Schubert
Carroccia

Luigi Carroccia, piano

F. Schubert (1797 - 1828)

Piano Sonata in G major, Op. 78 “Fantasia”, D. 894

40’ | Ticket 10 €

Composed in October 1826 and published the following year by the Viennese publisher Tobias Haslinger, the Piano Sonata in G major, Op. 78, D. 894 is the work that Robert Schumann described as “the most perfect in form and spirit” among Schubert’s sonatas. Also known as the “Fantasia,” the uniqueness of this masterpiece lies in its unconventional structure, now far removed from the classical sonata form: its writing is freer and more continuous, almost improvisatory, with the various musical episodes unfolding without sharp contrasts or interruptions, favoring expressive fluidity over traditional formal schemes.

The first movement, Molto moderato e cantabile, arises from a motif of extreme simplicity that gradually transforms and wanders through distant and unexpected keys, according to Schubert’s tendency toward “heavenly lengths,” again in Schumann’s famous words. It is followed by an Andante of distinctly lieder-like character, a Menuetto in which the eighteenth-century dance gives way to the unmistakably Viennese spirit of the waltz, and a final Allegretto that Schumann advised should not be performed by anyone “who lacks the imagination necessary to solve its enigma.”

In the Salone degli Arazzi of the Episcopal Palace, with its early eighteenth-century Flemish tapestries, the “Fantasia” Sonata finds its natural setting in an atmosphere of refined intimacy, performed by the young and talented pianist Luigi Carroccia.