255. Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata in C minor D958 (1828)

Recording

Title: 6 Moments Musicaux; Piano Sonata in C minor, D958
Performers: Radu Lupu
Year: 1981
Length: 31 minutes

Review

This is the first of the three last Schubert sonatas that we will have on this list. Then it's curtain for Schub. Syphilis is bad. These sonatas are well known for their introspective nature, for that same reason they are sometimes not as accessible as other works by Schubert.

The fact that the sonata takes a little bit of getting used to should not be taken against it, in fact it is nothing if not beautiful, it just doesn't really have a hook to it.

The four movements go through a great variety of emotions, often conflicting but always deeply felt much like in any other Schubert work. So very good, but not as great and perfect as the impromptus.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Sonata in C minor, D. 958

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.

Adagio in A-flat major, 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.

Menuetto: Allegro – Trio. This is a somber movement, 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.

Allegro. This 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.

Sviatoslav Richter: