As we've discussed, Schubert turned to the piano sonata in his final years as a creative challenge. Here he is tackling against Beethoven on his own turf. The piano sonata is one of the genres in which Beethoven reign supreme. His last three Sonatas, especially the opus 109, 110 and 111, series stood out to Schubert and he decided he was going to create his own trip tick a group of three connected and that's his deutsche numbers 958,959 and 960. But Schubert isn't doing things in Beethoven's way. He's not innovating in terms of form. Rather, he is using his own creative strengths. His forms are quite traditional actually. He's using the big four movement structure, with the a short movement in third place and a big rondo structure for the finale. Rather than formal innovations, Schubert trust in the strength of his melodic material, his exquisite harmonic sense and his ability to pace the drama over the long haul. In each of these three Sonatas, he manages to captivate his listeners for over a half an hour with the power of his invention and his ability to pace things like a master storyteller. The difference to the little, A major sonata is apparent right from the very beginning. He greets us not with moderate song and gentility, but rather with trumpets blaring and in the beginning we got a heroic Kordell fanfare. >> [MUSIC] >> And just like Beethoven, he leaves a thread dangling for later. He doesn't resolve that cadence, but he leaves the idea in our minds for the rest of the peace. The peace, the main part of the movement that is, it seems to begin with this arpeggio that follows. >> [MUSIC] >> So between this dangling thread and the broad feeling of the arpeggio, it's as if he's opening up a very wide canvas for the story to take place. >> [MUSIC] >> Notice that left hand part there. >> [MUSIC] >> So we're still actually developing the main trumpet theme. The use of arpeggios is really important in this sonata. Schubert uses them also a lot in the B flat sonata Deutsche 960. They open up a lot of space and they also solidify regions of tonality that's going to be really important because we've got a very long piece that modulates into a lot of different keys and when something arrives, we really need to have it very firmly established what key we're in. Here's a good example from early in the piece, we haven't even effectively done the modulation yet to the dominant, but yet Schubert is exploring chromatic third relations. The chromatic mediant is really important in romantic harmony. In this case, Schubert goes from the key of E Major to C major to A flat major and then back to E major in just a few bars, even before, the proper modulation has taken place. >> [MUSIC] >> As was the case in Beethoven, including chromatic mediants and broadening the harmonic landscape also broadens the canvas. It makes the story much longer and broader and richer. In these kinds of Sonatas that are very long and modulate a lot, transitional materials are very important to set up tonal regions that they're very clear in the listeners, so they know where they are and where they came from. Here's a good example in the first movement, it takes 16 full measures from Schubert to get from the dominant of the dominant, clearly under the dominant. The red carpet is rolled out and then the second theme comes in. >> [MUSIC] >> This second theme once again reveals to us very clearly this great composer for the human voice. But coming back to the theory here, the second theme which is in the dominant he spent all this time setting up the dominant. But then already within the first eight bars, he's already exploring another chromatic mediant and he modulates this time to the key of G. >> [MUSIC] >> Pretty soon Schubert works his way back to the key of E Major. At this point, he could have easily just called it closing material and been done with his exposition. >> [MUSIC] >> But instead he launches out on a very dramatic and modulating passage. It sounds just like a development. And again, he's going to very remote keys. >> [MUSIC] >> As I read this piece, Schubert knows he's dying of syphilis and he has to come to terms with his situation and there's constantly a tension between the serenity and restlessness and here it's already playing out right in the middle of the exposition. We haven't had the development section yet. This is the onset of romanticism. The overall formal boundaries are not so clear cut anymore. You can have development in the middle of the exposition, you can have new themes you can modulate. It's now a much bigger canvas. It's a richer story and it's a lot more difficult for the listener to follow at this point. You're not really sure what part of the piece you're in probably until later when you have more closing material and then, you know, it's been only the exposition, but quite a lot has happened. The code of the first movement is really one of the great moments in Schubert's piano music. At the ripe old age of 31, he's confronting the issues of life and death and at the moment he seems to take a serene view of the situation. It's hard not to be in awe of this music or the composer who created it. >> [MUSIC] >> Did you notice this disturbing intruder [MUSIC] which didn't belong? It's very characteristic in Schubert that he has this tension between something that's serene and calm and happy and something else is a little foreign and he makes this ambiguous kind of emotional response. It's hard to describe. Well, in the second movement he's going to stare at the face of death, head on The second movement plods along slowly. It's easy to recognize here the composer of the great song cycle, Vinto Visa. >> [MUSIC] >> The music works its way down into the depths and then the wind begins to blow and a storm is on its way. >> [MUSIC] >> The storm gets closer and closer and the rafters begin to shake. The tension is almost unbearable. This is one of the most extraordinary moments in Schubert's piano music. >> [MUSIC] >> When the main theme returns it feels fateful, inevitable, really heartbreaking and when the theme comes back he adds the triplet which makes it even more painful. >> [MUSIC] >> The movement ends at the bottom of the piano in the most ghostly dark, depressing and hopeless manner possible. >> [MUSIC] >> The third movement is a much lighter hearted Viennese dance. It brings us some much needed relief after that very dark movement. >> [MUSIC] >> The trio brings back the coral sound, it's a little bit more philosophical than the opening, but not overbearingly so. >> [MUSIC] >> The finale of the pieces an enormous seven part rondo. It tries to pose the answer to all of life's questions. Like the little a major sonata, it's graceful, charming, a celebration of song and dance. It's also full of beautiful decorations. >> [MUSIC] >> Okay, I'm going to play one excerpt from one of the middle sections to give you an idea of the broad pacing and the scale of this movement. It's hard to imagine Beethoven taking his time to such an extent as Schubert does here. >> [MUSIC] >> This brief introduction will give you some idea of the flavor of the piece but it's really awfully difficult to do justice to Schubert's like the novels and music unless you experience the whole thing in real time. Do yourself a favor, go out and listen to this piece. Return to it many times. >> [MUSIC]
