Monday, August 9, 2010

Schubert

On my way home this evening I had the luck to hear a performance of Schubert's Impromptu No. 3 in G-flat major. It is easy to forget just how magnificent, and yet intimate, Schubert can be. With none of the flourishes of Wagner (of whose music I am dearly fond) Schubert creates works just as deeply moving with nothing more than a piano. The work is something of an anticipation of Felix Mendelssohn's Songs without Words; Mendelssohn, who is even now underrated, owes much to Schubert.

Though written in G-flat major, the work was printed by the first publisher in G major. The original version is now generally preferred.
Some sense of the piece can be heard here:

http://bit.ly/90SHZc

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