Schubert: Fantasie in F Minor and Other Piano Duets

Featuring

Andreas Staier
Alexander Melnikov
Franz Schubert

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Recording & Production

This album was recorded in March 2015 at Teldex Studio Berlin, with Martin Sauer as artistic director and editor, and Tobias Lehmann as sound engineer.

Historical Context

For Schubert and his friends, playing four-hand piano music was a common and cherished part of their social evenings in Vienna, offering emotional release from daily life.

Composition History

The Variations on an Original Theme in A flat major, composed in 1824, were popular in both Zselíz (Hungary) and Vienna, and were published in 1825.

Composition History

The Fantasie in F minor was first performed by Schubert and composer Franz Lachner in May 1828, but only published in March 1829, after Schubert's death.

Composer Biography

Schubert often enjoyed playing piano duets with his favorite pupil, Comtesse Caroline von Esterházy, who later became the dedicatee of his F minor Fantasie.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Schubert believed that the keys of a piano should become "singing voices" under a performer's fingers, disliking a percussive "pecking style" of playing.

Compositional Technique

The harmonic progression of Schubert's A flat major Variations theme was noted by Viennese listeners for its similarity to the famous Allegretto from Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.