Franz Schubert: Piano Sonatas Nos. 13 & 21, Impromptu No. 4

Featuring

Sviatoslav Richter
Franz Schubert

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Performer Biography

Sviatoslav Richter disliked the recording process, especially in a studio, but sometimes accepted live performances, such as those in Prague on old Petroff keyboards.

Performer Biography

Sviatoslav Richter, the pianist on this recording, was born in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, to a German father who was a pianist, organist, composer, and professor.

Composition History

Schubert's Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat major, D 960, was started in July 1828 and finished on September 28, 1828, making it his last completed keyboard work.

Compositional Technique

The final movement of Schubert's Piano Sonata No. 21, D 960, borrows melodic material from the finale of Beethoven's Op. 130 String Quartet, also in B flat major.

Composition History

Schubert's Piano Sonata No. 13 in A major, D 664, was written in Styria during the summer of 1819, after a previous aborted sonata.

Composer Biography

In 1819, Schubert met Michael Vogl, an opera singer who became an important interpreter of his Lieder and a patron, traveling with him to Styria.

Composer Biography

Franz Schubert, the composer of these piano sonatas and impromptu, felt he no longer belonged to this world in the months leading up to his death in 1828.