The Piano Sonata in A major, D 664, was likely composed in 1819 during a happy holiday in Steyr, Upper Austria, where Schubert met Josefine von Koller, to whom he appears to have dedicated the sonata.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Schubert's early sonatas prioritize strong melodic impulses, varied rhythms, and resourceful harmonic twists over technical brilliance.
Compositional Technique
The Piano Sonata in A minor, D 537, includes a recapitulation that begins in an unexpected key, and Schubert indicates a repeat of the entire development-cum-recapitulation.
Composer Biography
Franz Schubert, unlike Mozart and Beethoven, completed seventeen piano sonatas but no true concerto for any instrument in his thirty-one years of life.
Compositional Technique
The second movement of the Piano Sonata in A minor, D 537, features an extraordinary tonal scheme with a theme in E major, two variations, and two intervening themes in C major and D minor.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded using 24-bit / 96 kHz technology, which provides a dynamic range up to 48 dB greater and 256 times the resolution of standard 16-bit recordings.
Performer Biography
Barry Douglas, the pianist on this album, won the Gold Medal at the 1986 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow.
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