Piano Sonata in A, D959

The Sonata in A Major, D.959, includes some of the most striking evidence of Schubert’s later compositional style. This may be found in the abundant thematic links connecting D.959 to other mementos of Schubert’s compositional past. The first movement strides forward with a martial air, marked by its gestural falling-away motion from the chords to repeated low A’s. Clear at the other end of the work, some 40 minutes later, he concludes the Finale’s coda with a palindrome of the opening progression. The heroic spirit of those chords function as a frame. They should not mask the sonata’s primary aesthetic—song—which takes hold midway through the first movement and only occasionally, and dramatically, relents. The opening Allegro of D.959, as also in D.960, mixes exposition and development almost from the start. In the A-major Sonata Schubert veers off into G major during his second theme, then launches into what sounds like a chromatic development. The true development only arrives later and relies exclusively on a short motive heard just at the close of the exposition. Schubert shows a deft touch in the recapitulation by presenting material in new keys and dynamics, including a hushed murmur of B-flat major at the end.
The second movement, a striking dirge in F-sharp minor, shows the limits of Schubert’s handling of larger forms. The A material stays simple and rock-steady, which allows the hypnotic falling octaves in the left hand to take on an almost palpable presence. Its obvious kinship with D.960’s slow movement may be noted. Schubert also finds and exploits echoes of his song Pilgerweise (Pilgrim’s Journey). What he does not manage to discover is a way to transition out of this self-contained, hypnotic theme. Instead, in most peremptory fashion, he shifts from the lyric to the fantastic. This section contains one of the most violent outbursts in all of his instrumental music. It is tempting—but unnecessary—to connect biographical data with the sheer chaos of roiling diminished harmonies, trills, and irruptive gestures. Eventually Schubert calms back down, but the damage is done. The reprised A theme now moves more urgently and includes an additional high voice in the texture.
The following fleet Scherzo bravely attempts to transcend the intense pathos of the previous movement. It succeeds, too, right up to the C-sharp minor cascade that directly quotes a similar passage from the preceding chaotic outburst. In addition to tonal links, the Trio portion also picks up the rhythmic profile of the first movement’s main theme. Such integration is critical to this sonata and may derive from the extreme speed at which Schubert composed all of his final works.
Song again carries the day in the Finale. Though many listeners will connect the theme to its use for the TV sitcom Wings, Schubert is actually quoting himself. The slow movement of the early Piano Sonata D.537 (1817) provides the model here, but how much fuller, expansive, and songful is this revised version. In fact, the lyric impulse is so completely pervasive that it clouds Schubert’s approach to the final cadence. He tries several ideas in order to achieve closure: using silence to break apart the melody that will not end; a fast chromatic coda in the spirit of Beethoven; rising arpeggios and massive chords. Perhaps it is the lingering pull of convention that elicits the heroic final bars where a soft, diminuendo finish would have felt more genuine. In the sonata’s final pages—and indeed in many of his final works—we witness Schubert groping for a lyrical resolution to a dramatic process.

(c) Jason Stell