Schubert's Last Sonatas - Reception, Criticism and Influence

Reception, Criticism and Influence

Schubert's piano sonatas seem to have been mostly neglected during the entire nineteenth century, often dismissed for being too long, lacking in formal coherence, being un-pianistic, etc. However, references to the last sonatas can be found among two nineteenth-century Romantic composers who took serious interest in Schubert's music and were influenced by it: Schumann and Brahms.

Schumann, the last sonatas' dedicatee, reviewed the works in his Neue Zeitschrift für Musik in 1838, upon their publication. He seems to have been largely disappointed by the sonatas, criticizing their "much greater simplicity of invention" and Schubert's "voluntary renunciation of shining novelty, where he usually sets himself such high standards", and claiming the sonatas "ripple along from page to page as if without end, never in doubt as to how to continue, always musical and singable, interrupted here and there by stirrings of some vehemence which, however, are rapidly stilled". Schumann's criticism seems to fit the general negative attitude maintained towards these works during the nineteenth century.

Brahms's attitude towards the last sonatas was different. Brahms found special interest in Schubert's piano sonatas, and expressed his wish to "study them in depth". In her diary, Clara Schumann mentioned Brahms's playing of the B-flat Sonata, and praised his performance. In Brahms's works dating from the early 1860s, a clear Schubertian influence can be observed, in features such as closed lyrical themes, distant harmonic relationships, and use of the three-key exposition. Two of these works, the First String Sextet and the Piano Quintet, contain specific features that resemble Schubert's B-flat Sonata.

The negative attitude towards Schubert's piano sonatas persisted well into the twentieth century. Only around the centennial of Schubert's death did these works begin to receive serious attention and critical acclaim, with the writings of Donald Francis Tovey, and the public performances of Artur Schnabel and Eduard Erdmann. During the following decades, the sonatas, and especially the final trilogy, received growing attention, and by the end of the century, came to be regarded as essential members of the classical piano repertoire, frequently appearing on concert programs, studio recordings, and musicological writings. Some late twentieth century scholars have even argued that Schubert's last sonatas should rank together with Beethoven's most mature sonatas. The B-flat Sonata, the last of them all, has gained the highest acclaim and popularity among the three.