Schubert: Impromptu No 3 Opus 90

Franz Schubert is the first great musician to born in Vienna. The son of a schoolteacher of peasant ancestry, and of a maid whose father was a locksmith, his modest origin was no obstacle to lead a pleasant childhood in the capital of the empire, a city that, with few exceptions, the little Franz never left since his birth in 1797 until his early death, at age 31, in 1828.

These are precisely the years when our beloved Beethoven lived in Vienna. Consequently, for at least twenty years both musicians lived in the same city, and even though Schubert venerated Beethoven, interestingly that they never met, although there seems to have been some rapprochement in the last months of the great master's life.

The reason is simple enough. They had common friendships belonging to circles of different social, cultural and political significance. Whilst the young Ludwig would be hunting the daughters of his noble friends, little Franz (only five feet in height and shortsighted), barely could reach to look a little beyond its narrow surroundings and fixed his eyes, when sixteen, in the younger sister of his brother Ignaz’s woman.

Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828) 

The four Impromptus, opus 90, composed in the summer of 1827, are perhaps the "small pieces" of Schubert that have gained more popularity. (In the cataloguing of a gentleman with a surname Deutsch, they are identified as "D 899".) The "form" impromptu, already widely used by that time and characterized by being completely free, almost an improvisation, was going to acquire great boom and presence throughout the romantic period.

Impromptu No 3, Opus 90 - Vladimir Horowitz

The right hand does almost all the work here, with the little finger or "fifth finger" in charge of the melody and the others engaged in the arpeggiated accompaniment, which must maintain, let us say, a "low profile" throughout the piece. The left hand holds the bass, becoming protagonist at times by adding a small amount of drama to this essentially, simple piece.

The rendering of the maestro Vladimir Horowitz has been chosen not only for his pianistic excellence but because it constitutes a unique overflow of commitment, sympathy and good vibes.

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