The Arpeggione Sonata has the essential Viennese quality of smiling through tears. Schubert does this with sudden key changes from major to minor, highly chromatic harmonies, and elegant textures that connect it all.
A subtle musical detail that has delighted me for years, and which I encourage you to listen for, is Schubert’s use of dotted rhythms. Take the opening movemen of the piece. The second and third notes are a dotted-quarter followed by an eighth note; long – short.
II. Adagio The second movement is a song sung at night, probably in a forest, probably with a full moon, and definitely after experiencing some emotional trauma (all tropes from Schubert’s songs). What is extraordinary about this song-without-words is its structure. One would expect a set of repeating verses, verse-chorus, or A-B-A. Instead, Schubert goes in for A-B-C!
III. Allegretto- Upon reaching the opening of the third movement one can all but smell the alpine meadows, hear the sheep, and see the little shepherds and shepherdesses. What we are hearing is actually a major key version of the opening melody of the first movement. The melodic contour is the same, but the key defining notes of C and F are now C# and F#. The rhythm has also undergone a development. Can you guess the development? Dotted rhythms. Everything is now lilting dotted-quarter eighths!
Here is Mr. Zukerman who will play this delightful music for you:
