Performance Practice of Schubert's Last Piano Sonata
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Performance Practice of Schubert’s Last Piano Sonata Irene Comesaña Aguilar Codarts Hogeschool voor de kunsten [email protected] ABSTRACT Schnabel, Sviatoslav Richter, Alfred Brendel, András Schiff, Malcolm Bilson and Paul Badura-Skoda. Considered nowadays a milestone among some pianists’ repertoire, Franz Schubert’s Sonata in B flat Major is not The selected recordings are just a small sample of what only remarkably long and complex in structure, but also different views on this piece one can have, but there are full of details that make this piece worthy of a deeper study. many others that would deserve to be commented as well. Nevertheless, the Sonata was only re-discovered by the I chose these particular ones based on chronological Russian School of the 20th Century, establishing a very overview, contrasting interpretations and impact on the specific performance practice of it that was not concerned performance practice of the piece due to its popularity or with historical approach. This paper aims to analyze written essays that support the musician's ideas. I also different sources from Schubert’s time, as well as tried to compare recordings that use different contemporary articles about the subject, in order to get as instruments, since it is a very important aspect when close as possible to the original ideas of the composer. researching on historical interpretation. All the observed Keywords parameters were also applied in further specific sub Performance practice, Franz Schubert, Historical questions. performance, Piano literature The first recording of the Sonata was made in 1939 by Artur Schnabel and it serves as a highly valuable source ’Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of of information due to its historical value. His tempi this work for personal or classroom use is granted under became a reference to many later interpretations of the the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution- piece; however, the recording of Sviatoslav Richter Share Alike (CC BY-SA) license and that copies bear this differs in many aspects from Schnabel’s. He chooses an notice and the full citation on the first page’’ extremely slow tempo for the First Movement, whereas for the rest of the piece his tempi are faster. Due to his SRC 2018, November 9, 2018, The Netherlands. numerous writings about Schubert's last sonatas, Alfred Brendel's interpretation is worth mentioning. He chooses to adjust the tempo of the piece according to the character INTRODUCTION and material of each section, creating a big contrast between the different parts rather than keeping a unified It is of mutual agreement that the best interpreters are the vision of the whole movement. Another pianist who also ones that understand the meaning of the music they perform spoke about the Sonata repeatedly is András Schiff. His the most and that are able to deliver the message that the first recording of the piece was made for the Decca label composer wanted to convey in the clearest possible way. in 1995 playing a Bösendorfer piano. Later on, in 2015, Nevertheless, if we hear the same work performed by a he recorded the Sonata for ECM on an 1820’s Viennese selection of the considered “best interpreters” not only we fortepiano, despite his early opposition to performing on perceive significant differences in their playing, but we could such instruments1. Malcolm Bilson and Paul Badura- even guess who is playing only by listening. Skoda both recorded the piece on period instruments and, From this apparent paradox, we can conclude two things: surprisingly enough, their interpretations are extremely that the personality and the ego of the interpreter is also a free, even though they are considered a part of the very important part of their work, and cannot be eliminated Performance Practice Movement. from the performance, and that it is almost impossible to truly understand the text in the context that it was written. THE INSTRUMENT By comparing different recordings of the piece, studying the characteristics of the Viennese pianos of Schubert’s time, By the end of the 18th century, there were two main and analyzing the manuscript and different editions of the types of keyboard instruments being developed in score, it is the purpose of this paper to get rid of preset ideas Europe: the Viennese (fortepiano) and the English about the Sonata and understand how it would have been (pianoforte). The first ones, made by Johann Andreas played at the time of the composition. Stein (early 1770) and developed later by piano makers such as Anton Walter and Conrad Graf, were substantially different from the English, developed by RECORDING HISTORY OF THE SONATA Americus Backers and John Broadwood, that would In order to have an overview of the history of the ultimately lead to the well-known brand Steinway & recording of Schubert's last sonata, I chose 6 different Sons (1853). pianists that I find relevant for understanding the evolution of the interpretation of the piece: Artur 1 Schiff, A. (1995) The mechanism of the Viennese fortepianos is simpler; provides for this peculiarity. In Wiener Urtext, we can read: the hammer is fixed on the key and points toward the “mm. 2-3, 11-12 rh beat 4 middle part: at Cp mm. 217-218, player. They have a lighter, quicker, refined action and a 226-227 Ms [Autograph] has one quarter-note f' instead of very sensitive touch. The tone decay is bigger and the two 8th-notes. Difference obviously intended.” registers have more differences in tone quality. Because On the other hand, Bärenreiter, which writes a dotted slur of the heavier mechanism of the Steinway, fast and between the two eight notes of the beginning suggests “The articulated passages with a leggiero feeling require more ties have been added for consistency with mm. 217,218, 226 strength and training than in a Viennese fortepiano, and and 227, which have a quarter-note instead of the two eight- these are quite frequent in Schubert's piano music. notes in these bars.” Due to the crossed strings and the iron frame of the Finally, Henle Urtext writes: “The two eight-notes of the modern piano, the registers are more unified and the middle voice of the last beat in the upper staff here and in length of the tone bigger. On the other hand, the strings of the following passages are without tie according to a Viennese fortepiano carry far less tension, and the autograph and first edition. In the recapitulation from M 217 hammers are smaller and harder. As a result, an intimate on, Schubert in several instances wrote a quarter note instead singing quality is easier to be achieved on the second one, of two eight-notes. Whether or not the composer intended whereas in a modern piano one has to struggle to get a this notation throughout is open to question.” soft and quiet melody to sing without the left hand While Wiener and Bärenreiter assume opposite positions on disturbing it or being too plain and inexpressive. the subject, Henle gives the performer the possibility of choosing to play them in the same way or distinctively, I am not in the opinion that a composer's music should being more impartial and just conveying what is written in only be played on the same instrument for which it was the original source. written because different tones and types of sound can Other discrepancies regarding dynamics and articulation are also bring out hidden qualities of the piece that might not analyzed in depth in the full-lenght paper, as well as the so- be enjoyed on a period instrument. But I also think that it called theory of alignment. This refers to the possible is not wise to forget what tools they had in hand when simultaneity of rhythms that are mathematically not together they created their works because that influences but that are, in fact, meant to be played at the same time. In inevitably the characteristics of the piece. Extremes are to Schubert's music there are many examples of this, and the B be avoided. Neglecting the possibilities that a modern flat Sonata is not an exception. In measure 52 of the Second piano can offer when performing an older piece is as movement, Schubert writes a double dotted sixteenth note misguided as disregarding the qualities of period against an accompaniment made of sixteenth triplets, which instruments and considering them “primitive instruments” would not fall together mathematically. Nevertheless, that were more limited and poorer in sound. several aspects of this specific fragment should be taken into account when performing it. First of all, this melody has been presented for the first time in bar 43, but this time with THE SCORE a regular sixteenth accompaniment. One could say that Different editions Schubert's first idea of this melody relies on a regular 3/4 One of the most crucial aspects for a thorough study on any rhythm that he happens to slightly modify later on with a piece of music is the source of information: the score. triplet feeling, but the melody remains the same. Also, taking Performers usually read from the most reliable editions that into account the obvious lyricism of the passage, it would are available, the so-called Urtext. These are the ones that, sound forced and too energetic to play the 32nd in the real by definition, attempt to reproduce the original text of the measure. Looking at how editors deal with this issue, we can composer in the closest possible way, using the autograph see that Wiener Urtext, the First Edition and Bärenreiter and first editions of the piece.