Schubert’s three magnificent late sonatas—all completed in September 1828—are actually the product of a composer in his prime, whose tragically early death two months later deprived him of a true “late” period. Whether or not he had a premonition that he would never recover from his latest bout of illness, he produced an amazing number of pieces from August to October, widely varying in character and containing some of his most beautiful music—not only the sonatas but the song collection Schwanengesang (Swan song), the inspired C major

String Quintet, and Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (The shepherd on the rock).

Composing piano sonatas in the year after Beethoven’s death must have seemed a daunting prospect, but Schubert, while wishing to pay homage, also had new things to say. Although he purportedly played them “with much success” for friends just days after completion, the sonatas were slow to gain acceptance precisely because of their novelties—in particular his now-celebrated untraditional harmonic procedures, unexpected developmental passages, turbulent outbursts characteristic of the piano fantasy, and sheer length. Even Schumann, to whom publisher Diabelli dedicated the works after Schubert’s death, strained to sound enthusiastic. Belatedly, at least since the mid-twentieth century, the three sonatas have been embraced as monuments of the piano literature.

Piano Sonata in C minor, D. 958

Schubert clearly had in mind the theme of Beethoven’s celebrated 32 Variations in C minor when he fashioned the opening of his Sonata in the same key. He immediately departs from this tribute, however, not only because he is writing a sonata rather than a series of variations, but because his creative personality differed greatly from Beethoven’s. After an expansive treatment of his first-theme group—and this group contains a plethora of ideas—Schubert begins his lyrical second-theme group in the expected key but makes one of his imaginative fluid shifts into a neighboring yet distant territory. The movement’s most striking and individual music, however, is the new material that prepares the recapitulation. Into an innocuous broken-chord pattern Schubert introduces an ominous-sounding bass line, which sometimes crosses into treble range, but ultimately winds darkly under successive strands of eerie chromatics.

The solemn Adagio, an unusually slow movement for Schubert, follows a five-part scheme he especially favored—two kinds of music alternating in the pattern A-B-A-B-A. The “A” music breathes serenity, whereas the “B” music suggests a profound sense of disquiet. In fact, with its echoes of his recent Winterreise song cycle, the movement may reflect the painful world of that work’s unlucky lover, with whom Schubert himself identified (a suggestion offered by scholar and pianist Charles Fisk).

Schubert asks for his Menuetto to be played Allegro, avoiding the term scherzo. Correspondingly, his witticisms are more graceful than hearty, playing with meters, phrase lengths, and expectant pauses. The last of these silences introduces the central trio, straightforward in its phrase lengths with delightful little major-minor shifts and unexpected touches of counterpoint.

Galloping along ferociously on an extended, imaginative tonal and structural ride, the tarantella-style finale has often been called a rondo, though this amazing movement actually unfolds in a vast sonata form. One of its features, a three-key exposition, was a great favorite of Schubert’s and something that exerted its influence on Brahms. Despite moments of light that peek through endearingly, the overall impression is one of darkness. Commentators have likened the movement to a dance of death, but here, as in the “tarantella” finale of his celebrated Death and the Maiden Quartet, Schubert confronts death defiantly, as symbolized by the final emphatic chords.

Piano Sonata in A major, D. 959

Outwardly straightforward in form, the A major Sonata opens by immediately revealing Schubert’s developmental urge. The main theme, majestic at first, soon develops its rising thirds and rippling triplets, and leads to several unexpected key changes even before the second theme is introduced. The “development proper” is unusual for its concentration of a tiny phrase from a point near the end of the exposition. Like Beethoven, Schubert infuses his broad coda with yet more development.

The Andantino again relies on a traditional form (three parts, A-B-A), but the tempestuous, declamatory outburst of the middle section is like no other. Schubert’s mastery of the lulling effect—short lyrical phrases over gently rocking accompaniment—throws this wild “fantasy” into highest relief.

The waltzing character of the scherzo movement furnishes delightful variety. One senses that Schubert may indeed have been working concurrently on his C major String Quintet when the piano writing in the outer sections sometimes suggests string pizzicato, and in the trio (middle section) when the pianist’s right hand carries the chordal theme like the three middle instruments while the left crosses back and forth to exchange “first violin” and “cello” motives.

Schubert borrows the lovely main theme of the finale from the variation movement of his own A minor Piano Sonata, D. 537. He also draws on the finale of Beethoven’s G major Piano Sonata, op. 31, no. 1, for the structure of his sonata-rondo, but with what different and imaginative results! Most striking are the dramatic second episode, the entrance of the recapitulation in an astonishing key, the curiously halting version of the main theme, and the unifying reminder of the Sonata’s opening at the very end.

Piano Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960

This, Schubert’s last sonata, may be the one that has received the most performances. Profound quiet envelops the spacious first movement, in which meditative qualities vie with nobility. Perhaps, as scholar Brian Newbold has suggested, Schubert had the character of Beethoven’s Archduke Trio in the back of his mind, as well as his way of constructing the opening. Both stem the flow at the end of the first strain and, before proceeding with a second presentation of the theme, they pause—Beethoven introducing trills and an interlude and Schubert a low bass trill and a rest. Despite possible modeling, there is no mistaking Schubert’s originality as idea after idea rolls out seemingly effortlessly in his broad, masterful sonata form—again with a three-key exposition. It is particularly intriguing to follow Schubert’s trill and the various harmonies it introduces, and also to trace the new idea in the bass in the development’s rolling-triplets section, which becomes a theme in its own right.

Schubert had the daring to continue with a sustained andante after his stately opening movement, but the character of the two differs so greatly that no one would wish it otherwise. First and foremost he chooses the contrasting key of C-sharp minor—almost as remote from the first movement’s home key as possible. Further he employs a kind of contemplative rocking figure in his accompaniment, which he alters subtly with a bass rumble when the first section returns. In the center a rich theme unfolds chordally over pulsing repeated notes, then appears with an imaginative new texture, all followed by a “repeat” of the two-part procedure with subtle alterations. The movement’s most heartrending moments come with Schubert’s delicate shifts into the major mode.

The quicksilver Scherzo provides remarkable contrast after the slow movement, but Schubert avoids a jarring affront by employing soft dynamics and delicate character. The interior trio injects a more serious tone, but the rests and syncopations keep it buoyant.

The finale leaves a joyful impression, though Schubert seems to relish occasional moments of doubt. The opening of this sonata-rondo clearly invites the listener on an adventurous harmonic journey, with perhaps the most luxurious moment arriving already in the first theme’s “repetition” where he slips effortlessly into a foreign key (A-flat major). Three new ideas comprise the first “episode,” the first of which contains another delightful harmonic surprise. The last condensed return of the main theme suddenly shifts into a brief presto coda that ends Schubert’s sonata career in grand style.

—©Jane Vial Jaffe