Piano Sonata No. 21 in B‑Flat Major

When Franz Schubert began work on his last three piano sonatas (Nos. 19-21) in the spring of 1828, he apparently had everything to live for. An unprecedented all-Schubert concert in Vienna on 26 March had proved so successful he had been able to pay off his outstanding debts and buy a new piano. Sadly, it was a case of too little too late. On 26 September, shortly before fatally contracting typhoid fever, Schubert signed off the manuscripts of the sonatas and performed all three at a social gathering the following day. He passed away on 19 November. The timeless phrases of his Piano Sonata No. 21 D. 960 (1828), his final work in sonata form, is characterised by a bittersweet contentment, remarkable for a dying man of 31. Yet occasionally one senses disturbing undercurrents, as on the opening movement’s blissfully serene main theme, which is twice briefly interrupted by ominous low trills. The A-B-A form Andante sostenuto alternates between gentle despair and dreamlike meditation, before the "Scherzo"’s fleet-fingered, darting gestures evoke a carefree world light-years away from anything else in the sonata. The finale’s opening unison returns at various points, creating the sensation of a musical intake of breath before the music resumes its gentle onward flow. The final coda has an unexpectedly confident ring about it, as if Schubert had resolved to face his destiny with renewed optimism.