Schubert Sonata in C minor, D.958, Phil Grant, piano

Franz Schubert, his entire short life, felt under the shadow of Beethoven. When he was 15, after Beethoven had written his first eight symphonies, Schubert said, “Who can do anything after Beethoven?” But nine years later, when he realized he had acquired syphilis, he composed his own Symphony No. 8, the “Unfinished,” which to my mind surpassed the 8 of Beethoven. And not for nothing, when shown only a few of Schubert’s early songs, did Beethoven say, “He too has the divine spark,” and “This one will surpass me.”

Beethoven’s 9th came two years later and will almost certainly remain the greatest work of any kind ever composed, tied for first with Bach’s Art of the Fugue (see my renditions of the latter and the performance I consider the greatest of the former). But it obviously inspired Schubert’s 9th two years later, which along with the 8th I consider the second greatest symphonies.

Two years later Schubert composed three sonatas in his last months, more or less at the same time, but the C minor is considered the first. It could be considered what Schubert had to go through — or allow to flow through him — to get to the supernal serenity of the B-flat (again, see my rendition along with my essay — excerpt from my book — "The Last Sonata," discussing it, much of which applies to the C minor). (The middle Sonata in A major I find a little less interesting.) He was obviously inspired by Beethoven's final three—30, 31, and 32—and especially in the C minor of which the first movement opens with a powerful short staccato theme not unlike the Beethoven 32 in C minor, and similarly fades away at the end. I find it at least as powerful as the Beethoven.

The second movement, while not as profound as that of 32, is an utter gem. The third and fourth are uniquely stirring; when I played parts of the latter for my mother 40 years ago she said, "I will be dreaming of that tonight."

Also of note is that Beethoven was working on a quintet in C with two cellos when he died. Schubert is said to have visited him on his deathbed and both were close friends with the amateur violinist Carl Holz (whose quartet played Beethoven's greatest quartet, the 14th, for Schubert on his deathbed). Schubert's final work just happened to be the great Quintet in C — with two cellos! — which comes very very close, especially in the second movement, to Beethoven's late quartets. My favorite performance is by the Lindsay Quartet.

And of even further interest is that this quintet was not performed until 1850 and not published until 1853. I find it of greatest interest that my favorite work of Brahms, the Trio No. 1 in B major, was written in 1854 when Brahms was only 20 years old. Although he revised it in 1889, the greatest parts were left untouched. I truly have to wonder if Brahms heard an early performance of the Schubert Quintet and was profoundly influenced by it. If anyone can enlighten me on this subject, please do so.

This is from Wikipedia: "From 1845 to 1848 Brahms studied with Cossel's teacher, the pianist and composer Eduard Marxsen (1806–1887). Marxsen had been a personal acquaintance of Beethoven and Schubert, admired the works of Mozart and Haydn, and was a devotee of the music of J. S. Bach. Marxsen conveyed to Brahms the tradition of these composers and ensured that Brahms's own compositions were grounded in that tradition."