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Beethoven & Schubert


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Cade Roberts full profile / Solo piano / 1 musician


Full program notes

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Piano Sonata in A-flat major, op. 26

FRANZ SCHUBERT
Piano Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960


Historical context

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1785-1827)

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in A-flat Major, Op. 26 (1801) is one of his most structurally unconventional of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, beginning not with a fast sonata-form movement but with a serene theme and variations. Across five imaginative variations, Beethoven explores shifts in texture, rhythm, and mood while maintaining the lyrical grace of the opening. A sprightly scherzo follows, full of rhythmic surprises and charm. At the center of the work lies a poised funeral march, marked “for the death of a hero”—a solemn, dignified piece that foreshadows the famous Marcia funebre in his Eroica Symphony. The sonata concludes with a brief, fleet-footed finale that dispels the preceding gravity with understated brilliance. This sonata was deeply admired by Frédéric Chopin, who modeled his famous second piano sonata on its unusual structure, particularly its central funeral march and fast, elusive final movement. Despite its quiet elegance and relatively modest scale, Beethoven’s op. 26 remains one of his most poetically distinctive works for solo piano.

FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Franz Schubert’s Piano Sonata in B-flat Major, D. 960 (1828) is the last of his sonatas and one of the most profound works in the piano repertoire. Composed just a few months before his death at age 31, the sonata is expansive in scale yet intimate in spirit. The first movement opens with a broad, singing melody, but an ominous low trill in the left hand soon introduces a shadow that lingers throughout the work. Schubert’s gift for long, unbroken lyricism and subtle harmonic shifts is on full display, and his unique sense of time—stretching moments into near stillness—creates a meditative, almost timeless atmosphere. The second movement, a slow lament in C-sharp minor, is spare and haunting, followed by a gentle, songful scherzo that seems to flicker between light and dark. The final movement brings warmth and momentum, but even here, Schubert withholds resolution until the last moments. Like Beethoven’s late sonatas, Schubert’s B-flat sonata looks beyond its time in both scope and emotional depth, inviting the listener into a deeply personal world where beauty and melancholy are inseparable.


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