Schubert: Piano Sonata & Moments musicaux Steven Osborne

• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): Piano Sonata No. 20 in A Major, D. 959:
• 1 Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 20 in A Major, D. 959: I. Allegro 14:58
• 2 Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 20 in A Major, D. 959: II. Andantino 08:40
• 3 Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 20 in A Major, D. 959: III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace 04:55
• 4 Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 20 in A Major, D. 959: IV. Rondo. Allegretto 12:50
• Moments musicaux, D. 780:
• 5 Schubert: Moments musicaux, D. 780: No. 1 in C Major. Moderato 05:08
• 6 Schubert: Moments musicaux, D. 780: No. 2 in A-Flat Major. Andantino 05:57
• 7 Schubert: Moments musicaux, D. 780: No. 3 in F Minor. Allegro moderato 01:41
• 8 Schubert: Moments musicaux, D. 780: No. 4 in C-Sharp Minor. Moderato 04:46
• 9 Schubert: Moments musicaux, D. 780: No. 5 in F Minor. Allegro vivace 01:52
• 10 Schubert: Moments musicaux, D. 780: No. 6 in A-Flat Major. Allegretto 07:15
• Total Runtime 01:08:02

Info for Schubert: Piano Sonata & Moments musicaux

Along with two other piano sonatas and the sublime String Quintet, the A major Piano Sonata D959 is one of the four visionary masterpieces Schubert finished in 1828 which were to be among the very last things he wrote. On a less imposing scale, the six Moments musicaux reveal an alternative side to the composer.

The romantic myth of Schubert’s neglect and isolation from the Viennese musical mainstream dies hard. With the championship of the operatic baritone Johann Michael Vogl, his fame as a song composer had grown rapidly since the publication of Erlkönig as his Opus 1 in 1821. His songs, partsongs and piano dances were in demand among publishers. In 1827 Schubert was elected to the committee of the Vienna Philharmonic Society. By then his social circle included professional musicians, notably the Bohemian pianist Carl Maria von Bocklet, as well as friends such as Josef von Spaun, a loyal companion and supporter since school days; the rich dilettante Franz von Schober—generous, but also fickle and egocentric; the painter Moritz von Schwind; and the dramatist Eduard von Bauernfeld.

With the rapid growth of the lucrative (especially for publishers) domestic market in the early nineteenth century, there was a steady demand for the short, ‘characteristic’ piano piece that made relatively modest demands on the player’s technique. Beethoven’s sets of bagatelles are cases in point. In 1822 the Vienna-based Bohemian composer Jan Voríšek, who moved in the same circles as Schubert, published a set of miniatures under the then novel title ‘impromptus’. They sold well; and Schubert capitalized on this trend both with his own impromptus—though in several instances he gave the publishers rather more than they bargained for—and with the six pieces published in 1828 as ‘Momens musicals’ by the firm of Sauer & Leidesdorf, whose eye for a catchy moniker evidently exceeded their grasp of French. ...

Steven Osborne, piano

Steven Osborne OBE
is one of Britain’s most treasured musicians with an immense depth of musicality and exceptional refinement of expression across diverse repertoire be it in Beethoven or Messiaen, Schubert or Ravel, Prokofiev or jazz improvisations. His numerous awards include The Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist of the Year, two BBC Music Magazine Awards and two Gramophone Awards.

His residences at London’s Wigmore Hall, Antwerp’s deSingel, the Bath International Music Festival, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra are a testament to the respect he commands. Described by The Observer as “always a player in absolute service to the composer”, Steven Osborne’s 32 recordings on Hyperion have won multiple awards. His two 2021 releases, Prokofiev’s War

Sonatas, and French works for piano duet with Paul Lewis, were both shortlisted for a Gramophone Award.

Steven Osborne’s recitals are publicly and critically acclaimed without exception, and his 22/23 programmes revisit his recent recording repertoire of Beethoven and Rachmaninov interspersed with his own improvisations and another of his much-admired composers, Schubert. Osborne has performed at many of the world’s prestigious venues including the Wiener Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlin Phillharmonie, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Kennedy Center Washington and is a regular guest at both Lincoln Center and Wigmore Hall.

Concerto performances take Steven Osborne to major orchestras all over the world including recent visits to the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Radio Symphonieorchester Wien, Oslo Philharmonic, Danish National Radio, London Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Aspen Music Festival and Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center with repertoire ranging from Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Ravel, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich and Messiaen through to Tippett, Britten and Julian Anderson who dedicated his 2017 Piano Concerto to Steven. The 22/23 season sees him return to the London Philharmonic Orchestra to perform the Tippett Piano Concerto with Ed Gardner and performances with the Stuttgart Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Singapore Symphony, West Australian Symphony, Adelaide Symphony and the Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de Sao Paulo.

Recording plans continue with his 33rd release for Hyperion in autumn 2022, the next instalment in his survey of solo works by Debussy. A label artist since 1998, his recordings have accumulated numerous awards in the UK, France, Germany and the USA including two Gramophone Awards, three Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik Awards and a Choc in Classica Magazine in addition to a clutch of Editor’s Choice in Gramophone and Recordings of the Year from The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Times and The Sunday Times. His recordings span a wide range of repertoire including Beethoven, Schubert, Debussy, Ravel, Liszt, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Medtner, Messiaen, Britten, Tippett, Crumb and Feldman.

Steven Osborne won first prize at the prestigious Clara Haskil Competition (1991) and the Naumburg International Competition (1997). Born in Scotland he studied with Richard Beauchamp at St. Mary's Music School in Edinburgh and Renna Kellaway at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He is Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Patron of the Lammermuir Festival and in 2014 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to music in the 2022 Queen’s New Year Honours.

Booklet for Schubert: Piano Sonata & Moments musicaux