Schubert: Impromptus, D. 935; Pieces, D. 946; Variations, D. 576

Featuring

Steven Osborne
Franz Schubert

Did you know?

1/7

Composition History

The Three Piano Pieces, D946, were anonymously edited and published by Johannes Brahms in 1868, forty years after Schubert's death.

Composition History

Schubert's second set of Impromptus, D935, was declined by the publisher Schott & Co and not printed until over ten years after his death.

Composer Biography

Anselm Hüttenbrenner, a close friend of Schubert, kept the manuscript of Schubert's 'Unfinished' Symphony hidden for decades until its premiere in 1865.

Critical Reception

Robert Schumann confidently asserted that Schubert's second set of Impromptus was actually a sonata in disguise, despite neither the first nor last piece being in sonata form.

Compositional Technique

The last Impromptu of the D935 set has a 'Hungarian flavour' with strong off-beat accents and improvisatory flourishes that evoke the sound of a cimbalom, a hammered dulcimer.