SCHUBERT

Sonatas Op. 137, Nos. 13

Sonata Op. post. 162
Jacqueline Ross, Violin Maggie Cole, Fortepiano

Franz Schubert (17971828)

Complete Works for Violin and Fortepiano 1
The son of a schoolmaster in the Viennese suburb of
Liechtenthal, Franz Schubert was raised in a musical
household, initially receiving instruction on the violin and
fortepiano respectively from his father and brother Ignaz.
The family regularly played string quartets during his
formative years, Franz taking the viola part with his brothers
Ignaz and Ferdinand as violinists and his father as cellist.
Another important early musical influence was Michael
Holzer, organist of Liechtenthals parish church, who
encouraged Franz but evidently gave him little actual tuition.
In 1808 Antonio Salieri accepted Franz as a choirboy in the
Imperial Court Chapel, allowing him a free privileged
education at the Kaiserlich-knigliches Stadtkonvikt. Here he
received musical instruction, absorbed the rich tradition of
church choral singing, attended some of the finest opera in
Europe and participated in general music-making, excelling
in the student orchestra as both a violinist and a conductor.
This active musical environment fuelled his enthusiasm for
composition and initiated some youthful quartets and
symphonies based on the models of Haydn and Mozart.
Schubert left the choir and the Stadtkonvikt in 1813; he
trained for and entered the teaching profession as assistant
to his father, participating in amateur music-making and
composing in his spare time. The musical evenings in the
Schubert household gradually expanded into sessions for a
string chamber orchestra, outgrowing available space and
moving to the larger premises of Franz Frischling. With the
addition of wind instruments the ensemble transformed into
an orchestra capable of playing symphonies by Haydn and
Mozart and its rehearsals were again moved, late in 1815, to
the home of Otto Hatwig, where Schuberts works were
introduced. A period of sustained musical creativity
produced, amongst other works, five symphonies, four
Masses, three string quartets, three piano sonatas, six
operas, and some 300 or more songs; and from the autumn
of 1816 Schuberts reputation as a composer grew steadily
in Vienna, as well as in such provincial centres as Linz, Steyr,
and Graz. By the beginning of the following year, with little
hope of gaining a secure teaching position, he renounced
that profession to devote himself exclusively to composition.
Curiously, however, only a small proportion of his oeuvre

was published during his lifetime; much of it, particularly his

large-scale works, remained in manuscript and was relatively
unknown until the latter half of the nineteenth century.
Schubert composed his first three violin sonatas (D. 384,
D. 385 and D. 408) in March and April 1816. Probably
intended for music-making in the home (although there is no
conclusive evidence of the occasions on which they were
first performed), they are concise works that align
themselves largely with Mozartian models. They were
published posthumously by Anton Diabelli (Vienna, 1836)
as Three Sonatinas, Op. 137, doubtless with the aim of
exploiting the lucrative amateur music market.
The Sonata No. 1 in D, D. 384, comprises three movements, whereas its companion works incorporate a minuet
and trio in four-movement designs. It has similarities with
Mozarts Sonata in E minor, K. 304, notably when the two
instrumentalists announce the opening triadic Allegro theme
quietly in unison/octaves. The second idea (A major) is a
rhythmic motive with melodic affinities to the first. A brief
development focuses on the first theme, which is subjected
to various harmonic contortions before the slightly modified
recapitulation. The movement concludes, as it began, with
a quiet unison statement, finally punctuated by two
fortissimo chords. The elegant phrases of the nostalgic,
ternary Andante (A major), stated alternately by solo
fortepiano and the two instruments together, are also
Mozartian; but the contrasting middle section, in which the
violin takes centre stage, is straight from the world of
Schubertian song. The violinist weaves a counter-melody
around the fortepianists lyrical line in the modified reprise.
The finale is a light-hearted rondo with episodes in which
Schubert tries out his own contrapuntal skills to pleasing
effect.
The more expansive Sonata in A minor, D. 385, opens
with the keyboard alone. Some commentators have sensed
here the influence of Beethoven, notably his Piano Sonata in
E major, Op. 14, No. 1, while others have even smelt a whiff
of twelve-note music, such are the varied intervals that make
up the melodic line. Two further themes are announced
above a triplet background, but development of this material
is minimal. The Andante, with its contrasting sonorities and

tonalities, enjoys a special repose, captured also in the

graceful Menuetto and Trio. The finale, occasionally robustly
contrapuntal but always tuneful, may have been influenced
by the equivalent movement of Mozarts Sonata in E flat,
K. 380.
As with the First Sonata, the opening triadic theme of the
Sonata in G minor, D. 408, is announced in unison by the two
instruments. While eminently Mozartian (Alfred Einstein has
likened it to the Allegro of K. 379, in the same key), it creates
an equal partnership between the instruments, the first
movement opening with declamations and responses in
each part. The tender Andante also features some sensitive
keyboard/violin interplay and some striking moments of
passion. And while the refined Menuetto is somewhat
Haydnesque, the finale abounds in dramatic contrast.
Schubert turned again to the violin-fortepiano combination in 1817, composing his Sonata in A, Op. 162, D. 574.
Broader in scope than the earlier three sonatas, its lyricism
and richer harmonic palette reflect his increased technical
assurance and, doubtless, further Beethovenian influence.
The work remained in manuscript until Diabelli published it
posthumously in 1851. It opens in the fortepiano as if the
beginning of one of Schuberts songs; the violinist is the
singer and melodic material is then freely exchanged by the
two protagonists. A brief, yet inventive development
introduces a new melody, which is essentially an ornamental
variant of the first themes keyboard accompaniment. The
recapitulation holds few surprises. The energetic E major

Scherzo, launched by the fortepiano, abounds with

harmonic/tonal audacity and has an excellent foil in the
chromatic Trio (C major); after a dramatic silence, it returns
to complete the design. The Andantino is a beautiful rondo
(C major). Its lyrical refrain (violin) soon introduces an episode
in the distant key of D flat major; when it returns, its melody
is modified by the fortepiano. A mysterious middle episode
launches an exquisite antiphonal duet (A flat major) between
violin and fortepiano (right hand). When the opening refrain
returns, it brings with it subtle reminiscences of that central
episode and its contrasting key. The scherzo-like finale (A
major) adopts a sonata form of the peculiarly Schubertian
kind that has two distinct key centres in its second subject
group a richly unexpected C major for its first theme and
the orthodox dominant key for its second. After a short,
harmonically eventful development, the recapitulation is redrafted so that the two keys of the second group become
F major and A major, in which latter key a brief, rousing coda
brings to a close Schuberts last contribution to the violin
sonata genre.
Schubert was to return to the violin/keyboard combination in October 1827, when he composed his energetic
Rondo in B minor, D. 895, for the Bohemian violinist Josef
Slavk and pianist Karl Maria Bocklet. The same duo gave the
premire of his Fantasie in C, D. 934, in Vienna on 20th
January 1828, less than a year before his untimely death.
Robin Stowell

Editions used
We would like to thank Knut Maseide for his help in securing all extant autograph manuscripts of the Schubert Sonatas
for violin and fortepiano (tracks 16, 811). We are also very grateful for access to the autograph of the G Minor Sonata
Allegro giusto (track 8) in the Robert Owen Lehman Collection, on deposit at the Pierpont Morgan Library.

Jacqueline Ross

Jacqueline Ross and Maggie Cole offer copiously researched, historically informed
accounts of Franz Schuberts four contributions to the sonata for violin and keyboard,
performed on period instruments and with due reference to autograph and other relevant
source materials. These youthful works have a Mozartian grace and lucidity, yet
demonstrate the fertile melodic invention and subtle harmonic language of a composer
who had a particular affinity with the human voice. As Beethoven is reported to have
remarked, Truly in Schubert there dwells a divine spark.

Performing on both modern and period instruments, Jacqueline Ross enjoys a unique and varied career. Born in New
York, she studied with Joseph Fuchs at the Juilliard School, continued with Saschko Gawriloff in Cologne, and later studied
baroque violin with Lucy van Dael in Amsterdam. Her acclaimed recordings include the complete Bach Solo Sonatas and
Partitas. Currently Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, she is also on the faculty of Festival
MusicAlp in Courchevel, and Summit Festival in New York. She is regularly invited to give master-classes, and to
adjudicate at major competitions internationally. Her research into performance practice has been supported by the
Dutch Arts and Humanities Research Board, the British Council, and London Centre for Arts and Cultural Exchange, among
others. She has recently been awarded a CMPCP Visiting Fellowship to Cambridge University, where her research will
be applied to the preparation of
a new performing edition for
violin of Schuberts Trockne
Blumen Variations. Her G. B.
Guadagnini violin has been
financed with kind help from NW
Brown and Company.

Franz

SCHUBERT
(17971828)

Complete Works for Violin and Fortepiano 1

Maggie Cole

Sonata in D major,
Op. 137, No. 1, D. 384
1 Allegro molto
2 Andante
3 Allegro vivace

Sonata in A minor,
Op. 137, No. 2, D. 385
Photo: Bruno Heinen

American born, Maggie Cole

enjoys an international musical
life playing and recording as
soloist and in chamber music on
harpsichord, fortepiano and
modern piano. Best known for
her performances of Bach and
a range of seventeenth and
eighteenth century harpsichord
composers, she has also
devoted herself to modern
harpsichord repertoire, including
the concertos by de Falla and
Poulenc and solo works of
Andriessen, Ligeti and Gavin
Bryars. She performs regularly
with the Nash Ensemble, Britten
Sinfonia and the Cambridge
USA group, Sarasa Ensemble.
Her recordings include Bachs
Goldberg Variations, Soler Keyboard Sonatas, Boccherini Sonatas with Steven Isserlis, Bach Flute Sonatas with Philippa
Davies and the complete Bach Violin Sonatas with Catherine Mackintosh. With her fortepiano-based Trio Goya, she has
released a critically acclaimed recording of Haydn Trios. Maggie Cole is a faculty member of Cursos Manuel de Falla in
Granada, Spain, and teaches fortepiano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

4 Allegro molto
5 Andante
6 Menuetto: Allegro
7 Allegro

13:16

Sonata in G minor.
Op. 137, No. 3, D. 408

4:52 8 Allegro giusto

4:13 9 Andante
4:08 0 Menuetto
! Allegro moderato

23:21

16:26
4:49
4:41
2:34
4:18

Sonata in A major,

9:22
Op. post. 162, D. 574
6:39 @ Allegro moderato
2:26 # Scherzo: Presto
4:47 $ Andantino
% Allegro vivace

23:36
9:16
4:17
4:06
5:51

Jacqueline Ross, Violin Maggie Cole, Fortepiano

Recorded at All Saints Church, East Finchley, London, UK, 811 April 2011
Producer: Annabel Connellan Engineer & Editor: Ben Connellan Booklet notes: Robin Stowell
Violin by G B Guadagnini, Turin, 1777 Bow by John Dodd, c. 1790 Fortepiano by Paul McNulty, Divisov,
Czech Republic, 1991, after Anton Walter, Vienna c. 1795; tuned and maintained by Edmund Pickering
Pitch: A = 430 Cover image: Nasturtium engraved by Pierre-Joseph Redoute; published in
Choix Des Plus Belles Fleurs, Paris (1827) ( nicoolay / iStockphoto.com)
Recording supported with funds from the Research Department of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama