With his grandly conceived Piano Sonata in A, Schubert proved himself a worthy successor to
Beethoven. Schubert composed the work in 1828, a year after Beethoven's death. The opening movement begins with stacked blocks of sound, similar to Beethoven's Hammerklaviersonate. Schubert's melodic gifts, however, do not betray themselves. We hear this in the beautiful Rondo, the last movement. In short,
… the sonata of a young person who still has a whole life ahead of him, one would think. The subsequent Sonata in B-flat (also from 1828) sounds much more like a farewell. At least to us, with the knowledge of Schubert's untimely death. It begins with almost casually hushed music, occasionally interrupted by the subterranean rumble of a low trill. Is it going somewhere? Seemingly not. What follows are endless wanderings, like the musings of an old man who was not and never would be Schubert. Both sonatas are played by Ronald Brautigam on Paul McNulty 2007 fortepiano, based on a circa 1819 historical example by Conrad Graf. (HJ)more
