LDV72

PHILIPPE CASSARD 15 For this ‘First Grand Sonata’ ( sic ), published when he had already composed fifteen previous efforts, Schubert deploys the orchestra in his piano. One must go back to the Wanderer-Fantasie of 1822 to find such power, such a feeling for registration – for example, the simultaneous use of deep bass and high treble. The second movement, a set of variations, quintessentially Viennese in its dancing pulse and luminous C major, foreshadows the Impromptu D935 no.3 of 1828. Particularly remarkable are the third variation, inCminor, with its chords that seem racked with pain by their appoggiaturas, and the last, a long ribbon of repeated chords evoking those of the chorus with tenor solo Nachthelle D892 (Brightness at night), with a quartet of horns resounding afar off in the starry night. The Scherzo, in black and white, is run through with stormy accents, whereas its Trio, by contrast, marks an extraordinary pause, a reverie, with harmonic progressions redolent of Mitteleuropa . The closing Rondo, often compared to the one Mozart wrote for his Sonata K310 in the same key of A minor, is even more elusive, more angst-ridden, traversed by scathing outbursts in which Schubert uses his favourite rhythmic motif, one long note followed by two short. The devastating final accelerando takes its listeners by surprise, leaving us punch-drunk.