Piano Sonata in E minor, D 566 (Schubert) explained

The Piano Sonata in E minor 566 by Franz Schubert is a sonata for solo piano written in June 1817. The original manuscript appeared to lack a finale.^[1] Ludwig Scheibler (1848-1921) was the first to suggest in 1905 that the Rondo in E, D.506 might be that movement.^[2] The British composer and musicologist Kathleen Dale produced the first edition using this suggestion in 1948.^[3] The 1976 Henle edition by Paul Badura-Skoda followed the same practice.^[4]

Movements

I. Moderato

E minor

Harald Krebs has noted the use of Charles Fisk's "search for thematic identity" in his discussion of the sonata's opening theme.^[5]

II. Allegretto

E major

III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace - Trio

A-flat major

(IV. Rondo: Allegretto, D 506)

E major

D 506 has been associated with the last piece of Fünf Klavierstücke (D 459A/3) and the Adagio D 349 too as a set of movements that might form a sonata.^[6]

The work takes approximately 20 minutes to perform or 25–30 minutes with the rondo finale.

Notes and References

1. Tirimo, Martino. Schubert: The Complete Piano Sonatas. Vienna: Wiener Urtext Edition, 1997.
2. [Maurice J. E. Brown]
3. https://www.sheetmusicwarehouse.co.uk/classical-piano/sonata-in-e-minor-piano-solo-british-continental-music-agencies/ Schubert, Sonata in E Minor, British & Continental Music Agencies Edition No. 60 (1948)
4. 'Klaviersonaten, Bd. III by Franz Schubert', reviewed by Howard Ferguson in Music & Letters Vol. 58, No. 4 (October 1977), p. 495
5. 10.1525/mts.2003.25.2.388 . Krebs . Harald . Review of Charles Fisk's Returning Cycles: Contexts for the Interpretation of Schubert's Impromptus and Last Sonatas . Music Theory Spectrum . 25 . 2 . 388–400 . Autumn 2003 . 10.1525/mts.2003.25.2.388.
6. F. Bisogni, quoted in Walburga Litschauer's Preface to Schubert: Piano Sonatas I. Bärenreiter 2000