FRANZ SCHUBERT - Rondo in A Major, D. 951, Op. 107 (1828)

Schubert is unusual among great composers in having composed a great deal of piano duets that were mostly performed domestically. He had written them in various forms since his early teens until the final year of his life. During his time, especially his last years, there was an increase in families that could afford to buy pianos, motivating Schubert to write piano duets remarkable in quality and quantity. They form a significant part of the composer’s output and he wrote so many that he has long been recognised as a master of the form. Schubert performed piano duets in home concerts “Schubertiades” with friends and students including Countess Caroline Esterházy. His finest duets include Fantasy in F minor, D. 940, Allegro in A minor, D. 947 “Lebensstürme”, and Rondo in A major, D. 951, all created in 1828.

Liszt once praised Schubert as the most poetic musician who had ever lived. The three stunning late piano duets exquisitely combine his lyrical gifts with audacious harmonic adventures. New approaches to melody and dynamic range are also found. Musicologist Alfred Einstein called the charming A major Rondo (D. 951) “the apotheosis of all Schubert compositions for four hands.” It emphasises beautiful melodies with a wide pitch range and embellishments, instrumental brilliance, attractive rhythms, and sonorities evidenced by the employment of fff and ppp.

Rondo in A major is modelled on the lyrical second movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata in E minor, Op. 90 (1814). The rondo mirrors Beethoven’s tranquil mood, layout, and harmonic pattern. The openings are particularly alike – both begin with a four-bar phrase that is replied an octave higher immediately. It is all calm until the music arrives at the slightly stormy C major section where rapid semiquaver triplets and a dotted-rhythm theme in octaves are heard in the primo and secondo parts respectively.

The theme appears several times in various keys and registers throughout Rondo in A major, interspersed with episodes and subsidiary themes derived from the main theme. Whenever it moves into a new key, it moves melodiously without drama; and whenever it explores a new register, the brilliance, warmth, and sonority are simply beautiful. Schubert might not have realised that his duets, including this, point the way to orchestral projects. One clear example is the end of the episode when the music goes to F major with a subsidiary theme in the sonorous tenor register in the secondo, while the primo plays rapid pattering chords softly. If this part were performed by an orchestra, the theme would be played by the cello while the soft chords above would be by woodwinds. The rondo concludes by having the main theme make its final appearance in the “cello” register, giving it a warm and quiet ending.