Piano Sonata in D major, D. 850 (Schubert)
Encyclopedia
Franz Schubert
's Piano Sonata No. 17 in D major, D. 850 (Op. 53), known as the Gasteiner, was written during August 1825
whilst the composer was staying in the spa town of Bad Gastein
. A year later, it became only the second of his piano sonatas to be published. The sonata has four movements
:
The work takes approximately 35 minutes to perform.
In the lively first movement, the themes mainly consist of repeated scales and chords. However, the pace and excitement of the movement still places considerable technical demands on the soloist. Also the second theme bears a resemblance to the opening melody of one of the songs Schubert also composed whilst staying in Bad Gastein, Das Heimweh, D. 851. The slower second movement has a brooding main theme combined with a sense of lively animation. Then follows a typical playful scherzo, but the trio section is more stately and serious, contrasting well with the other music. The rondo finale opens in the upper register with a march-like theme. The middle section starts with a lyrical theme that suddenly turns stormy. Like the first movement, the movement presents considerable challenges to the pianist throughout, both technically and interpretively.
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
's Piano Sonata No. 17 in D major, D. 850 (Op. 53), known as the Gasteiner, was written during August 1825
1825 in music
- Events :* First performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in England* François-Adrien Boïeldieu's opera La dame blanche premieres in Paris.*Maria Malibran makes her operatic debut as Rosina in The Barber of Seville....
whilst the composer was staying in the spa town of Bad Gastein
Bad Gastein
Bad Gastein is a spa town in the Austrian state of Salzburg, situated at the northern rim of the Hohe Tauern national park. It has 5,838 inhabitants. The name "Bad" means "spa", reflecting the town's history as a health resort. It is located at the head of the Gastein valley, about 1,000 metres ...
. A year later, it became only the second of his piano sonatas to be published. The sonata has four movements
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
:
- Allegro vivace, D major
- Con moto, A major
- ScherzoScherzoA scherzo is a piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata. The scherzo's precise definition has varied over the years, but it often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or...
: Allegro vivace, D major and trio in G major - RondoRondoRondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also to a character-type that is distinct from the form...
: Allegro moderato, D major
The work takes approximately 35 minutes to perform.
Synopsis
The sonata is noticeably faster in tempo than many other of Schubert's sonatas. Whereas Schubert would regularly restrain an Allegro movement with markings such as moderato or ma non troppo, in this sonata, both the first and third movements are marked with vivace. Even the slower second movement is marked with con moto, meaning with movement.In the lively first movement, the themes mainly consist of repeated scales and chords. However, the pace and excitement of the movement still places considerable technical demands on the soloist. Also the second theme bears a resemblance to the opening melody of one of the songs Schubert also composed whilst staying in Bad Gastein, Das Heimweh, D. 851. The slower second movement has a brooding main theme combined with a sense of lively animation. Then follows a typical playful scherzo, but the trio section is more stately and serious, contrasting well with the other music. The rondo finale opens in the upper register with a march-like theme. The middle section starts with a lyrical theme that suddenly turns stormy. Like the first movement, the movement presents considerable challenges to the pianist throughout, both technically and interpretively.