Schubert the Songmaster—exploring the sublime depths of the human heart
We could all use more Schubert in our lives right now! Here are three short previews I created to share the depth of emotion in his music, as I prepare the 8 session Zoom series Schubert the Songmaster.
I. A little slice of heaven.
At the beginning of the Trio from Schubert’s A-minor Piano Sonata is a brief passage that, for me, opens the door to another world.
How does somebody write music like that?
I made this short video to explore that question—and, most importantly, to play you the music.
This question is at the heart of Schubert the Songmaster, where we’ll listen closely to Schubert's songs and instrumental music and discover some of the extraordinary ways he creates his unmistakable musical world.
II. The G Flat Major Impromptu
I've played this Schubert Impromptu for years, and I only just noticed something about it.
Here is my recording of the beautiful G-flat Major Impromptu:
And now listen to Schubert's famous Ave Maria:
Hear the resemblance? Both begin with flowing arpeggiated accompaniments. Both move through the same basic harmonic progression—I–ii⁶–V–I. And even the melodies have a remarkably similar shape.
I've been playing this Impromptu for years, but I had never made this particular connection until now. And it goes directly to one of the ideas that fascinates me most about Schubert: he didn't leave song behind when he wrote instrumental music. The musical world of song finds its way into his piano music, chamber music, and symphonies.
III. Schubert's An die Musik—“To Music”—lays bare the human heart on a single page.
In one of Schubert's most beautiful melodies, we hear gratitude for music itself—for how, in so many dark times, it has transported the singer to a better world.
It's an exquisite example of the perfection of Schubert's Lieder: piano and voice are equal partners. And while the voice carries the message and most of the expression, it is the short concluding piano postlude that breaks our hearts.
Here is one of my favorite performances, sung by the great German baritone Hans Hotter with master accompanist Gerald Moore.:
This intimacy, this ability to touch something profound with the simplest means, is what we will hear time and again during our eight afternoons exploring Schubert.
Why does music this simple affect us so deeply? How does Schubert do it?
Schubert's music has an intimacy and beauty that makes spending eight sessions getting to know him something very special. One of the things I’m most excited to explore is the extraordinarily close relationship between Schubert the songwriter and Schubert the instrumental composer.
His songs are much more than beautiful melodies. He weds those melodies to accompaniments of remarkable psychological insight—accompaniments that breathe, move, change character, and communicate information deeper than the melody itself does not.
AND Schubert brings that way of thinking into his instrumental music.
We’ll hear how the world of song finds its way into his piano music, chamber music, and symphonies—how melody and accompaniment become part of larger Classical forms. In doing so, he helps open the door from the Classical world of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven into the Romantic world that follows.
We’ll listen closely, compare passages, explore things at the piano, and ask the question that is always at the heart of these series for me: Why is this music so emotionally powerful—and how does Schubert make it so?