Impromptu in A-flat major, D. 935, Op. 142 No. 2

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Editions (2)

• Original Lvl 6 3m 30s
• Original Lvl 6 3m 30s

Musical Terms (11)

• con moto Italian
  With motion, with movement. A directive to maintain forward momentum, often used by Schubert in slow movements to prevent them from becoming static.
  Con moto in Schubert's slow movements is a warning against sentimentality. Keep the pulse moving even in the most lyrical passages — the beauty should float above a steady rhythmic undercurrent, not drag.
• Grazioso Italian
  Graceful — in Schubert, indicating a natural, unaffected elegance often found in his dance movements.
  Schubert's grazioso is warm and unassuming. It is the grace of natural movement rather than courtly refinement.
• harmonic digression English
  Schubert's characteristic technique of departing suddenly and unexpectedly to remote harmonies — typically a third relationship — before returning to the home key.
  These digressions (e.g., the flat-VI substitution in a major-key context) are not errors or modulations; they are expressive jolts. The new key should feel genuinely surprising and the return genuinely welcome.
• himmlische Länge German
  Heavenly length. Schumann's description of Schubert's C major Symphony, but equally applicable to the late piano sonatas — their expansive time scale is a deliberate artistic quality, not a structural flaw.
  Resist the temptation to speed up long transitions or development sections. Schubert's repetitions and prolongations are emotionally meaningful — each return to a theme after a long absence should feel like coming home after a journey.
• Innigkeit German
  Inwardness, intimacy, deep sincerity of feeling. One of the most characteristic qualities of Schubert's lyrical writing.
  Innigkeit cannot be manufactured through dynamics alone. It requires a quality of tone — warm, slightly veiled, never brilliant — and a sense that the music is being played for oneself rather than for an audience. Avoid projection; draw the listener in.
• Ländler German
  An Austrian country dance in 3/4, the folk predecessor to the waltz. Schubert elevated it into an intimate, nostalgic art form in hundreds of short piano pieces.
  Play Ländler with a gentle lilt — a slight emphasis on the first beat without heaviness. The character should feel rustic and warm, never sophisticated or stiff. A natural ritardando at phrase endings is idiomatic.
• lieder style German
  The influence of Schubert's vast song output on his piano writing — vocal melody, text-driven phrasing, and the independence of an accompaniment that participates emotionally.
  Even in purely instrumental music, Schubert thinks like a song composer. The right hand sings; the left hand is an active accompanist, not a bass line. Phrasing follows the arc of a sung text even without words.
• Nachdruck German
  Emphasis, stress, weight. Used by Schubert to indicate a note or chord that should be given particular expressive weight, often at moments of harmonic intensity.
  Nachdruck is not the same as an accent — it implies a leaning quality rather than a sharp attack. Press into the key with extra arm weight and let the sound swell slightly rather than striking it from above.
• subito piano Italian
  Suddenly soft. An abrupt dynamic shift to quiet, without a gradual decrescendo. One of Schubert's most characteristic expressive devices.
  Schubert's subito pianos are often the most dramatic moments in a piece — a sudden deflation of energy that can be more affecting than a fortissimo. The effect requires no preparation; the silence before the soft note is part of the gesture.
• Wanderertempo German
  Wanderer's tempo — the walking pace associated with Schubert's song Der Wanderer and the Fantasy D. 760 that quotes it. Implies a steady, unhurried forward motion.
  In the Wanderer Fantasy's Adagio, the 'walking' pulse should feel inevitable, not mechanical. The dotted rhythms are the heartbeat of the movement — keep them precise but not stiff.
• Wanderlust German
  The desire to travel and wander — the Romantic spirit of restless movement and journey that permeates much of Schubert's music.
  Schubert's music is saturated with the sensation of walking and travelling. Even in slow tempos, his bass lines often suggest footsteps. The music rarely feels completely at home.