1st mvt - snow-filled woodland, melancholy, the beauty in loneliness. 2nd mvt - church bells, death, reminiscence of childhood days. 3rd mtv - skaters on the lake. 4th mvt - into the beyond.
The shift from c shapr minor to the A major melody in the 2nd movement is sublime. Schubert is really soemthing else, from the depth of despair you are instantly lifted to heavenly bliss.
I appreciate the detailed analysis and comments, but to me it's simple: this is the most beautiful and moving piece of piano music ever written - - - and god knows how I love Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, etc., but there is just a certain "something" about this sonata that bores into my soul and lives there...and has for over 50 years. Cannot be explained.
I understand you 100% I love all the great composers, but there is something so wierd about Schubert. His pieces, the sonatas (or in my case the impromptus and symphonies) are something else.
@Stygian Eons It might be that you are translating the comment to another language and you are missing key points. If that's the case let me help you. He/she is saying that the the concept is simple. The concept is that Schubert makes music so beautiful that it can't be explained. Yes, you might say that because it cannot be easily explained it must be complex, contradicting the first statement. But if you think about it, he/she is referring to the simplicity of his or her personal concept of Schubert's music, not the mechanics behind it. Remember this: concepts are easy, making sense of them and how they work is hard. So regardless of the detailed analysis, the personal subjective concept is that Schubert's music is unexplainably beautiful. And that is the "simplicity" behind it. Hope that helped you.
@Stygian Eons Because understanding the concept of something unexplainable is easy, explaining why that is, is hard. (It's the concept that is referred to as easy not the explanation why) To give an example: "The jurney of a thousand miles begins with one single step" -Lao tsu, the founder of Taoism The message above is very easy to understand the concept. However the implications of it can end up being very deep and complex. Same thing with distinguishing between concept of something unexplainable and the mechanics behind it. But to be honest, I think we are overthinking all of this. It's just a comment on RU-vid. We don't have to give it much thought. 😅
I'd heard it before (not least in several films) but recently have become obsessed with it, accessing the many wonderful interpretations available on RU-vid.
Да, это настоящая уховёрта. Мне кажется, Шуберт сочинял в ходу. Здесь, по-моему, слышна гроза, весна, свежий воздух, походка в горах вблизи Вены (Wienerwald). А тема 4.ого движения напоминает как бы русскую народную песнь.
Thank you for sharing this and also for putting up the score at the same time. I've listened to this work for over 40 years and this is the first time I've done so with the music. It is fascinating. I watched a performance by Schiff the other day and it was the first time I'd heard the 1st time bars before the repeat of the first half. I was bewildered that there was music in this piece that I'd never heard and I couldn't understand why anyone would want to leave it out. With regards to this performance there are few words really. It's marvelous. But looking at the score you realise just how difficult the dynamic juxtapositions can be to achieve on a modern piano where the decay is so much longer than it would be on a wooden framed one of the period. Anyway, what a wonderful we live in where technology makes all of this possible.
There's something about that repeating G-flat trill in the opener; it seems like the world stops and waits for it for just a moment. I like especially its occurrence right before the recap, and then again at the very end of the movement before the final cadences.
Thank you for your remarks, excellent!, everytime I play this wonderful sonata it is as if time stood still, after 40+ minutes you walk away and think: what happened? it's a marvel of time-stopping art, one of those musical wonders that will linger in our memory for ever, at least in mine.
Ashish Kumar, I am grateful and humbled by your harmonic analysis of this miracle of a composition. Thank you for your investment of intelligence in us! Yes, the sweetness of melodic line for which Schubert-and Handel-are beloved, leaves a student of music theory completely slammed when each composer, but most gymnastically Schubert, pulls a four-step modulation through keys that should be surrounded with scary names like “past pluperfect imperative.” But the non-scholar just glides dreamily over these because Schubert’s flawless emotional judgment and Romantic expressive skills make it all sound inevitable. I count Schubert among the six or seven most profoundly gifted composers of Common Practice’s 300 years who leave us thinking they didn’t write works like this for us, but rather we were born to hear it.
You say in the description : "The second movement contains what is perhaps the most famously moving modulation in Schubert’s work, a sudden shift from C# minor to the remote terrain of C major [26:22] " I think that it is a modulation from G# minor. Great thanks for this beautiful rendition.
Schubert is a person that lived fast and died (fortunately or unfortunately) young... but he managed to reach heights and peaks unreachable to most humans and that's why he is UNIQUE among a plethora of so many genius musicians... I wonder did he write down? Or did people notated his music based on his performances? And Imagine they didn't have recording technology back then... Imagine what people felt listening to him perform in a way that would be one not in their lifetime... but in the lifetime of the entire humanity!
In the chapter "They Tell Me It Rained" in An Unquiet Mind there is a scene with "an elegant, moody, and totally charming Englishman", she puts on this song to set the mood. Enjoy :) "When he arrived -- elegant, just in from a formal dinner party, black tie, white silk evening scarf draped, askew, around his neck, a bottle of champagne in his hand -- I put on Schubert's posthumous Piano SOnata in B-flat, D. 960. It's haunting, beautiful eroticism absolutely filled me with emotion and made me weep." (pg 162)
It's amazing the number of pianists who think Schubert and his sonatas are vastly inferior compared to Beethoven or even Haydn. Most pianists/teachers I've met and worked with think Schubert is just an ok composer and won't really play his music. And yet, every vocal professor I've ever worked with adores Schubert lieder.
I think this is because Schubert's songs and his chamber music overshadow his piano output. But at least his three last piano sonatas are masterpieces for sure, I can agree with that.
He is a great piano composer because he was at first a piano for lieder. Composing for piano only, he managed for the absence of singer by composing for 3 piano “voices” rather than only 2. You can hear that in all his late piano works - impromptus, lay 3 sonatas
Schubert composed this 2 months before he died. He knew he was dying and I think for the first time he composed what he really wanted. He composed for himself and not to please others or for $$. Such a tragedy to have lost him so young! I know everyone speaks of Mozart having died young, but Schubert was like 4-5 years younger than Mozart, and not to mention Pergolesi, he was only 26 when he died. I would have loved to have seen the great music they could have accomplished if they had lived into their 60s. Let just for a second imagine if J.S. Bach had died in his 20s or 30s, we would have lost so much!
La hermosura de la Música del divino Franz en este moderado y dulce inicio campestre lleno de contraste interseccionado con sus típicas deliciosas y encantadoras melodías,un regalo exquisito para el oído humano, recordemos que Schubert era Beethoveniano quizá como ningún otro compusitor de su época y se inspira aquí en la misma naturaleza y el campo descaradamente al igual que su ídolo y maestro genio absoluto de Bonn cuya fuente de inspiración principal y suprema como no podía ser de otra manera:LA NATURALEZA,EL COSMOS de ahí al escuchar al divino Ludwig nos evoca las maravillas naturales y su Música suena mucho más imponente que cualquiera,para terminar el genio de Bonn tanto admiraba al genial vienés que exclamó en su lecho delante de su discípulo:"me parece que en este hombre hay una chispa divina"no podía estar más acertado,tan sabías y geniales eran sus obras composiciones como frases, aforismos modelo,por ej:"amo más a un árbol que a un hombre"
I never heard this sonata before but ... Never heard such à lovely composition’ so nice, so gentle, so free in the way of writing small pieces, few notes, in différent harmonies... I am going to study it (try...) but sûre i Will listen this piece more and more times
I usually like Ashish's selections, but I feel this one is a miss. Kovacevich plays with a truly lovely tone, and I can hear his commitment (and not only in the humming, a la Glenn Gould), but I feel he's missed the point. This sounds more like Beethoven; it lacks the overall mood setting that makes Schubert unique. Fatally, Kovacevich's rubato is cloying and a bit precious, garbling the long-breathed melodic line rather than adding momentum. Much prefer the Uchida and Richter versions.
Ashish, are you familiar with Donald Francis Tovey's great essay "Tonality in Schubert," in which he discusses the modulations in the first movt. of D. 960? It's brilliant.
I think there was a piano from the Festival Hall in London that he always liked to use for recordings, I dunno if its the piano or what but often there is a very misty sound
Удивительно: мне действительно больше нравится Ковалевич, несмотря на то, что многие традиционно хвалят Рихтера. Ну просто уже традиция такая, по инерции... Ковалевич!.. Как-то свежо, ни единой ноты пустой, формальной (без интонации). Этот исполнитель разговаривает интонациями, а у Рихтера я слышу только архитектонику и... увы, разочаровываюсь, так как выбор в сторону формы, а не содержания, естественно, не увлекает моё сознание от ноты к ноте вперёд. Для меня идеально такое прочтение, в котором форма непосредственно соткана из содержания - тогда она органически сама выстраивается, без специальных к тому усилий. Ковалевич (простите, не указано имя исполнителя) живёт в каждой ноте, от её начала и до конца, в режиме реального времени - и именно поэтому это так увлекает сознание естественным образом, так как что внутри (у исполнителя) - то и снаружи (у слушателя). Эти законы столь глубоки, что работают как во взаимоотношениях между одним человеком и другим, так и между исполнителем и слушателем. Данного исполнителя слышу первый раз и немного в шоке от масштабов дарования... Мне кажется, что это Гений...
Как же больно, жалко, досадно, что многие кроме Рихтера никого не знают, да и что там греха таить... и не хотят знать (!) Так проще, ведь не надо заставлять себя думать и размышлять, так комфортнее. Большое спасибо автору канала, что выложили это Чудо!
You'll have to take that dispute up with YT, since I'm not the one who puts them there (and, in any case, they are the only reason you get to listen to this free on YT).
I'll let you into a secret. These blasphemous interruptions can be completely quelled by installing an ad-blocker. A free and totally effective one is adguard adblocker. Forgive yourself for having delayed so long. Do you know what bliss is? Listening without ads!
The last 3 sonatas of Schubert are masterpieces in their own right. Comparing to Bethoven or other composers is not the point. They are in the fall mood of last works of Schubert - 1928. They cannot be separated from each other - the first movement of the first sonata D 958 announces everything. Like many piano works of Schubert they come from a Lieder pianist - a dialogue between a voice and a piano hand, the other hand making for the « bassa continua », leading then to the 3 différents voices dialoguing, as well as the Impromptus. These sonatas have also moments very strongly structured - Back like fugues -, ending up in some explosions. Silences and brutal chords are breaking and renewing the music. I am no great musicologist, but again these works are masterpieces in their own right in musical history, no equivalent .
@@pookz3067 That's precisely the problem, Zimerman plays Schubert as if it was Chopin. Zimerman has never been a good Schubertian in my opinion. His playing of this sonata (and the A major, D.959, for that matter) feels very casual. His rubato is mostly out of place and his tone, while still very beautiful when isolated, doesn't seem to work with Schubert. Honestly it's a pretty bland performance.
@@MisterPathetique As a massive Zimerman worshipper I have to sadly agree somewhat. His Chopin, Liszt and Beethoven are otherworldly and often incomparable but his Schubert is a little too tame for such a mentally tortured and wild composer harmonically. It's still an excellent recording though and I think his more reserved style does suit the Impromptus quite nicely. It all depends on the listener's tastes at the end of the day and it's hard to judge what is "good or bad" at this level.
The incredible quality of the Schubert writing here in his late B-flat work; the poignant urgency of transcendence depicted--at least according to my brain,--yes, these qualities remind me of Beethoven's Sonata number 32. And yes, that would be my opinion, as best I can phrase it.
Period? If you mean "Style" you could NOT be more wrong. If you mean, "period" you are even more wrong. He is a Romantic composer. Consult any biographical dictionary or Grove's or any source on composers. He is thoroughly and completely a Romantic composer. A silly discussion, as any 1st year student of music knows this.
Proof that you are a beginner or dilettente is that you seriously say he "was born and Published a majority of his works in the last 10 years of the classical era" as if that has ANY meaning whatsoever. "I would assert," is another clue. Something students say to make themselves sound smarter. Once again, a silly discussion. Beethoven, Chopin, Schubert, Mendelssohn, all had classical "Leanings," as you say (another clue). They were ALL Romantic composers. Your opinions are pointless. Go back to school little girl.
Both Beethoven and Schubert were romantic (even Schubert less). It's true that is tricky, but the both enter in the definition the man against the world (Missa Solemnis, Schubert life). Then, though they were admired beethoven used music for himself (heiligenstadt) just as Schubert. Schubert way of building melodies is completely classical, but, in contrast beethoven's melodies and way of expression is much more evolved not just evoking but even arriving to schumann, chopin or other romantic composers. Beethoven usually remained in the classical formal structure, but Schubert didn't. I think that's enough for proving that they were romantic. Other claims I think that come from mistaking their music and their point of view.
Schubert was NOT "less" of a Romantic than Beethoven. How absurd. Beethoven, who's work is not easily categorized is a Romantic/Classicist but his music rises above mere stylistic labeling. Schubert, more "evolved."? I would like to know where you earned your degree in musicology, the University of Coney Island, perhaps? Their "point of view'?? On what? The weather? Their point of view on sports? Come on.
that may come across but remember Schubert was very poor when it came to idiomatic writing for the piano. This is why his music only came to be played publicly and published 50 years after his death. this work I find too personal and demanding on an average listener. it's very introvert like alot of his works which doesn't always fit your standard concert repertoire material
@@gustavopalma9451 Putting sound and expression to clearly one side, writing piano music without a thought to the performer and understanding its limitations. Akin to a verbal tongue twister.
"Indeed I remember my first agent...Raymond Duck. This DREADFUL little Israelite. Four floors up on the Charing Cross road with never a job at the top of them..."
It is the most shattering experience of a young man's life when one morning he awakes and quite reasonably says to himself, "I will never play the Dane."
bemerkenswert an dieser Sonate finde ich die Vielzahl an Themen und Motiven, die Schubert nach seinen Künsten der Modulation erweitert und die der Sonate ein sehr vielschichtiges Innenleben verleihen, während nach außen vor allem der stille und zurückhaltende gesangliche Klang, der Schubert so typisch ist, dringt, und das Wort von Strawinsky bedarf insofern einer Präzisierung, dass ich mich zwar gleichfalls im Paradies wähne, indessen nichts in der Musik der Somnolenz entdecken kann... ...ansonsten ist es Schuberts letzte Sonate und sein nahes Ende war ihm wohl selbst eher nicht bewusst, indem es ihm zwar ab dem Sommer körperlich sehr schlecht ging ( ...lag wohl daran, dass das bei ihm - wie bei Chopin - nicht die Ausnahme, sondern die Regel war... ), er aber noch für den November Kompositionsunterricht in Fuge und Kontrapunkt bei einem gewissen Simon Sechter nehmen wollte... ...am 19. November des Jahres verstarb er schließlich und die Inschrift auf seinem Grab < der Tod begrub hier einen reichen Besitz, aber noch schönere Hoffnungen > indiziert das Bedauern um das Hinfortgehen Schuberts seiner Freunde und Familie... le p'tit Daniel
I must say I disagree strongly. I don't like Richters performance at all lbut this one is wrong in its own rights. To me it sounds blatantly trying to play like a half-dead almost too weak to press the keys performance, as if he wanted to portray how it might have sounded when Schubert in his last days played it. That's not what a pianist should do, I strongly reject this absurd histrionics.
The first movement is excessively long, and could do with some serious editing/redaction. The piece has beautiful themes, but they are overdone, and I kept looking at the clock, wondering how many more "codas" I would have to endure? Who did Schubert think he was, Beethoven or someone.??? It's a "No" from me.
You know, from a cynical perspective you might well be right. This is a very long work, and it doesn't have the big craggy emotional contours you'd expect to propel it along. But it's always best to try and listen to a piece of music from the inside - to take it on its own terms, so to speak. And if you listen to Schubert like this, you'll probably find that there isn't a single bar that can be cut without ruining the work. You've just got to get used to the fact that Schubert works with far bigger musical arcs, in much more fine gradations of feeling, than other composers.
(1) your comment is a definite "No" from me. (2) You cannot be entirely without good taste because you liked the tunes. (3) There is a story about Mozart who, on being told by the emperor that one of his (Mozart's) operas had too many notes, replied, "on the contrary Your Majesty, not one not too many nor one too few.". (3) Here are some suggestions for future listening: (a) make sure there are no clocks in the room when you listen to music; (b) listen to this piece less frequently than you would if it were shorter; (c) figure out a way to increase your rather limited attention span, (It is possible you know. I've just listened to four versions in full in the last four hours.)
So often, the harmonic daring of great pieces does not strike a non-musically-trained ear; in this great sonata, Schubert uses harmony to such magical effect even the untrained ear can sense something transcendental about it.
Excellent comment. Within the confines of classical structure, Schubert's harmonic voyages and experiments are extraordinary; along with the late masterpieces of Beethoven, these paved the way for Romanticism to start experimenting with form and effects; one of the most interesting and exciting periods in Western music. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CDRNeLzPU2w.html
@@j.grimes4420 there's nothing exceptionally jazzy about it, but the way schubert chooses to rotate through certain harmonies and how he moves back to d minor at the ends of the first couple phrases is quite modern
IMO that e-flat minor at 12:50 is the emotional peak of the entire movement. I personally think that whole section should be played more slowly and quietly.
