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

psychological symbolism of the duality between external and internal experience) may
blur the identity of sonata-form sections. Such innovative procedures – mainly derived
1817
from Schubert’s achievements in song – would ultimately be of great importance for the
next generation of composers. Although firmly rooted in classicism, Schubert’s works
would decisively contribute to the tonal and formal expansions of the Romantics, as
well as to their more ‘horizontal’ thinking. Incidentally, although Mayrhofer was a
strong advocate of the classics, one can easily find Romantic elements in his poetry. The
works of poets like Mayrhofer, Matthias Claudius and Friedrich Schlegel would provide
new directions for Schubert, contributing to his intellectual development and, by
extension, to the development of his music. But such things would happen at a slower
pace. Let us go back to 1817 and to Mayrhofer.
Schubert had already met Mayrhofer in 1814, and by 1817 had set fourteen of
his poems to music. However, it is now that we witness a deepening in the relationship
which would also have musical consequences. From the beginning of the year, we find
masterpieces such as Fahrt zum Hades (Passage to Hades, D526), 3 as well as other
achievements in strophic song such as Wie Ulfru fischt (Ulfru Fishing, D525) and
Schlaflied (Lullaby, D527). In February, Schubert writes his last Ossian song, the ballad
Die Nacht (The Night, D534), and four settings of Claudius. Die Nacht is worth
mentioning for two reasons: it is interesting because its mood and musical idiom look
ahead to the extraordinary ‘Wagnerian’ oratorio Lazarus of 1820; 4 but this song and the
Ossian settings in general also show a clear difference in conception to that of
Schubert’s contemporaneous settings of Mayrhofer’s classical themes. While the Ossian
songs are nearer to folk song tradition, the Mayrhofer settings lean much more in an
operatic direction, often transporting Gluck’s sense of drama into the drawing room. 5
The poetry of Matthias Claudius would also play an important part in
Schubert’s development as a song-writer, introducing him to nascent Romantic ideas. 6
Among the Claudius settings from February, we find the famous Der Tod und das
Mädchen (Death and the Maiden, D531), whose musical material Schubert would use,
as in several other cases, in his instrumental works. In this particular case, we find the
piano prelude and part of the accompaniment to the second half adopted as the theme
of the second movement of the String Quartet in D minor of 1824 (D810), dubbed
‘Death and the Maiden’ for that very reason. Der Jüngling und der Tod (The Youth and
Death, text by Josef von Spaun, D545) is a similar case. Written in March, also on a
poem about death (perhaps as a result of the popularity of Der Tod und das Mädchen),
its introduction bears a connection to the theme of the Wanderer and points forwards
to the large-scale piano work of 1822, the Wanderer Fantasy. 7
Schubert’s progress in Lieder at this time is far beyond that of his piano sonatas
– at least, until July’s F-sharp minor Sonata (D571), which marks a clear change of
direction. Johann Mayrhofer’s influence may be seen in how Schubert seemed to
gravitate around his friend’s poems on mythological themes. They often possessed
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