Franz Schubert, Impromptus Op 142

In the painting, a view of Kettenbrücken street, in the town of Neu Wieden, near Vienna. Ferdinand Schubert, Franz's older brother, and also a musician and composer, had his rooms in these buildings.
Franz Schubert moved there at the end of the summer of 1828 in search of healthier airs than those Vienna had to offer. He was ill and urgently needed his lungs to clear up, so that he could start composing again. Besides, he wanted to improve his knowledge of counterpoint and fugues technique.  For that, he needed time and a renewed mood.

Depression and the death of the idol
For two years his health had seriously deteriorated. The rejection of his nomination for the vacant post of court chapel director was followed by the death of the revered Beethoven in 1827. Franz fell into a severe state of depression. It is true that Beethoven's luster perhaps darkened Schubert's own brilliance, yet this did not prejudice Franz against him, although on one occasion he expressed serious doubts to a friend that anyone, including himself, was capable of surpassing the master. On Beethoven's death, despite his frail health and intolerable depression, little Franz, together with all his friends, accompanied the cortege, carrying one of the torches himself, as tradition has it.

Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828)

Despite his weak spiritual condition, Franz's creative genius did not wane. From that year are, among others, the Trios for piano and string, the Musical Moments and the highly celebrated eight Impromptus, composed in the autumn of 1827, and which make up Opus 90 and 142. It was not until that year that Viennese publishers began to glimpse that they might have before them a musician of true worth.

The end
Perhaps this explains that only the first two of the four impromptus of Opus 90 (or D. 899, according to the reviewer of his catalog, Otto Erich Deutsch), were published during the composer's lifetime.

The remaining two and the four impromptus of Opus 142 (D. 935) only saw the public light in the year 1857, almost thirty years after its composition and the death of their author, in the most absolute poverty and graciously lodged in the house of his brother Ferdinand.

His possessions at the time of his death, at the age of 31, were some clothing and a good number of scores, the value of which was estimated at 63 guilders. The funeral expenses amounted to 270.

Four Impromptus, Opus 142

Schubert's Impromptus are perhaps the composer's "little pieces" that have grown in popularity. More or less close to Chopin's nocturnes, they nevertheless possess their own personality and clearly show a deep and solid romantic musicality, even exhibiting a certain dramatism within the grace and charm that is proper to them.

The four impromptus are presented here as a complete work – following the concert tradition – in the rendition of the Russian pianist Alexei Volodin.

00:00  N ° 1 in F minor. Written in rondo form: a main theme alternates with a contrasting one.

09:28  N ° 2 in A flat major. Its opening bars are vividly reminiscent of those of Beethoven's Sonata No. 12. Schubert has likely "borrowed" them, it was not uncommon at the time.

16:49  N ° 3 in B flat major. Perhaps the most popular of all. A theme with variations. In this case, Schubert lent himself the main theme, taking it from the incidental music that he was asked to compose for the theatrical drama Rosamunda.

26:46  N ° 4 in F minor. An intense piece, the most demanding of all the Impromptus. It ends spectacularly with a right-hand scale that runs across the keyboard from one end to the other.