Impromptu Op.142 No.3 // SCHUBERT

Franz Schubert's Impromptus are a series of eight pieces for solo piano composed in 1827. They were published in two sets of four impromptus each, the second set was published posthumously as Op. 142 in 1839 (with a dedication added by the publisher to Franz Liszt). The two sets are now catalogued as D. 899 and D. 935 respectively. They are considered to be among the most important examples of this popular early 19th-century genre.

As the first and last pieces in this set are in the same key (F minor), and the set bears some resemblance to a 4-movement sonata, these Impromptus have been accused of being a sonata in disguise, notably by Robert Schumann and Alfred Einstein, who claim that Schubert called them Impromptus, and allowed them to be individually published to enhance their sales potential. However, this claim has been disputed by contemporary musicologists such as Charles Fisk, who established important differences between the set of Impromptus and Schubert's acknowledged multi-movement works. It is also believed that the set was originally intended to be a continuation of the previous set, as Schubert originally numbered them as Nos. 5–8.

This Impromptu in B-flat major is a theme with variations. The main theme resembles a theme from the incidental music that Schubert composed for the play Rosamunde, which also appears in the second movement of his 13th string quartet. The variations follow the classic pattern utilized and developed by Beethoven – elements include increasing subdivision and ornamentation, and a modulation prior to a return to the tonic for the final full variation – see the Arietta of Beethoven's Op. 111, and most prominently, the Diabelli Variations. Like the variations movement in the Trout Quintet, this modulation is achieved by following a tonic-minor variation with one in the flat submediant, following which a brief free passage modulates back to the tonic.
(Source: Wikipedia)

► Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/PianoAdventure?su...
► Follow us on Twitter:   / pianoadventurex  
► Like our Facebook Page: https://fb.me/PianoAdventureX
► Support us on Patreon:   / pianoadventure  

Piece: Impromptu in B♭ major
Work Title: 4 Impromptus (D.935 ; Op.142)
Composer: Franz Schubert
Year of Composition: 1827
First Publication: 1839
Piece Style: Romantic

Midi: Sequences by © piano-e-competition
Artwork: © PianoAdventure
Visualization: Synthesia