Schubert’s Impromptu No. 3 in G-Flat Major: Krystian Zimerman

Franz Schubert composed a set of eight solo piano Impromptus (D. 899 and D. 935) in the summer and autumn of 1827, months before the creation of his Winterreise song cycle, and a year before his death at the age of 31. The title, suggesting an improvisatory character piece in three-part form (A-B-A) was chosen by Schubert’s Viennese publisher, Tobias Haslinger. Long before recordings, at a time when pianos were becoming increasingly inexpensive for the mass consumer, these pieces were played in homes as popular music.

In the opening of the Impromptu No. 3 in G-Flat Major, Op. 90, D. 899, a crystalline melody floats above a serene sea of arpeggios. With a sense of celestial aspiration, the expansive melody reaches upwards before falling back. It is at once a mediative nocturne and a prayer in the vein of Schubert’s Ave Maria. With sudden, transformative modulations, the Impromptu’s second section grows more turbulent. A new bass voice takes centerstage with rumbling trills and boldly rising triplets. There are echoes of the haunting, shadowy nighttime intruder of Schubert’s terrifying song, Der Erlkonig. For a moment, calm returns, and we seem to have escaped, until suddenly we are again confronted with its menacing presence.

With this unfolding drama, the G-Flat Major Impromptu takes its place alongside Schubert’s 600 songs, this time as a song without words.

Here is a recording by Krystian Zimerman:

Recordings

  • Schubert: Impromptu No. 3 in G-flat Major, Op. 90, D. 899, Krystian Zimerman Deutsche Grammophon

Featured Image: “Northern Sea in the Moonlight” (1824), Caspar David Friedrich

About Timothy Judd

A native of Upstate New York, Timothy Judd has been a member of the Richmond Symphony violin section since 2001. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he earned the degrees Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, studying with world renowned Ukrainian-American violinist Oleh Krysa.

The son of public school music educators, Timothy Judd began violin lessons at the age of four through Eastman’s Community Education Division. He was a student of Anastasia Jempelis, one of the earliest champions of the Suzuki method in the United States.

A passionate teacher, Mr. Judd has maintained a private violin studio in the Richmond area since 2002 and has been active coaching chamber music and numerous youth orchestra sectionals.

In his free time, Timothy Judd enjoys working out with Richmond’s popular SEAL Team Physical Training program.

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