Schubert Fantasy in F minor; Piano Four Hands, D. 940

[gvans]

The more I play Franz Schubert, the more I marvel at the composer's range of emotion and complexity. As with Mozart, Chopin, and Gershwin, he died too young, leaving us to wonder what he might have done had he lived into his forties or fifties.

This piece, a symphony for piano four hands, has four movements connected brilliantly. The opening thematic material reappears throughout, connecting a funeral march, a scherzo, and concluding with a dramatic fugue. Written during the final year of Schubert's life (1828), it is full of angst and power. Every time we play it I get chills.

The following recording is from a recent concert at La Jolla Library; the piano is a Yamaha C-6, and Erica Poole is playing primum. The pianist playing secundum (moi) did a bit of composing in the opening measures, but settled down quickly.

[emill]

hello,

Although I did not get the "chills", I did get riveted and enjoyed the whole piece.
CONGRATULATIONS!

[gvans]

Thanks, emill, for your kind words.
It's that fugue at the end, playing it is quite the rush...

[rachfan]

Hi,

Bravo and Brava!  Wow, it's been awhile since I last heard this great music.  I really enjoyed your rendition.  It is very well synchronized between the hands.  You also brought out the angst, drama, and tenderness throughout.  Thanks for posting your recording!

David 

[cbreemer]

A solid performance, all the more as it is live. The sort of little things that happen are not the least distracting. Well done ! It is a pity that the sound is a bit recessed. making it hard to hear all the details. I thought it was a bit lacking in bite and attack in some places, but that could just as well be
the recording. 

[mjames]

Imo Franz Schubert's loss cant be compared with Chopin's or Mozart's. By the time the latter died, they had already established their own musical language. Whereas for Schubert he was still in process of finding himself. Compare the music from the D.950s to D.900 to D.850. This guy. Whenever I play his music, or listen to it, I get sad because of the fact of what he could have done if he lived a few more years. To me Mozart and Chopin gave me all that they could have given to me whereas with Schubert i still feel like he was incomplete. Just listen to his final quartet...otherworldly. Ugh. I hate this.


Anyways, great performance man. Love it.

[gvans]

Thanks for your kind words,  rachfan, cbreemer, and mjames. This particular piano lives in a very dry hall, lots of carpet and wall covering there eats sounds, especially bite and attack. We're playing it again tonight in a much livelier venue, a wet hall where I will use way less pedal. Also, the pedal was tough to work on this particular piano, hard to add a subtle lightening of the dampers. As secundo, I now have a great appreciation for the difficulty of working the pedal for someone else.

I agree with you, mjames, Schubert was just establishing his own language. Luckily for us he did compose in a white heat his last year (1828), producing masterpiece after masterpiece (including this Fantasia), as if he knew the end was coming.