Volume 5

For the fifth installment of the highly acclaimed Schubert+ series, Can Çakmur contrasts the Viennese composer for the first time with his illustrious predecessor, Ludwig van Beethoven. After Schubert had perfected the art song genre, he still had to prove his full potential in the realm of piano sonatas, a quintessentially Beethovenian form. In his Sonate in A majeur, D. 664, he loosens the traditionally oppositional character of the sonata and devotes himself to a melodious narrative in which landscapes seem to change gradually, as if viewed from the perspective of a traveler. In doing so, he offers an approach that is both fresh and personal. Beethoven is represented here by a series of variations, a genre in which he also excelled. The 32 variations in c minor range from tender longing to emotional unrest reminiscent of the Appassionata sonata. With the Sonate in c klein, D. 958, from 1828, the first part of his outstanding final trilogy, Schubert confirmed his claim to be considered as Beethoven's successor as a composer of piano sonatas. In a work that Can Çakmur views as a homage to Beethoven, Schubert achieves a synthesis of the master's influence and the lyricism of his own early sonatas. Only a few weeks before his death, the younger composer finally sits alongside the older master and conducts an equal conversation with him.