Sonata in B-flat major

At a glance

• What it isthe third movement of the Piano Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960. It is the third of four movements, a quick, light scherzo.
• Who and whenFranz Schubert finished it around September 1828, about two months before he died.
• What to listen forsounds that move lightly, as if tapped with the fingertips, and the change of mood in the middle.

Listen for

• The openingthe heading of the score reads "Allegro vivace con delicatezza," meaning lively, quick and delicate. Listen for sounds that touch lightly rather than push hard.
• The middle section"scherzo" is Italian for "joke." A movement like this usually has a contrasting middle section called the trio. Compare it with what came before: how do the brightness and the pace change?
• The returnin this kind of movement the opening music usually comes back after the middle section. Notice how it feels different the second time you hear it.

When it was written

1828 was Schubert's last year. In March he gave his first public concert made up entirely of his own music. Then, around September, he finished three piano sonatas one after another: D. 958, D. 959 and D. 960. D. 960 is the last of the three.

In November, Schubert died at thirty-one. The three sonatas were not published in his lifetime; they appeared in print only about ten years later. As with so much of his music, the world came to know it only after he was gone.