piano, posthumously published as Op. 147. Schubert composed the sonata in August 1817.
The work takes approximately 24 minutes to perform.
Daniel Coren has noted that the first movement of this sonata is the only such movement in Schubert’s sonatas where the recapitulation literally transcribes the exposition.[2]
Franz Schubert: Piano Sonata in B Major D575: Mvt.I: Allegro ma non troppo 00:00 Mvt.II: Andante 08:04 Mvt.III: Scherzo. Allegretto 13:49 Mvt.IV: Allegro giusto 19:25
In this 1976 recording, the late Russian pianist Emil Gilels (1916-1985) is joined by members of the Amadeus Quartet (Norbert Brainin, violin; Peter Schidlof, viola; Martin Lovett, cello; and Rainer Zepperitz, double bass) in a performance of Schubert’s Trout quintet (“Forellenquintett”). This recording is from a cassette I purchased in the mid-70s, issued on the Deutsche Grammophon label, serial number 3300 646. In order to strengthen viewer confidence that the recording they are listening to is in fact the one it is claimed to be, I have created this video exclusively with images of the cassette and cassette cover and notes.
The Sonata in C minor, D. 958 marks the first works of the kind since Beethoven’s death the previous year, and Schubert seems at last to have felt free to challenge the great composer on his own ground. The work was written three months before Schubert’s death and comprises 4 movements.
In the Allegro, the exposition shifts from the tonic to the relative major (E-flat major), touching midway upon its parallel minor (E-flat minor), all in accordance with Classical practice. The development section is highly chromatic, and is texturally and melodically distinct from the exposition.
The recapitulation is once again traditional, staying in the tonic and stressing subdominant tonalities (D-flat, the lowered second degree – in the first theme). The coda returns to the material of the development section, but with stable tonality.
The Adagio is written in A-flat major, and has the A–B–A–B–A form. The unorthodox, chromatic harmonic structure of this movement is generated from a short progression that appears towards the end of the A section, leading to a plagal cadence in the subdominant key (D-flat), chromatically colored with its own minor subdominant chord (G-flat minor). This leads to the haunted atmosphere of the B section, which is full of chromatic modulations and ‘frightening’ sforzandos. In the second appearance of the A and B sections, almost the entire music is shifted a semitone up. The ‘kernel’ progression returns transformed at the end of the movement, with even subtler chromatic coloration and harsher modulations, leading from A-flat minor to C major. Throughout the entire movement, brisk modulations of a rising or falling semitone predominate.
The third movement is a somber one, quite distinct from the typical atmosphere of dance movements. It is relatively conservative in its key scheme, moving to the relative major key and back to the tonic. In the B section, a sequence of hemiolas is interrupted by a dramatic interpolation in A-flat major. The second A section is a transformation of the first, interrupted every four bars by a silent bar, creating a mysterious atmosphere. The trio is in A-flat major, ternary form.
The last movement is written in 6/8 and in tarantella style, and is characterised by a relentless galloping rhythm. It employs the three-key exposition, a recurrent element in Schubert’s style. The first theme shifts from C minor to C major – another Schubertian feature, and contains many allusions to D-flat major, which eventually becomes the key of the second theme. After a series of modulations, the exposition ends in the traditional relative major, E-flat. The development section begins in C-flat with a new theme, derived from the last bars of the exposition. Later on, additional material from the exposition is developed, gradually building up towards a climax. The recapitulation is also written in three keys, this time the second theme in B-flat minor and the closing section in the traditional tonic. The coda begins with a long anticipatory passage which stresses A-flat, the submediant, and then reintroduces the first theme, gradually building up tension towards the fortissimo ending.
!. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Menuetto: Allegro – Trio
IV. Allegro.
Schubert wrote his Overture in E minor in 1819. It was performed in Vienna two years later, but then disappeared from public view until the publication of Schubert’s collected works in 1886. Some Schubertians regard it as a landmark work of unusual power, breaking ground that he would build on in his last two symphonies. Schubert biographer John Reed appears to disagree when he writes that it “lacks any touch of Schubertian charm. The themes are short and symphonic, rather than lyrical.” But the two opinions are reconcilable. The Overture is, in a sense, Schubert doing Beethoven: The short motifs building into longer sequences and the mounting tension and explosive climaxes all show Beethoven’s influence on the 22-year-old Schubert. At the same time, the actual construction of those sequences, with the same motif repeated at progressively higher or lower pitches, harks back to Baroque music. Orchestration: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, and strings.This performance by the Prague Sinfonia, conducted by Christian Benda
Franz Schubert (31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828) was an Austrian composer. He was an extremely prolific composer, so that when he died at age thirty-one he had composed over six hundred secular vocal works (mainly Lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music and a large body of chamber and piano music.
Publication of Schubert’s compositions started during his lifetime, by opus number. After the composer’s death, posthumous opus numbers continued to be assigned to new publications of his work until 1867 (Op. Post. 173).
There are two attempts to publish everything Schubert has composed in a single edition:
From 1884 to 1897 Breitkopf & Härtel published twenty-two series of Franz Schubert’s Werke: Kritisch durchgesehene Gesammtausgabe, known as the “Alte Gesamt-Ausgabe” (AGA, the former complete edition). From 1965 Dover Publications started to reprint this edition, and later it was made available at the IMSLP website.
The Neue Schubert-Ausgabe (NSA), also known as the New Schubert Edition (NSE), is published by Bärenreiter (Kassel). It proposes eighty-three volumes, in eight series. Publication of all volumes has been scheduled to conclude in 2016. Plans for this edition began as early as 1963, with the foundation of the International Schubert Society, headquartered at the University of Tübingen, Germany.
Texts of Schubert’s vocal music can be published without the music, for instance his Lieder (songs) at LiederNet
The following constitutes a complete listing of Schubert’s known works. It is ordered ascendingly according to Deutsch numbers, and attempts to reflect the most current information with regards to Schubert’s catalogue. For reasons of space, this list is divided into two articles. The first article lists Schubert’s compositions from Deutsch entries D 1 – D 500 (all are dated works). The second article lists Schubert’s compositions from Deutsch entries D 501 – D 965B (also dated works), as well as D 966 – D 998 (undated works). The second article also includes the Appendix (Anhang) to the Deutsch catalogue (works listed as “D Anh.”) and a list of works that have yet to receive a Deutsch number (listed as “D deest”). For the second article, see List of compositions by Franz Schubert (D 501–D 998). ******************************************************************************
Amadeus Quartet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Amadeus Quartet
left to right: Martin Lovett, Norbert Brainin, Siegmund Nissel, Peter Schidlof
The Amadeus Quartet was a world famous string quartet founded in 1947 and disbanded in 1987, remarkable for having retained its founding members throughout its long history.
Because of their Jewish origin, the violinists Norbert Brainin (12 March 1923 – 10 April 2005), Siegmund Nissel (3 January 1922 – 21 May 2008) and the viola player Peter Schidlof (9 July 1922 – 16 August 1987) (later violist) were driven out of Vienna after Hitler’s Anschluss of 1938. Brainin and Schidlof met in a British internment camp on the Isle of Man; many Jewish refugees had the misfortune of being confined by the British as “enemy aliens” upon seeking refuge in the UK. Brainin was released after a few months, but Schidlof remained in the camp, where he met Nissel. Finally Schidlof and Nissel were released, and the three of them were able to study with violin teacher Max Rostal, who taught them free of charge. It was through Rostal that they met cellist Martin Lovett, and in 1947 they formed the Brainin Quartet, which was renamed the Amadeus Quartet in 1948.
The group gave its first performance as the Amadeus Quartet at the Wigmore Hall in London on 10 January 1948, underwritten by British composer and conductor Imogen Holst.[1] On 25 January 1983 the Quartet gave a 35th anniversary concert in the same concert hall with a programme which included Beethoven’s String Quartet in C major, op.59 no. 3 (3rd Rasumovsky Quartet). Touring extensively, the Amadeus performed throughout Europe, Canada, the United States, Japan, and South America. Noted for its smooth, sophisticated style, its seamless ensemble playing, and its sensitive interpretation, the quartet made some 200 recordings, among them the complete quartets of Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. For concerts as well as recordings of string quintets (Mozart, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner) and string sextets (Brahms) they regularly invited Cecil Aronowitz as second viola and William Pleeth as second cello. Though they emphasized a standard Classical and Romantic repertory, they also performed works by such 20th-century composers as Béla Bartók and Benjamin Britten who wrote his third quartet expressly for them.
The Amadeus was one of the most celebrated quartets of the 20th century, and its members were awarded numerous honors, including:
The Austrian Cross of Honour for Arts and Sciences.
The quartet disbanded in 1987 upon the death of the violist Peter Schidlof, who was regarded as irreplaceable by the surviving members. Brainin died on 10 April 2005[2] and Nissel on 21 May 2008.[1] Only Lovett survived presently.
Trio Cleonice, the current ensemble in NEC‘s prestigious Professional Piano Trio Training Program directed by Vivian Hornik Weilerstein perform Schubert’s Piano Trio in E Flat Major. Recorded live in Jordan Hall March 14, 2013.
Formed in 2008 at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, the Trio is comprised of violinist Ari Isaacman-Beck, cellist Gwen Krosnick, and pianist Emely Phelps. The group takes its name from the restaurant Cleonice in Ellsworth, ME. Not surprisingly, the players derive perhaps equal pleasure from music, fine dining and cooking. They perform with great joie de vivre. The title of their blog says it all—”Grilled Octopus and the Archduke.”
Franz Schubert Symphony No. 8 in B minor commonly known as the “Unfinished Symphony” (German: Unvollendete), D.759 ***Claudio Abbado conductor in Ferrara 1989 1. Allegro moderato in B minor 2. Andante con moto in E major 14:56 ***Karl Leister solo clarinet 17:17 *****************************************************************************
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Franz Schubert‘s Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D.759 (sometimes renumbered as Symphony No. 7,[1] in accordance with the revised Deutsch catalogue and the Neue Schubert-Ausgabe[2]), commonly known as the “Unfinished Symphony” (German: Unvollendete), is a work that Schubert started in 1822 but left with only two movements—though Schubert lived for another six years. A scherzo, nearly completed in piano score but with only two pages orchestrated, also survives.
Many have theorized that Schubert may have sketched a finale that instead became the big B minor entr’acte from his incidental music to Rosamunde, but all evidence for this is circumstantial.[3] One possible reason for Schubert’s leaving the symphony incomplete is the predominance of the same meter (triple meter). The first movement is in 3/4, the second in 3/8 and the third (an incomplete scherzo) also in 3/4. Three consecutive movements in basically the same meter rarely occur in symphonies, sonatas or chamber works of the most important Viennese composers.
Schubert, Symphony No. 8, third movement, first page, facsimile, 1885, in J. R. von Herbeck’s biography
Schubert’s eighth symphony is sometimes called the first Romantic symphony due to its emphasis on expressive melody, vivid harmony and creative combinations of orchestral tone color despite the architecturally imposing Classical structures of its two completed movements highlighted by the dramatically climactic development section of the first movement based solely on its quietly sinister opening theme.
To this day, musicologists still disagree as to why Schubert failed to complete the symphony. Some have speculated that he stopped work in the middle of the scherzo in the fall of 1822 because he associated it with his initial outbreak of syphilis—or that he was distracted by the inspiration for his Wanderer Fantasy for solo piano, which occupied his time and energy immediately afterward. It could have been a combination of both factors.
Early history
In 1823, the Graz Music Society gave Schubert an honorary diploma. He felt obliged to dedicate a symphony to them in return, and sent his friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner, a leading member of the Society, an orchestral score he had written in 1822 consisting of the two completed movements of the Unfinished plus at least the first two pages of the start of a scherzo. This much is known.
What may never be known, is how much of the symphony Schubert actually wrote, and how much of what he did write he gave to Hüttenbrenner. The following exists:
The first two movements, complete in full score
The first two pages of a scherzo in full score
The rest of the scherzo (except for the missing second strain of the trio) exists in a separate manuscript in short score (not sent to Hüttenbrenner, but found among Schubert’s copious manuscripts after his death and carefully preserved by his devoted schoolteacher brother Ferdinand), but nothing of any fourth movement.[4] A fourth movement finale in the home key (B minor) would have been the norm for any symphony written at that time, but there is no direct evidence that Schubert ever started work on it. It has, however, been surmised that the most extended Entr’acte from Rosamunde (also in B minor, in the same style of the first movement and with the same instrumentation as the symphony) was indeed that fourth movement, which Schubert recycled by inserting it into his Rosamunde incidental music composed in early 1823 just after the Wanderer Fantasy.
The Schubert scholar Brian Newbould, who harmonized, orchestrated and conjecturally completed the piano sketch of the scherzo, believed this to be true; but not all scholars agree. Pages appear to have been torn out after the beginning of the scherzo in the full score sent to Hüttenbrenner, in any event.
That Hüttenbrenner neither had the work performed, nor even let the society know he had the manuscript is curious and has spawned various theories. Was he given an incomplete score by Schubert and was waiting for the rest before saying anything? If so, he waited in vain throughout the six remaining years of Schubert’s life. After Schubert’s premature death in 1828 (of typhus as a complication of syphilis), why didn’t Hüttenbrenner then make the existence of the manuscript known? Do the torn pages suggest he had somehow damaged the piece and managed to lose, or even inadvertently destroy, the last two movements?[5] Was guilt therefore the reason he kept silent about the work’s existence for 37 years after Schubert died? Could personality factors like introvertedness or jealousy have been at play here?
Old age and approaching death seem to have influenced Hüttenbrenner to reveal the work to an important and gracious visitor at long last (in 1865, when he was 76 and had only three more years to live). This was the conductor Johann von Herbeck, who premiered the extant two movements on 17 December 1865 in Vienna, adding the brilliantly busy but expressively lightweight perpetual-motion last movement of Schubert’s 3rd Symphony in D major, as an inadequate finale, expressively quite incompatible with the monumental first two movements of the Unfinished.[original research?] The performance was nevertheless received with great enthusiasm by the audience.[6] The score of those two movements was not published before 1867.
The Unfinished Symphony has been called No. 7 (recently, for example, in the New Schubert Edition) instead of No. 8 as it usually is, since the other work sometimes referred to as Schubert’s 7th (in E major, completed by Felix Weingartner) was also left incomplete but in a different way, with at least fragments of all four of its movements in Schubert’s hand.
The completed portion
The two complete, and completely orchestrated movements, which are all of the symphony as it is performed in the concert repertoire, are:
First movement: Allegro moderato in B minor
It opens in sonata form, softly in the strings, followed by a theme shared by the solo oboe and clarinet. A typically laconic Schubertian transition consists of just four measures for the two horns, effectively modulating to the submediant key of G major (mm. 38-41). The second subject begins with a celebrated lyrical melody in that key, stated first by the celli and then by the violins (sometimes drolly sung to Sigmund Spaeth‘s words as “This is … the sym – phoneee … that Schubert wrote but never fin-ished”) to a gentle syncopated accompaniment. This is interrupted by a dramatic closing group alternating heavy tutti sforzandi interspersed with pauses and developmental variants of the G major melody, ending the exposition.
An important moment in the first movement occurs in measure 109 (and repeats in the recapitulation in measure 327). In these measures, Schubert holds a tonic ‘B’ pedal in the second bassoon and first horn under the dominant F♯ chord, that evokes the end of the development in Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony. Unfortunately, a well-meaning but inexperienced editor removed this dissonance by altering the second bassoon and first horn part. Conductors must check these parts carefully to make sure that the ‘B’ pedal is intact.[7]
Unusual for sonata form, the development section begins with a quiet restatement of the opening theme in the subdominant (E minor) (a tonality usually reserved for near the end of a sonata form movement somewhere in the recap or coda) and rises to a prolonged climax in the same key, starting with a dramatic variant of the first theme in the full orchestra with prominent trombones. The expected relative (D) major of the tonic (B) minor first appears only at the end of that climax, and then again for the second subject of the recap (in place of the expected tonic B major)—instead of much earlier, in the second subject of the exposition, as customary. The flutes and oboes then resume their melodic role at the end of that dramatic outburst, transitioning to the recapitulation.
The recapitulation consists mostly of orthodox sonata-form restatement of the themes, except that Schubert restates the melodious second theme in the mediant D major instead of the usual B major (parallel to the tonic B minor). The dramatic closing section, however, does end in B major, and leads to a coda in the tonic B minor. This recalls the opening theme for still another, final, dramatic reworking to pave the way for the emphatic concluding chords.
Second movement: Andante con moto in E major
The second movement alternates two contrasting themes in sonatina form (sonata form without development, with a quietly dramatic, elegiac, extended coda that could be characterized as a concluding development section). The lyrical first is introduced by the horns, low strings, brass, and high strings playing in counterpoint. The plaintive second, in minor, after four simple unharmonized notes in transition spelling out the tonic chord of the relative C-sharp minor quietly by the first violins, begins in the solo clarinet in C-sharp minor and continues in the solo oboe in C-sharp major in an example of the major-minor juxtapositions that are a hallmark of Schubert’s harmonic language.
A dramatic closing theme in the full orchestra returns to C-sharp minor, but ends in D-flat major (the enharmonic equivalent of C-sharp major). A short transition back to the tonic E major ushers in the recapitulation—notable for how it restates the second theme in the subdominant A minor (instead of the expected tonic parallel E minor) begun by the oboe and continued by the clarinet (vice versa to their roles in the exposition). The coda starts with a new theme that is simply an extension of the two-bar E major cadential figure that opens the movement. This gives way to the laconic triadic first-violin transition motto, which leads to a restatement of the first theme by the woodwinds in distant A-flat major followed by the motto again leading back to the tonic E major for a final extended transformation of the first theme, leading in term to a final extended version of the opening cadential figure that reappears to close.
Third and fourth movements
The fragment of the scherzo intended as the third movement returns to the tonic B minor, with a G major trio. The first thirty measures are preserved in full score, but the entire rest of the scherzo proper (both strains) only in short score. Only the first strain of the trio exists, and that as a mere unadorned, unharmonized single melodic line. The second strain is entirely absent.
After Hüttenbrenner’s release of the two completed movements of the Unfinished to Herbeck, some music historians and scholars took much trouble to “prove” the composition complete even in the truncated two-movement form, and indeed that abbreviated structure alone has captivated the listening public to consider it as one of Schubert’s most cherished compositions. The fact that classical tradition was unlikely to accept that a symphony could end in a different key from the one it began in (with the B minor first movement and the E major finale by default incomplete), and the even more undeniable fact that Schubert had begun a third movement in B minor (of which the score he gave to Hüttenbrenner included precisely 30 bars of fully orchestrated scherzo and 112 succeeding bars in short score), stands against the view that the two completed movements are self-sufficient and can legitimately stand alone by themselves.[8]
Reception
Reviewing the premiere of the symphony in 1865, the music critic Eduard Hanslick wrote:
When, after a few introductory bars, clarinet and oboe sound una voce a sweet melody on top of the quiet murmuring of the strings, any child knows the composer and a half-suppressed exclamation “Schubert” runs hummingly through the hall. He has hardly entered, but it is as if you knew his steps, his very way of opening the door… The whole movement is a sweet stream of melodies, in spite of its vigor and geniality so crystal-clear that you can see every pebble on the bottom. And everywhere the same warmth, the same golden sunshine that makes buds grow! The Andante unfolds itself broadly and [even] more majestically [than the opening Allegro]. Sounds of lament or anger rarely enter this song full of intimate, quiet happiness, clouds of a musical thunderstorm reflecting musical effect rather than dangerous passion… The sonorous beauty of both movements is enchanting. With a few horn passages, an occasional brief clarinet or oboe solo on the simplest, most natural basis of orchestration, Schubert achieves sound effects which no refinement of Wagner‘s instrumentation ever attains. (translated from the original German)
He ended by stressing that the symphony is among Schubert’s most beautiful instrumental works.[6]
00:00 Moment Musical No.1 in C major – Moderato 03:20 Moment Musical No.2 in A-flat major – Andantino 08:58 Moment Musical No.3 in F minor – Allegro moderato 10:36 Moment Musical No.4 in C-sharp minor – Moderato 14:43 Moment Musical No.5 in F minor – Allegro vivace 16:56 Moment Musical No.6 in A-flat major – Allegretto
***Wilhelm Backhaus(1884-1969) Piano
(listen to more classical music at euzicasa: here here hereand many more)
The Sonata in A minor for Arpeggione and Piano, D. 821, was written by Franz Schubert in Vienna in November 1824. The sonata is the only substantial composition for the arpeggione (which was essentially a bowed guitar) which remains extant today. It belongs to the same period as the Death and the Maiden Quartet, when Schubert was suffering from the advanced stages of syphilis and lapsing into increasingly frequent episodes of depression.
History
The piece was probably commissioned by Schubert’s friend Vincenz Schuster, who was a virtuoso of the arpeggione, an instrument which had been invented only the previous year. By the time the sonata was published posthumously in 1871, the enthusiasm for the novelty of the arpeggione had long since vanished, together with the instrument itself.[1]
Today, the piece is heard almost exclusively in transcriptions for cello and piano or viola and piano that were arranged after the posthumous publication, although versions that substitute other instruments, including the double bass, the flute, the euphonium and the clarinet, or the guitar for the piano part are also performed. [1] Transcribers have attempted to address the problems posed by the smaller playing range of these alternative instruments, in comparison with the arpeggione, as well as the attendant modifications in articulation (4 versus 6 strings).
The work has been recorded in the original version by the following musicians:
Alfred Lessing and Jozef De Beenhouwer (2000–2001, Ars Produktion FCD 368 392). Played on a copy by Henning Aschauer of an early 19th-century instrument built either by J. G. Staufer or by Anton Mitteis, at present in the Musical Instrument Collection of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and on the 1824 Conrad Graf pianoforte from the Beethoven House in Bonn.
Gerhart Darmstadt and Egino Klepper (2005, Cavalli Records CCD 242)
Nicolas Deletaille and Paul Badura-Skoda (2006–2007, Fuga Libera FUG529). This recording was made in Firenze (Accademia Bartolomeo Cristofori) on a Benjamen La Brigue arpeggione (2001) and the fortepiano is a Conrad Graf (C. 1820)
Nicolas Deletaille and Alain Roudier
Movements
The work consists of three movements. A typical performance takes just over 20 minutes.
Franz Schubert . Rosamunde, la princesse de Chypre
Hadjout Marengo
Franz Schubert . Rosamunde ,la princesse de Chypre. Complète. 1. The Magic Harp. 2.Entr´act music nr.1 3.Ballet Music 4. entr´act music nr.2 Orchestre Philarmonia Slovanika dirigé par Alberto Lizzio Rosamunde, D 797, est une musique de scène en une ouverture et dix parties (dont quatre chantées) composée par Franz Schubert en 1823 pour la pièce Rosamunde, princesse de Chypre de Helmina von Chézy. La pièce est tombée dans l’oubli mais la musique, en particulier celle de l’ouverture et du troisième entracte, reste une des plus populaires du compositeur et est régulièrement présente au répertoire des grands orchestres.Deux ouvertures sont associées à Rosamunde. Celle actuellement jouée est celle de Die Zauberharfe (« la Harpe enchantée », D 644), la seconde était initialement destinée par Schubert à son opéra Alfonso und Estrella (D 732).Le corps de l’œuvre est écrit pour soprano, chœur et orchestre et comporte dix parties : Entracte n° 1 : Allegro molto moderato en si mineur Musique de ballet n° 1 : Allegro moderato en si mineur, Andante un poco assai en sol majeur Entracte n° 2 : Andante en ré majeur Romance : « Der Vollmond strahlt auf Bergeshöh’n » : Andante con moto en fa mineur Chœur des esprits : « In der Tiefe wohnt das Licht » : Adagio en ré majeur Entracte n° 3 : Andantino en si bémol majeur Mélodies des bergers : Andante, sextuor pour clarinettes, bassons et cors Chœur des bergers : « Hier auf den Fluren » : Allegretto Chœur des chasseurs : « Wie lebt sich’s so fröhlich im Grünen » : Allegro moderato Musique de ballet n° 2 : Andantino en sol majeur L’œuvre fut créée en 1823 au Theater an der Wien.Certains pensent que l’entracte n° 1 pourrait être le finale manquant de la Symphonie inachevée (Mackerras enregistra la symphonie en 1990 avec ce finale hypothétique). Le thème du troisième entracte de Rosamunde a été réutilisé par Schubert dans le Quatuor à cordes n° 13 et dans l’ Impromptu D 935, où il sert de thème à six variations pour piano.L’ouverture fut utilisée par Samuel Goldwyn dans son film Hans Christian Andersen (1952) pour une scène de ballet exécutée par Zizi Jeanmaire.Certains passages se retrouvent dans le chant de Noël Mille cherubini in coro interprété par Luciano Pavarotti au cours de son concert de Noël en 1980.
The second movement is a theme with five variations in E flat major. Although there is some variation in the melody, the primary focus of the variations are on instrumentation and tone color. The first variation features violins and winds. The second variation passes the theme between the low strings and the woodwinds. The third variation is again violins and winds. The fourth variation is in C minor and features some acceleration with the use triplet-sixteenth notes. The fifth variation maintains the triplet-sixteenths, but they move into the background with the melody returning close to its original form as a kind of recapitulation. A coda concludes the movement.
The minuet is in C minor and mainly scored for the tutti and fortissimo. The contrasting Trio in E flat major is more thinly scored winds, violins and pizzicato bass. The melody of the trio is actually a variation of the theme used in the second movement forming a melodic and harmonic (E-flat/C minor) link is made between the inner two movements.
The finale is a galop in fast 2/4 time.
***From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Franz Schubert： Quartettsatz in C-moll, D. 703 The Quartettsatz in C-moll (English: Quartet Movement in C minor), D. 703 was composed by Franz Schubert in December 1820. It is the first movement, of a Twelfth String Quartet which Schubert never completed. In addition to the opening movement, Schubert also composed the first forty bars of a second movement marked Andante. The unfinished quartet is regarded as one of the first products of Schubert’s mature phase of composition.[1][2][3]
Structure
The composition consists of a single sonata form movement marked Allego assai and typical performances last around 10 minutes.
Antonín Dvořák：String Quartet No.14, Op.105 I. Adagio ma non troppo—Allegro appassionato II. Molto vivace III. Lento e molto cantabile IV. Finale. Allegro non tanto
Franz Schubert: Das Forellen Quintett/Trout Quintet D.667 Opus 114 A Major Juhani Lagerspetz, Sini Simonen, Steven Dann, Franz Ortner, Michael Seifried at the 15th Esbjerg International Chamber Music Festival 2013. 25th August at South Denmark‘s Music Academy, SMKS, Esbjerg http://www.eicmf.dk EICMF is unique in Denmark as it invites artists to collaborate in new constellations, form new relationships, establish a foundation for exchange and annually act as a host for an international community of artists.
Schubert / A. Brendel, 1961: Fantasy in C Major, D. 760 (Op. 15) – The Wanderer –
Wanderer-Fantasie(German translationwouldFantasyTraveller)is thepopularname of theOpus15 (D760)in C majorby FranzSchubertwritten inNovember1822.This is aFantasy forpianointhe classical form ofthesonata.There is strongcorrelation between movements, sothis partis interpretedas a process ofsonatawith significantvariations from theclassical form.
Along with the Impromptus, they are among the most frequently played of all Schubert’s piano music, and have been recorded many times. No. 3 in F minor has been arranged by Leopold Godowsky and others.
It has been said that Schubert was deeply influenced in writing these pieces by the Impromptus, Op. 7, of Jan Václav Voříšek (1822).[1][2]
They were published by Leidesdorf in Vienna in 1828, under the title “Six Momens [sic] musicals [sic]”. The correct French forms are now usually used – moments (instead of momens), and musicaux (instead of musicals). The sixth number was published in 1824 in a Christmas album under the title Les plaintes d’un troubadour.[2]
European Journey – The pulse of Europe: Austria Slovenian Philharmonic String Quartet with guests Oliver Dizdarević Škrabar – solo violin Žiga Faganel – violin Irina Kevorkova – violin Maja Rome – viola Gordana Keller Petrej – cello Petar Brčarević – double bass
Slovenian Philharmonic – The Slavko Osterc Hall September 23, 2012
The Symphony No. 4 in C minor, D. 417, commonly called the Tragic (German: Tragische), was composed by Franz Schubert in April 1816.[1] It was completed one year after the Third Symphony, when Schubert was 19 years old. However, the work was premiered only on November 19, 1849, in Leipzig, more than two decades after Schubert’s death.[citation needed]
The title Tragic is Schubert’s own. It was added to the autograph manuscript some time after the work was completed.[1] It is not known exactly why he added the title, but the work is one of only two symphonies (the Unfinished Symphony is the other) which Schubert wrote in a minorkey.
The Allegro con brio, which follows a broad introduction in a form which reminds us of the French Overture in two parts, the first slow and dramatic, the second more lyrical, is remarkable for its charm and the interplay of solo clarinet with syncopated strings, which developed pp from within the bounds of the style of chamber music to the larger sphere of the symphonic form. This is an extremely dramatic movement in sonata form. It owes much, as Michael Trapp points out in the liner notes of Günter Wand’s recording, to the influence of Rossini, whose music was quite popular at the time, particularly evident in the overture-like structure.
A delightful Allegretto in ternary form follows, full of grace and humor.
Then comes a high-spirited Minuet, which, with its accented up-beats, suggests a scherzo and a popular flavor due to this low and popular gesture, and is contrasted by a graceful Ländler-like trio.
The concluding Presto in tarantella rhythm is remarkable for its bold harmonic progressions and for its wealth of dynamic contrast. This movement is in sonata form with a looser conception.
Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) Der Eichwald braust, die Wolken ziehn, Das Mägdlein sitzt an Ufers Grün, Es bricht sich die Welle mit Macht, mit Macht, Und sie seufzt hinaus in die finstre Nacht, Das Auge von Weinen getrübet. “Das Herz ist gestorben, die Welt ist leer, Und weiter gibt sie dem Wunsche nichts mehr, Du Heilige, rufe dein Kind zurück, Ich habe gelebt und geliebet!” Es rinnet der Tränen vergeblicher Lauf, Die Klage, sie wecket die Toten nicht auf; Doch nenne, was tröstet und heilet die rust Nach der süßen Liebe verschwund’ner Lust, Ich, die Himmlische, will’s nicht versagen. “Laß rinnen der Tränen vergeblichen Lauf, Es wecke die Klage den Toten nicht auf! Das süßeste Glück für die trauernde Brust, Nach der schönen Liebe verschwund’ner Lust, Sind der Liebe Schmerzen und Klagen.”
TheEichwaldroars, thedrawclouds, Themaidensitsonthe shoregreen, It breaks downthe shaftwith mightypower, Andshe sighsout into thedark night, The Eye ofwinesdimmed with. “My heart is dead, the world is empty, And again, theyaredesiringnothingmore, Holy one, call back yourchild, Ihave lived and loved! “ Itrinnetthetearsvain course, The lawsuit, theystir notonthe dead; But say, whatcomfortsandhealstherust After thesweet loveverschwund’nerdesire I, theCelestial, do notdenyit. “Letmy tearsvain course, Itcalls to mind thelamentthe deadnoton! The Sweetestluck for thegrievingchest, After thebeautiful loveverschwund’nerdesire Areloveandpaincomplaints.“(translation by Google Translator)
A compilation of some of the more relaxing piano performances I’ve uploaded to YouTube. All pieces of music in this collection are played and recorded by myself. I’ve added in links/starting times for each piece in the collection, for those who wish to browse, or jump to a favourite spot. I have also added links to the original videos.
Wilhelm Walter Friedrich Kempff (25 November 1895 – 23 May 1991) was a Germanpianist and composer. Although his repertoire included Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms, Kempff was particularly well known for his interpretations of the music of Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert, by both of whom he recorded complete sets of their piano sonatas[1][2]. He is considered to have been one of the chief exponents of the Germanic tradition during the 20th century.[3]
Early life
Kempff was born in Jüterbog, Brandenburg, in 1895.[1] He grew up in nearby Potsdam where his father was a royal music director and organist at St. Nicolai Church. His grandfather was also an organist and his brother Georg became director of church music at the University of Erlangen. Kempff studied music at first at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik at the age of nine after receiving lessons from his father at a younger age. Whilst there he studied composition with Robert Kahn and piano with Karl Heinrich Barth[1] (with whom Arthur Rubinstein also studied). In 1914 Kempff moved on to study at the Viktoria gymnasium in Potsdam before returning to Berlin to finish his training.[1]
As a pianist
In 1917, Kempff made his first major recital, consisting of predominantly major works, including Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata and BrahmsVariations on a theme of Paganini.[1] Kempff toured very widely in Europe and much of the rest of the world. Between 1936 and 1979 he performed ten times in Japan (a small Japanese island was named Kenpu-san in his honor)[citation needed]. Kempff made his first London appearance in 1951 and his first in New York in 1964. He gave his last public performance in Paris in 1981, and then retired for health reasons (Parkinson’s Disease). He died in Positano, Italy at the age of 95, five years after his wife, whom he had married in 1926. They were survived by five children.[1]
The pianist Alfred Brendel has written that Kempff “played on impulse… it depended on whether the right breeze, as with an aeolian harp, was blowing. You then would take something home that you never heard elsewhere.” (in Brendel’s book, The Veil of Order). He regards Kempff as the “most rhythmical” of his colleagues. Brendel helped choose the selections for Phillip’s “Great Pianists of the 20th Century” issue of Kempff recordings, and wrote in the notes that Kempff “achieves things that are beyond him” in his “unsurpassable” recording of Liszt’s first Legende, “St. Francis Preaching to the Birds.”
When pianist Artur Schnabel undertook his pioneering complete recording of the Beethoven sonatas in the 1930s, he told EMI that if he didn’t complete the cycle, they should have Kempff complete the remainder – even though the two pianists took noticeably different approaches to the composer (for example, Schnabel preferred extremely fast or slow tempos, while Kempff preferred moderate ones). Later, when Kempff was in Finland, the composer Jean Sibelius asked him to play the slow movement of Beethoven’s 29th Sonata, the Hammerklavier; after Kempff finished, Sibelius told him, “You did not play that as a pianist but rather as a human being.”[4]
Technique
As a performer he stressed lyricism and spontaneity in music, particularly effective in intimate pieces or passages. He always strove for a singing, lyrical quality. He avoided extreme tempos and display for its own sake. He left recordings of most of his repertory, including the complete sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert. He performed to an advanced age, concertizing past his eightieth birthday. His association with the Berlin Philharmonic spanned over sixty years.
As a teacher
From 1924 to 1929, Kempff took over the direction of the Stuttgart College of Music as a successor of Max Pauer. In 1931, he was co-founder of the summer courses at Marmorpalais Potsdam. In 1957, Kempff founded Fondazione Orfeo (today: Kempff Kulturstiftung) in the south-Italian city Positano and held his first Beethoven interpretation masterclass at Casa Orfeo, which Kempff had built especially for this reason. He continued teaching there once a year until 1982. After his death in 1991,Gerhard Oppitz taught the courses from 1992-1994 until John O’Conor took over. Oppitz and O’Conor had both been outstanding participants of Kempff’s masterclasses and were personally closely connected with Wilhelm Kempff.
A lesser-known activity of Kempff was composing. He composed for almost every genre and used his own cadenzas for Beethoven’s Piano Concertos 1-4. His student Idil Biret has recorded a CD of his piano works. His second symphony premiered in 1929 at the Leipzig Gewandhaus by Wilhelm Furtwängler. He also prepared a number of Bach transcriptions, including the Siciliano from the Flute Sonata in E-flat major, that have been recorded by Kempff and others.
Schubert: The Piano Sonatas (complete), (DG 463 766-2 (seven compact disks)) recordings made in 1965, ’67, ’68, ’70.
Autobiogra
Kempff, Wilhelm. Unter dem Zimbelstern: Jugenderinnerungen eines Pianisten [“Under the Cymbal Star: The Development of a Musician” (1951)]. Laaber: Laaber Verlag, 1978.
Brandis Quartet, Thomas Brandis, violin. Peter Brem, violin. Wilfried Strehle, viola. Wolfgang Boettcher, cello. Franz Schubert – String Quartet, in A minor, D 804 “Rosamunde“ I. Allegro ma non troppo II. Andante III. Menuetto, allegro IV. Allegro moderato
The symphony is scored for 1 flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in D, 2 trumpets in D, timpani and strings.
The orchestration, which is balanced between strings and winds, lends itself to small chamber orchestras, as well as larger ensembles. The trumpets are scored particularly high, as in many of Schubert’s early works. Trumpet players will find, in general, the tessitura sitting between a concert D to Concert A for most of the 1st and 4th movements. In the 4th movement, Schubert pushes them up to a high D, in a repeated fashion.
Some careful planning is needed to balance the multiple doublings between horns and trumpets.
The collection was named by its first publisher Tobias Haslinger, presumably wishing to present it as Schubert’s final musical testament to the world.
In the original manuscript in Schubert’s hand, the first 13 songs were copied in a single sitting, on consecutive manuscript pages, and in the standard performance order. Some[who?] claim that the last song, Taubenpost, text by Johann Gabriel Seidl (1804–1875), catalogue number D 965 A, is not part of the cycle as Schubert conceived it. However, it’s not clear that Schubert intended it to be a cycle at all, or if he did, that he completed it before he died. It may have been Tobias Haslinger, Schubert’s publisher, who conceived of it as a cycle, or attempted to finish an incomplete work by adding Taubenpost onto the end. So most people consider Haslinger’s published version ‘the’ version, and that’s how it’s performed today. Taubenpost is considered to be Schubert’s last Lied.
Franz Liszt later transcribed these songs for solo piano.
Schubert also set to music a poem named Schwanengesang by Johann Senn, unrelated to this collection (number D744 in the Deutsch catalogue). ~Taken from Wikipedia
II. Andante poco moto, C major. (4 measures missing after measure 43) 8:06
III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace – Trio: Un poco più lento, A minor 17:13
IV. Rondo: Allegro vivace, A minor 23:58
The first movement is in sonata form though with ambiguity over the material in the development and the beginning of the recapitulation.[1]
The second movement is in variation form. Noted performers of the work in the 19th century included Hans von Bülow, who played the sonata in both Europe and the USA.[2]
Daniel Coren has discussed the nature of the recapitulation in the first movement of this sonata.[3]
Klára Würtz, piano. Franz Schubert – Piano Sonata in A major, D 664, Op. 120 ( summer of 1819): Movements I. Allegro moderato, A major II. Andante, D major III. Allegro, A major
Well regarded among pianists, the “Little” A major sonata is so called to distinguish it from the hefty 1828 sonata in the same key. The manuscript, completed in July 1819, was dedicated to Josephine von Koller of Steyr in Upper Austria, whom he considered to be “very pretty” and “a good pianist.” The lyrical, buoyant, in spots typically poignant nature of this sonata fits the image of a young Schubert in love, living in a summery Austrian countryside, which he also considered to be “unimaginably lovely.”[1]
The A major sonata is straightforward, with a dulcet melodic opening. It was the first of Schubert’s piano sonatas where the sonata form as perfected by his idol, Beethoven, does not seem wrestled with; rather, it is a “joyous breakthrough,” a carefree triumph over strict rules of construction.[2]
The manuscript to this “little” sonata has been lost.[3]
Biography
Early life and education
Schubert was born in Himmelpfortgrund (now a part of Alsergrund), Vienna on January 31, 1797. His father, Franz Theodor Schubert, the son of a Moravianpeasant, was a parishschoolmaster; his mother, Elisabeth Vietz, was the daughter of a Silesian master locksmith, and had also been a housemaid for a Viennese family prior to her marriage. Of Franz Theodor’s fourteen children (one illegitimate child was born in 1783),[1] nine died in infancy; five survived. Their father was a well-known teacher, and his school in Lichtental, a part of Vienna’s9th district, was well attended.[2] He was not a musician of fame or with formal training, but he taught his son some elements of music.[3]
The house in which Schubert was born, today Nussdorfer Strasse 54, in the 9th district of Vienna.
At the age of five, Schubert began receiving regular instruction from his father and a year later was enrolled at his father’s school. His formal musical education also began around the same time. His father continued to teach him the basics of the violin,[3] and his brother Ignaz gave him piano lessons.[4] At 7, Schubert began receiving lessons from Michael Holzer, the local church organist and choirmaster. Holzer’s lessons seem to have mainly consisted of conversations and expressions of admiration[5] and the boy gained more from his acquaintance with a friendly joiner‘s apprentice who used to take him to a neighboring pianoforte warehouse where he had the opportunity to practice on better instruments.[6] He also played the viola in the family string quartet, with brothers Ferdinand and Ignaz on violin and his father on the cello. Schubert wrote many of his early string quartets for this ensemble.[7]
Schubert first came to the attention of Antonio Salieri, then Vienna’s leading musical authority, in 1804, when his vocal talent was recognized.[7] In October 1808, he became a pupil at the Stadtkonvikt (Imperial seminary) through a choir scholarship. At the Stadtkonvikt, Schubert was introduced to theovertures and symphonies of Mozart.[8] His exposure to these pieces and various lighter compositions, combined with his occasional visits to the opera set the foundation for his greater musical knowledge.[9]One important musical influence came from the songs of Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg, who was an importantLied composer of the time, which, his friend Joseph von Spaun reported, he “wanted to modernize”.[10]Schubert’s friendship with Spaun began at the Stadtkonvikt and endured through his lifetime. In those early days, the more well-to-do Spaun furnished the impoverished Schubert with manuscript paper.[9]
Meanwhile, his genius began to show in his compositions. Schubert was occasionally permitted to lead the Stadtkonvikt’s orchestra, and Salieri decided to begin training him privately in musical composition andtheory in these years.[11] It was the first germ of that amateur orchestra for which, in later years, many of his compositions were written. During the remainder of his stay at the Stadtkonvikt he wrote a good deal of chamber music, several songs, some miscellaneous pieces for the pianoforte and, among his more ambitious efforts, a Kyrie (D. 31) and Salve Regina (D. 27), an octet for wind instruments (D. 72/72a, said to commemorate the 1812 death of his mother),[12] a cantata for guitar and male voices (D. 110, in honor of his father’s birthday in 1813), and his first symphony (D. 82).[13]
Teacher at his father’s school
At the end of 1813, he left the Stadtkonvikt, and returned home for studies at the Normalhauptschule to train as a teacher. In 1814, he entered his father’s school as teacher of the youngest students. For over two years, the young man endured the drudgery of the work, which he performed with very indifferent success.[14] There were, however, other interests to compensate. He continued to receive private lessons in composition from Salieri, who did more for Schubert’s musical training than any of his other teachers. Salieri and Schubert would part ways in 1817.[11]
In 1814, Schubert met a young soprano named Therese Grob, the daughter of a local silk manufacturer. Several of his songs (Salve Regina and Tantum Ergo) were composed for her voice, and she also performed in the premiere of his first Mass (D. 105) in September[15] 1814.[14] Schubert intended to marry Grob, but was hindered by the harsh marriage consent law of 1815,[16] which required the ability to show the means to support a family.[17] In November 1816, after failing to gain a position at Laibach, Schubert sent Grob’s brother Heinrich a collection of songs, which were retained by her family into the 20th century.[18]
Schubert’s most prolific year was probably 1815. He composed over 20,000 bars of music, more than half of which was for orchestra, including nine church works, a symphony, and about 140 Lieder.[19] In that year, he was also introduced to Anselm Hüttenbrenner and Franz von Schober, who would become his lifelong friends. Another friend, Johann Mayrhofer, was introduced to him by Spaun in 1814.[20]
Supported by friends
Josef Abel(?) portrait of an anonymous young man with glasses (possibly Schubert)
Significant changes happened in 1816. Schober, a student of good family and some means, invited Schubert to room with him at his mother’s house. The proposal was particularly opportune, for Schubert had just made the unsuccessful application for the post of Kapellmeister at Laibach, and he had also decided not to resume teaching duties at his father’s school. By the end of the year, he became a guest in Schober’s lodgings. For a time, he attempted to increase the household resources by giving music lessons, but they were soon abandoned, and he devoted himself to composition. “I compose every morning, and when one piece is done, I begin another.”[21] During this year, he focused on orchestral and choral works, although he also continued to write Lieder.[22] Much of this work was unpublished, but manuscripts and copies circulated among friends and admirers.[23]
In early 1817, Schober introduced Schubert to Johann Michael Vogl, a prominent baritone twenty years Schubert’s senior. Vogl, for whom Schubert went on to write a great many songs, became one of Schubert’s main proponents in Viennese musical circles. He also met Joseph Hüttenbrenner (brother to Anselm), who also played a role in promoting Schubert’s music.[24] These, and an increasing circle of friends and musicians, became responsible for promoting, collecting, and, after his death, preserving, his work.[25]
In late 1817, Schubert’s father gained a new position at a school in Rossau (not far from Lichtental). Schubert rejoined his father and reluctantly took up teaching duties there. In early 1818, he was rejected for membership in the prestigious Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, something that might have furthered his musical career.[26] However, he began to gain more notice in the press, and the first public performance of a secular work, an overture performed in February 1818, received praise from the press in Vienna and abroad.[27]
Schubert spent the summer of 1818 as music teacher to the family of Count Johann Karl Esterházy at their château in Zseliz (then in Hungary, now in Slovakia). His duties were relatively light (teaching piano and singing to the two daughters, Marie and Karoline), and the pay relatively good. As a result, he happily continued to compose during this time. It may have been at this time that he wrote one of his now world-famous compositions, the Marche militaire No. 1 in D major. On his return from Zseliz, he took up residence with his friend Mayrhofer.[26] The respite at Zseliz led to a succession of compositions for piano duet.[28]
The tight circle of friends that Schubert surrounded himself with was dealt a blow in early 1820. Schubert and four of his friends were arrested by the Austrian secret police, who were suspicious of any type of student gatherings. One of Schubert’s friends, Johann Senn, was put on trial, imprisoned for over a year, and then permanently banned from Vienna. The other four, including Schubert, were “severely reprimanded”, in part for “inveighing against [officials] with insulting and opprobrious language”.[29] While Schubert never saw Senn again, he did set some of his poems, “Selige Welt” and “Schwanengesang”, to music. The incident may have played a role in a falling-out with Mayrhofer, with whom he was living at the time.[30]
Musical maturity
The compositions of 1819 and 1820 show a marked advance in development and maturity of style[31]. The unfinished oratorio “Lazarus” (D. 689) was begun in February; later followed, amid a number of smaller works, by the 23rd Psalm (D. 706), the Gesang der Geister (D. 705/714), the Quartettsatz in C minor (D. 703), and the “Wanderer Fantasy” for piano (D. 760). Of most notable interest is the staging in 1820 of two of Schubert’s operas: Die Zwillingsbrüder (D. 647) appeared at the Theater am Kärntnertoron June 14, and Die Zauberharfe (D. 644) appeared at the Theater an der Wien on August 21.[32]Hitherto, his larger compositions (apart from his masses) had been restricted to the amateur orchestra at the Gundelhof, a society which grew out of the quartet-parties at his home. Now he began to assume a more prominent position, addressing a wider public.[32] Publishers, however, remained distant, withAnton Diabelli hesitantly agreeing to print some of his works on commission.[33] The first seven opus numbers (all songs) appeared on these terms; then the commission ceased, and he began to receive the meager pittances which were all that the great publishing houses ever accorded to him. The situation improved somewhat in March 1821 when Vogl sang “Der Erlkönig” at a concert that was extremely well received.[34] That month, he composed a variation on a waltz by Anton Diabelli (D. 718), being one of the fifty composers who contributed to Vaterländischer Künstlerverein.
The production of the two operas turned Schubert’s attention more firmly than ever in the direction of the stage, where, for a variety of reasons, he was almost completely unsuccessful. In 1822, Alfonso und Estrella was refused, partly owing to its libretto.[35]Fierrabras (D. 796) was rejected in the fall of 1823, but this was largely due to the popularity of Rossini and the Italian operatic style, and the failure of Carl Maria von Weber‘s Euryanthe.[36] Die Verschworenen (D. 787) was prohibited by the censor (apparently on the grounds of its title),[37] and Rosamunde (D. 797) was withdrawn after two nights, owing to the poor quality of the play for which Schubert had written incidental music. Of these works, the two former are written on a scale which would make their performances exceedingly difficult (Fierrabras, for instance, contains over 1,000 pages of manuscript score), but Die Verschworenen is a bright attractive comedy, and Rosamunde contains some of the most charming music that Schubert ever composed. In 1822, he made the acquaintance of both Weber and Beethoven, but little came of it in either case. Beethoven is said to have acknowledged the younger man’s gifts on a few occasions, but some of this is likely legend and in any case he could not have known the real scope of Schubert’s music – especially not the instrumental works – as so little of it was printed or performed in the composer’s lifetime. On his deathbed, Beethoven is said to have looked into some of the younger man’s works and exclaimed, “Truly, the spark of divine genius resides in this Schubert!”[38] but what would have come of it if he had recovered we can never know.
Schubert in 1825 (watercolor by Wilhelm August Rieder)
The Sonata in A minor for Arpeggione and Piano, D. 821, was written by Franz Schubert in Vienna in November 1824. The sonata is the only substantial composition for the arpeggione (which was essentially a bowed guitar) which remains extant today. It belongs to the same period as theDeath and the Maiden Quartet, when Schubert was suffering from the advanced stages of syphilis and lapsing into increasingly frequent episodes of depression.
Along with the Impromptus, they are among the most frequently played of all Schubert’s piano music, and have been recorded many times. No. 3 in F minor has been arranged by Leopold Godowsky and others.
It has been said that Schubert was deeply influenced in writing these pieces by the Impromptus, Op. 7, of Jan Václav Voříšek (1822).[1][2]
They were published by Leidersorf in Vienna in 1828, under the title “Six Momens [sic] musicals [sic]”. The correct French forms are now usually used – moments(instead of momens), and musicaux (instead of musicals). The sixth number was published in 1824 in a Christmas album under the title Les plaintes d’un troubadour.[2]
ClassicalRecords is a Youtube channel where I upload some excellent performances from the LPs in my collection. I’m uploading these LPs because they are either not available on CD, out of print on CD, or just difficult to find.
Austrian composer Franz Schubert (1797-1828) was one of the great composers of the classical era in music that is associated with Vienna, the others being Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. Schubert, who was born in a suburb of Vienna, was the fourth son of a schoolmaster. At age 5, he learned the violin from his father and the piano from an older brother. Because of Schubert’s excellent voice, at age 11 he became one of the Vienna Choir Boys at the Imperial Chapel. By the age of 16, Schubert wrote an opera, a series of quartets, and his Symphony No. 1.
Shortly afterward, he left Vienna’s Imperial Chapel and began teacher training to become a schoolmaster. However, Schubert’s genius lay in musical creativity, and between 1813 and 1818 he had a surge of creativity where he wrote five symphonies, six operas, and 300 “Lieder” songs, a term which is usually used to describe songs composed to a German poem.
While in the midst of all this creative composing, Schubert found teaching in a classroom to be too boring and in 1816 at age 19 he gave up teaching at the schoolhouse of his father and moved to Vienna where he devoted himself to composition, focusing on orchestral and choral works. During this creative activity, Schubert’s health deteriorated. He died at the age of thirty-one after a brief unconfirmed illness.
Rondo in A for Violin and Strings was written in June 1828, and may well have been intended to form a two-movement sonata along the lines of Beethoven’s E minor Sonata.
It is lovingly modeled on the lyrical finale of Beethoven’s sonata: his theme follows a similar harmonic pattern, and even the keyboard layout of its opening bars, with the melody’s initial phrase followed by a more assertive answer in octaves, echoes Beethoven’s.
Schubert mirrors Beethoven’s procedure, too, by transferring the final reprise of the Rondo theme to the sonorous tenor register, with a continuous pattern of semiquavers unfolding above it.
But Schubert’s composition is far from a slavish imitation, and it can more than hold its own against Beethoven’s. Particularly beautiful is the manner in which one of the important subsidiary themes returns towards the end, surmounted by a shimmering pianissimo accompaniment in repeated chords from the primo player.
Rondo in A for Violin and Strings was published in December 1828, less than a month after Schubert died.
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