Piano Sonata No. 17 in D Major

Exhilarating, energetic, with an up-and-down notation in the opening movement that resembles yodelling, Schubert’s Piano Sonata, D. 850, stands out for what are often called its "Alpine" qualities. And it was written in just such a setting—in 1825, when the composer and his friend the singer Johann Michael Vogl were on an extended holiday outside Salzburg. The trip included several weeks at Bad Gastein, where Vogl devoted his time to health cures while Schubert wrote—productively and with a new confidence that was inspired partly by his surroundings but also by general improvements in his professional life. The most striking thing about this sonata is its ambition: a long, 40-minute piece, richly textured, sounding almost like a trial run for a symphony. Its four movements start with a breathless “Allegro vivace”, driven forward by galloping triplets, sweeping through remote keys and containing as its second subject that switchback yodelling theme. The triplets continue in a second movement that’s faster than you might expect. And a third movement “Scherzo & trio” prefaces a marchlike “Rondo" finale of gentle good humour.