Schubert: Piano Sonata a Major Op. Post. 120 D 664

The A-major Sonata D 664 preserves a little mystery: to the present day, it is still not entirely clear whether it came into being in 1825 or if it was already composed six years earlier. Its stylistic proximity to the “Trout Quintet” D 667, which was almost certainly composed in the autumn of 1819, speaks for the latter. There is no doubt, however, about the sonata's enduring popularity, which it owes to its cheerful tone and presumably also to its manageable length: it has only three movements, without the usual scherzo or minuet. The so-called “little A-major Sonata” – in contrast to the “large” sonata in the same key – presents only moderate technical challenges, so that it can also be easily mastered by amateurs. The fingerings by the renowned Schubert interpreter Martin Helmchen offer ideal assistance. Since no manuscripts have been preserved, the Urtext edition from G. Henle Publishers is based on the posthumous first edition of 1829. All resulting questions about the musical text are discussed in the comments section of the edition.