Franz Peter Schubert (1797 – 1828) was an Austrian
composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras.
Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a vast
oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works
(mainly lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred
music, operas, incidental music, and a large body of
piano and chamber music. His major works include the
art song "Erlkönig", the Piano Trout Quintet in A
major, the unfinished Symphony No. 8 in B minor, the
"Great" Symphony No. 9 in ...(+)
Franz Peter Schubert (1797 – 1828) was an Austrian
composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras.
Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a vast
oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works
(mainly lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred
music, operas, incidental music, and a large body of
piano and chamber music. His major works include the
art song "Erlkönig", the Piano Trout Quintet in A
major, the unfinished Symphony No. 8 in B minor, the
"Great" Symphony No. 9 in C major, a String Quintet,
the three last piano sonatas, the opera Fierrabras, the
incidental music to the play Rosamunde, and the song
cycles Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise. He was
remarkably prolific, writing over 1,500 works in his
short career. His compositional style progressed
rapidly throughout his short life. The largest number
of his compositions are songs for solo voice and piano
(roughly 630). Schubert also composed a considerable
number of secular works for two or more voices, namely
part songs, choruses and cantatas. He completed eight
orchestral overtures and seven complete symphonies, in
addition to fragments of six others. While he composed
no concertos, he did write three concertante works for
violin and orchestra. Schubert wrote a large body of
music for solo piano, including eleven incontrovertibly
completed sonatas and at least eleven more in varying
states of completion, numerous miscellaneous works and
many short dances, in addition to producing a large set
of works for piano four hands. He also wrote over fifty
chamber works, including some fragmentary works.
Schubert's sacred output includes seven masses, one
oratorio and one requiem, among other mass movements
and numerous smaller compositions. He completed only
eleven of his twenty stage works.
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 first two pieces in
the first set were published in the composer's lifetime
as Op. 90; the second set was published posthumously as
Op. 142 in 1839 (with a dedication added by the
publisher to Franz Liszt). The third and fourth pieces
in the first set were published in 1857 (although the
third piece was printed by the publisher in G major,
instead of G? as Schubert had written it, and remained
available only in this key for many years). 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. Three other unnamed piano compositions (D. 946),
written in May 1828, a few months before the composer's
death, are known as both "Impromptus" and
Klavierstücke ("piano pieces"). The Impromptus are
often considered companion pieces to the Six moments
musicaux, and they are often recorded and published
together. It has been said that Schubert was deeply
influenced in writing these pieces by the Impromptus,
Op. 7 (1822) of Jan Václav Vo?íšek and by the music
of Vo?íšek's teacher Václav Tomášek.
Four Impromptus (D. 899 Op. 90): The first set was
composed in 1827, though only the first two were
published during Schubert's lifetime. The first
Impromptu in C minor blends elements of sonata,
variation, and through-composed structures. The second
Impromptu in E? major is a swift "moto perpetuo" with a
ternary design. The third Impromptu is a flowing and
meditative piece in G? major, characterized by long
melodic lines and unbroken triadic accompaniment. The
fourth and final Impromptu, in A? major, starts in A?
minor and is characterized by cascading arpeggios and a
chordal response
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impromptus_(Schubert))
Although originally composed for Solo Piano, I created
this Interpretation of the Impromptu in G? Major (D.899
Op. 90 No. 3) for Flute & Concert (Pedal) Harp.
