Piano Sonata in C major, D 840 (Schubert)

Movements#

There are four movements: In the third movement, the opening theme is immediately repeated, slightly embellished, in A major, and the reprise also begins in this key. Presumably the minuet would have then returned to A major. The trio is in the parallel minor, notated enharmonically as G minor.

Structure#

Ernst Krenek outlined the structure of each of the work’s four movements in notes that he contributed to a recording by Ray Lev in 1947. Krenek elaborates on how he composed a completion, included in the recording, for the unfinished movements. According to Krenek: * The first movement introduces “the energetically pulsating rhythm which runs nearly through the entire piece”. Unusually, the second theme is initially in B minor, not the expected dominant of G major, which appears only toward the end of the exposition. The development likewise stresses B minor until a false recapitulation in another unexpected key, B major; the actual recapitulation follows closely in F major, and C major finally makes its return with a forte restatement of the first theme. “The second theme now appears in A minor, and the coda turns to A, a key that was touched upon early in the beginning of the movement, so that the key scheme of the whole is rounded out with admirable logic.” * The second movement is in five-part rondo form, “curiously animated by relentless drive”. Its first theme, in C minor, incorporates downward skips in sevenths; running sixteenth notes and dramatic accents characterize its second, in A major. The running sixteenths continue as the first theme returns, succeeded by a repeat of the second theme in C major and a final, quiet statement of the first theme to complete the movement. * The fragmentary third movement rapidly modulates from A to A major shortly after its beginning, “a very unusual move”, at which point Schubert ceased composition. Krenek speculates that Schubert may have intended to complete the movement “with a recapitulation symmetrically returning from A to A major shortly before the end”. In his completion, Krenek “wrote a brief development section, re-introduced the theme in A and returned to A, adding a few measures of transition to A minor, which is enharmonically the key of the trio, an exceptionally charming lyrical item”. * For the fragmentary fourth movement, Schubert completed the first and second themes of the exposition and introduced a third theme in A minor, derived from the first, to open the development before leaving off work on this movement in rondo-sonata form. Krenek indicates his completion elaborated the idea of the third theme and “followed it up with a swiftly modulating development of the first theme and a normal recapitulation” of slightly shorter length than the exposition. His coda takes the third theme as its basis and refers back to the first theme of the first movement, “an idea to which I felt entitled since Schubert had hinted at it at the end of the finale of the Sonata in A major”.

Completions#

Given its large scope and the extent of material that Schubert left for the incomplete movements, this sonata has inspired various composers and performers to undertake completions. Some of their efforts, particularly those penned by performers, have appeared on records. Among them are the following: *Ludwig Stark published a completion in 1877. *Armin Knab wrote a completion of the sonata in 1920, which was published by Edition Peters, edited by Heinz Wegener, in 1962. In 1920 Knab published an essay entitled “Schuberts unvollendete Klaviersonate in C-dur und ihre Ergänzung”, which appeared in the . *Ernst Krenek wrote his completion, mentioned above, at the request of his friend, the pianist and composer Eduard Erdmann, who wished to add the sonata to his repertoire. Krenek himself dated that request to 1922. Other sources date his completion to 1921. *Nikolai Zhilyayev wrote a completion in 1932 (москва: государственное музыкалное издательство 4.IV.1932, VN 12596). *Harold Truscott published a completion of the Minuet (3rd movement) in 1957. *Bart Berman wrote a completion in 1978; the Dutch Erasmus label released his recording of it in 1997. *Ian Munro wrote a completion in 1994 and recorded it for the Australian Tall Poppies label. *Martino Tirimo wrote a completion and included it in his complete set of the sonatas on EMI. *Anthony Goldstone wrote and recorded a completion in 2003. *Brian Newbould wrote a completion recorded by Todd Crow, its dedicatee, for release on compact disc by the Toccata Classics label.

Further reading#

• Deutsch, Otto Erich (1995). The Schubert Thematic Catalogue. New York: Dover Publications.