On May 20, 1825, Schubert departed Vienna in order to tour upper Austria with the famous singer Michael Vogl, who would join him in Gmunden. As the unusually hot summer wore on, the composer found the heat nearly unbearable, though it apparently did not prevent the concert tour from achieving great success. In August, Schubert spent three weeks in the town of Gastein, located in the Austrian Alps, where, with his usual facility, he wrote this sonata and two songs. Although this so-called "Gasteiner" sonata was the composer's nineteenth keyboard sonata (including fragmentary efforts), it was only the second to be published in his lifetime.

While the heat of the 1825 summer did not encumber Schubert's inspiration, it may have stepped up his tempo indications. The composer usually tempered his Allegro markings with "moderato," but in the first and third movements he chose Allegro vivace instead. In fact, the entire sonata—the slow movement included—is swifter in pace than is typical for Schubert.

One of the two songs he wrote while in Gastein was Das Heimweh (Homesickness); its opening melody bears an uncanny resemblance to that of the second subject in the first movement. This lively movement—deriving its thematic material from repeated scales and chords—offers much color and excitement, but at the expense of making considerable technical demands on the performer.

The second movement (marked Con moto) has a mood of intimacy and warmth to its main theme, but this is combined with a sense of lively animation. The ensuing panel is a jaunty, rather quirky Scherzo (Allegro vivace), full of playfulness and cheer. The trio section is stately and serious, contrasting well with the other music.

The finale (a rondo marked Allegro moderato) opens in the upper register with a playful, march-like theme. Further episodes offer color and contrast; the middle section, for example, presents a lovely lyrical theme that suddenly turns stormy. Like the first movement, the music here presents considerable challenges to the pianist throughout, both technically and interpretively.

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