Sonata composition did not come easily to Schubert, and throughout the works of 1817 we can follow his struggles with the genre in great detail—a triumph here, a frustration there. Schubert had not yet managed to consistently infuse his instrumental works with the individual voice that characterized his song compositions; with the B major Piano Sonata, however, Schubert at last succeeded in crafting a piano sonata that is, for better or worse (there are those who feel the Sonata to be disorganized and haphazard), fully and unmistakably Schubertian. That D. 575 (August, 1817—published posthumously in 1847 as Op. 147) was a step forward in his career as an instrumental composer was not lost on its composer; after a half year during which he composed almost nothing but piano sonatas, he abandoned sonata composition until well into the next year, choosing to instead direct his energies towards a series of large-scale orchestral works (including the Sixth Symphony).

The first movement, Allegro ma non troppo, is characterized by a lively dotted rhythm which inhabits both the ambitious and energetic first theme and the more unassuming second subject (dolce). Schubert's development is notable for harmonic trickery: he returns to the tonic key after only 19 bars, suggesting an impending recapitulation; instead, he delays for another half-dozen bars and then recapitulates in the subdominant key. The following Andante is a straightforward ternary movement that contrasts a chorale-like main melody with more active figurations; when the main theme returns, it is subtly combined with this middle-section character.

The scherzo is in G major, with a trio section in D. With the finale (Allegro giusto), Schubert moves again into the world of sonata-allegro form, but with an entirely different purpose than in the first movement. Humor abounds, beginning with the pompous D major tune that interrupts the main melody barely a dozen bars into the movement. The real second melody is graceful and sweet, a tone maintained through the exposition's close and much of the development section. During the recapitulation Schubert expands upon the D major interruption in order to re-forge the exposition's tonal plan so that the movement might end, as it must, in B major.

© All Music Guide

Portions of Content Provided by All Music Guide.
© 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide is a registered trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.