Franz Schubert's last three piano sonatas, D 958, 959 and 960, are his last major compositions for solo piano. They were written during the last months of his life, between the spring and autumn of 1828, but were not published until about ten years after his death, in 1838–39. Like the rest of Schubert's piano sonatas, they were mostly neglected in the 19th century. By the late 20th century, however, public and critical opinion had changed, and these sonatas are now considered among the most important of the composer's mature masterpieces. They are part of the core piano repertoire, appearing regularly on concert programs and recordings.

One of the reasons for the long period of neglect of Schubert's piano sonatas seems to be their dismissal as structurally and dramatically inferior to the sonatas of Beethoven. In fact, the last sonatas contain distinct allusions and similarities to works by Beethoven, a composer Schubert venerated. Nevertheless, musicological analysis has shown that they maintain a mature, individual style. The last sonatas are now praised for that mature style, manifested in unique features such as a cyclical formal and tonal design, chamber music textures, and a rare depth of emotional expression.

Each one of the three sonatas is cyclically intraconnected by diverse structural, harmonic and melodic elements tying together all movements, as well as interconnecting all three sonatas together. Consequently, they are often regarded as a trilogy. They also contain specific allusions and similarities to other Schubert compositions, such as his Winterreise song cycle; these connections point to turbulent emotions expressed in the sonatas, often understood as highly personal and autobiographical. Indeed, some researchers have suggested specific psychological narratives for the sonatas, based on historical evidence concerning the composer's life.

Historical background

The last year of Schubert's life was marked by growing public acclaim for the composer's works, but also by the gradual deterioration of his health. On March 26, 1828, together with other musicians in Vienna, Schubert gave a public concert of his own works, which was a great success and earned him a considerable profit. In addition, two new German publishers took an interest in his works, leading to a short period of financial well-being. However, by the time the summer months arrived, Schubert was again short of money and had to cancel some journeys he had previously planned.

Schubert had been struggling with syphilis since 1822–23, and suffered from weakness, headaches and dizziness. However, he seems to have led a relatively normal life until September 1828, when new symptoms such as effusions of blood appeared. At this stage he moved from the Vienna home of his friend Franz von Schober to his brother Ferdinand's house in the suburbs, following the advice of his doctor; unfortunately, this may have actually worsened his condition. However, up until the last weeks of his life in November 1828, he continued to compose an extraordinary amount of music, including such masterpieces as the three last sonatas.

Schubert probably began sketching the sonatas sometime around the spring months of 1828; the final versions were written in September. These months also saw the appearance of the Three Piano Pieces, D. 946, the Mass in E♭ major, D. 950, the String Quintet, D. 956, and the songs published posthumously as the Schwanengesang collection (D. 957 and D. 965A), among others.The final sonata was completed on September 26, and two days later, Schubert played from the sonata trilogy at an evening gathering in Vienna. In a letter to Probst (one of his publishers), dated October 2, 1828, Schubert mentioned the sonatas amongst other works he had recently completed and wished to publish. However, Probst was not interested in the sonatas, and by November 19, Schubert was dead.

In the following year, Schubert's brother Ferdinand sold the sonatas' autographs to another publisher, Anton Diabelli, who would only publish them about ten years later, in 1838 or 1839. Schubert had intended the sonatas to be dedicated to Johann Nepomuk Hummel, whom he greatly admired. Hummel was a leading pianist, a pupil of Mozart, and a pioneering composer of the Romantic style (like Schubert himself). However, by the time the sonatas were published in 1839, Hummel was dead, and Diabelli, the new publisher, decided to dedicate them instead to composer Robert Schumann, who had praised many of Schubert's works in his critical writings.

Structure

Schubert's three last sonatas have many structural features in common. D. 958 can be considered the odd one of the group, with several differences from the remarkably similar structure of D. 959 and D. 960. First, it is in a minor key, and this is the primary departure that determines its other differences from its companions. Accordingly, the major/minor scheme is alternated, with main material being minor, and digressions and the slow movement set in the major. Its opening Allegro is considerably more concise than those of the other two sonatas and does not make use of the expansive time-dilating modulatory quasi-development passages that so strongly characterize the other two opening movements. Furthermore, its slow movement follows an ABABA form instead of the ABA form of the other two sonatas. Its third movement, instead of a scherzo, is a slightly less lively, more subdued minuet. Finally, the finale is in a sonata form rather than rondo-sonata form.

However, these differences are relative and are significant only in comparison to the extreme similarity of D. 959 and D. 960. Those two are similar to the extent that they can be considered variations on an identical compositional template, having no major structural differences.

All three sonatas, most importantly, share a common dramatic arc and make considerable and identical use of cyclic motives and tonal relationships to weave musical-narrative ideas through the work. Each sonata consists of four movements, in the following order:

1. The first movement is in moderate or fast tempo and in sonata form. The exposition consists of two or three thematic and tonal areas and, as common in the Classical style, moves from tonic to dominant (in major-mode works) or to the relative major (in minor mode works). However, as often with Schubert, the harmonic scheme of the exposition involves additional, intermediate tonalities, which may be quite remote from the tonic-dominant axis and sometimes imbue certain expository passages with the character of a development section. The main themes of the exposition are often in ternary form, with their middle section digressing to a different tonality. The themes generally do not form symmetrical periods, and irregular phrase lengths are prominent. The exposition ends with a repeat sign.

   The development section opens with an abrupt turn into a new tonal area. A new theme, based on a melodic fragment from the second thematic group of the exposition, is presented in this section over recurrent rhythmic figuration, and then developed, undergoing successive transformations. The first thematic group returns in the recapitulation with different or additional harmonic digressions; the second group returns unaltered, only transposed a fourth up. The short coda maintains the tonic key and mainly soft dynamics, achieving a resolution of the movement's conflicts and ending pianissimo.

2. The second movement is slow, in a key different from the tonic, and in ABA (ternary) or ABABA form. The main sections (A and B) are contrasted in key and character, A is slow and meditative; B is more intense and animated. The movement begins and ends slowly and quietly.

3. The third movement is a dance (a scherzo or minuet) in the tonic, in overall ABA ternary form, with a trio in either ternary or binary form, and in a conventionally related key (relative major, subdominant, and parallel minor respectively). They are based on their sonata's first movements, with a similar tonal scheme and/or motivic reference. The B section of each piece features tonalities serving important dramatic functions in previous movements. Each features animated, playful figurations for the right hand and abrupt changes in register.

4. The finale is in moderate or fast tempo and in sonata or rondo-sonata form. The themes of the finales are characterized by long passages of melody accompanied by relentless flowing rhythms. The exposition has no repeat written in. The development section is more ordinary in style than that of the first movement, with frequent modulations, sequences, and fragmentation of the exposition's first theme (or the main theme of the rondo).

   The recapitulation closely resembles the exposition, with the minimal harmonic changes needed to end the section in the tonic: the first theme returns in a shortened version; the second theme returns unaltered, only transposed a fourth up. The coda is based on the exposition's first theme. It is composed of two parts, the first quiet and attenuated, creating a sense of expectation, the second animated, dissipating the final tension in decisive, agitated motion and ending with fortissimo tonic chords and octaves.

Sonata in C minor, D. 958

I. Allegro

The opening is dramatic, with a fully voiced, forte C-minor chord. The voice leading of this passage outlines a chromatic ascent to A♭ – this will be the first instance of a remarkable degree of chromaticism in the sonata as a whole. The most salient feature of the first theme is the sudden modulatory digression to A♭ major, established by a rushing downward scale initiated by the final achievement of this key in the ascending voice of the minor theme. The exposition shifts from the tonic to the relative major (E♭major), touching midway upon its parallel minor (E♭ minor), all in accordance with Classical practice. This second theme, a hymn-like E♭ major melody in four-part harmony, greatly contrasts with the first, though its melodic contour is prefigured in the sudden A♭ major departure. Both themes progress somewhat in the style of variations and are structured with irregular phrase lengths.

The development section is highly chromatic and is texturally and melodically distinct from the exposition. The recapitulation is once again traditional, staying in the tonic and stressing subdominant tonalities (D♭, the lowered second degree – in the first theme). The coda returns to the material of the development section but with stable tonality, dying out in a dark series of cadences in low register.

II. Adagio

The second movement is in A♭ major, ABABA form. Nostalgic in its traditional Classical character (one of the few instrumental Adagios Schubert wrote), the opening theme of this movement is an elegant, touching melody that eventually undergoes remarkable tonal and cadential treatment, undermining the peaceful setting. Charles Fisk has pointed out that the voice leading of the first phrase, 1–7–1–2–3–4–3, is based on the initial A♭ digression in the beginning of the Allegro. The unorthodox, chromatic harmonic structure of this movement is generated from a short progression that appears towards the end of the A section, leading to a plagal cadencein the subdominant key (D♭), chromatically colored with its own minor subdominant chord (G♭ minor). The importance of this progression and of D♭ in general is emphasized by its quotation in a climax of the finale's exposition. This diversion of the main theme's expected cadence leads to the haunted atmosphere of the B section, which is full of chromatic modulations and startling sforzandos.

In the second appearance of the A and B sections, almost the entire music is shifted a semitone up, further cementing the importance of the ascending minor second in the sonata as a whole. The focal plagal progression returns transformed at the end of the movement, with even subtler chromatic coloration and more distant modulations, touching on C major, before the piece finally ends in the tonic, the theme now weakened and given an illusory quality due to the evasion of cadences, free modulation, and tendency toward digression into troubled minor passages.

III. Menuetto: Allegro – Trio

The third movement is somber, quite distinct from the typical atmosphere of dance movements. It is relatively conservative in its key scheme, moving to the relative major key and back to the tonic. In the B section, a sequence of hemiolas is interrupted by a dramatic interpolation in A♭ major, referencing the departure to this key in the opening of the Allegro with the added minor sixth. The second A section is a transformation of the first, interrupted every four bars by a silent bar, creating a mysterious atmosphere. The trio is in A♭major, ternary form, with a B section beginning in E♭ major colored by its own minor sixth and modulating to G♭ major via the parallel minor.

IV. Allegro

This movement is written in 6/8 and in tarantella style and is characterised by a relentless galloping rhythm calling on demanding pianistic effects with frequent hand-crossing and leaps across registers. It employs the three-key exposition, a recurrent element in Schubert's style. The first theme shifts from C minor to C major – another Schubertian feature, and contains many allusions to D♭major, which finally becomes established in a climactic reference to the Adagio's characteristic plagal cadence. The second theme, proceeding with the enharmonic parallel minor of this cadence (C♯ minor), further develops the cadence in its alternation of tonic and subdominant tonalities. After a series of modulations, the exposition ends in the traditional relative major, E♭.

The development section begins in C♭ with a new theme, derived from the last bars of the exposition. Later on, additional material from the exposition is developed, gradually building up towards a climax. The recapitulation is also written in three keys; the first theme is drastically shortened, and this time the second theme veers to B♭ minor, the result being that the closing section appears in the traditional tonic.

The coda begins with a long anticipatory passage which stresses A♭, the submediant, and then reintroduces the first theme, restoring most of the music omitted from its reprise. This last passage is characterized by sweeping arpeggios with violent dynamic contrasts – a series of subito fortissimo decaying to piano, following the rise and fall of the melody. On the last iteration, the melody hits triple forteat the zenith of its register and then plunges four octaves in a descending arpeggio, marked poco a poco diminuendo al pianissimo. An emphatic cadence then concludes the piece.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schubert%27s_last_sonatas / License: CC BY-SA 4.0