The Unfinished Piano Sonatas of Franz Schubert Javier ... - Ethesis

1824-1828
obvious and therefore a cul-de-sac in his quest for a truly personal finale. When
comparing this movement with the other Schubert finales written around the same time,
we can notice how the finished ones stylistically distance themselves from the Classics
and are more genuinely ‘Schubertian’ – with the possible exception of the perplexing
final movement of the D major Sonata (D850). On the other hand, there could be a
more mundane reason, i.e. the long summer trip to Upper Austria that Schubert began
in mid-May. Perhaps he intended finishing the Menuetto and providing a convincing
finale to the Sonata later in the year. However, when Schubert left a work unfinished, he
seldom returned to it. Meanwhile, the nineteen-week ‘summer holiday’ would be the
longest and happiest in Schubert’s life. Most importantly, in July, he at last embarked
on his long-desired goal: the Symphony in C major (Great, D944). Work on this
monumental piece would demand much of Schubert’s energy and focus right through to
the beginning of the following year, by which time his plans for a set of piano sonatas
had probably been altered and the ‘Reliquie,’ in reality or metaphorically, no longer lay
on his desk.
The Sonata in C major would be the last of Schubert’s unfinished sonatas for
the piano. From 1825 onwards, he would complete all of the large-scale instrumental
works that he embarked upon, including six extended piano sonatas. By this time, he
was technically and emotionally ready to integrate the idiosyncrasies of his own musical
idiom with traditional instrumental forms, thereby making them his own. And, in so
doing, Schubert opened up new worlds of expression and effectively served as the true
link between the Classicists and the Romantics, paving the way for generations to come.
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