General Overview

This is the first extant piano sonata composed by Schubert. It came to light in the so-called 'Old Schubert Complete Edition,' published at the end of the 19th century.

Piano Sonata D 157 is preserved in an autograph fair copy, with 'February 18, 1815' inscribed at its beginning and 'February 21, 1815' at the end of the first movement. Considering that Schubert had already been composing string quartets and symphonies, as well as piano duets, since 1811, it appears that he began to tackle the genre of piano sonata relatively late.

The autograph manuscript consists of three movements, with the writing breaking off in the middle of the third movement. Given that the first movement is in E major and the second movement in E minor, while the third movement is in B major, it is reasonable to assume that Schubert laid down his pen midway, envisioning a fourth movement in E major. However, there is also a view that, since the third movement has an active texture, it can be regarded as the final movement even without a return to the overall tonic key, and that the sonata was conceived as a three-movement work.

Furthermore, a fragment of a piano sonata in E major, first movement, assigned the catalog number D 154 (dated February 11, 1815), is presumed to be an alternative version or an earlier compositional stage of the first movement of Piano Sonata D 157. This is because both share identical material for the second subject in the exposition and for the development section.

Analysis of Each Movement

First Movement: Allegro ma non troppo, E major, 2/2 time

The fragment of the first movement, D 154, is written in Allegro, 4/4 time. As mentioned in the general overview, although the second subject and development section share material with D 157, the most significant difference between D 154 and D 157 lies in the ambiguity of the tonal structure in the exposition. After the first subject is presented in E major at the beginning, the second subject appears in measure 30. This new subject is presented in the tonic key and then repeated, modulating to B major (m. 37), but the dominant region remains unstable, suddenly returning to E major (m. 56), or modulating through B minor (m. 59) and G major (m. 64) to C major (m. 67). The dominant key of B major is only established at the end of the exposition, where the second subject is presented again, dolce (m. 73). Thus, in D 154, the overall tonal structure of the exposition becomes less clear due to the second subject being presented in the tonic key before moving to the dominant.

In the exposition of D 157, modulations to remote keys are also actively employed. In the exposition, it is conventional to place a transition section between the two subjects to prepare the dominant key for the second subject; however, here, the introduction of the second subject is forced through sequential progression and a general pause. Even within the second subject area, the modulations from B minor to G major and C major, and the return to B major simply by shifting intervals, reveal a certain lack of sophistication. However, compared to D 154, the tonal structure is clearer in D 157, where the wide-ranging, often unison first subject is clearly presented in E major, and the homophonic second subject in B major. In light of this, D 154 can be regarded as representing an intermediate stage in the composition of D 157.

Second Movement: Andante, E minor, 6/8 time

A melancholic barcarolle. The concept of placing a minor-key barcarolle as the slow movement in a major-key work has a famous precedent in W. A. Mozart's Piano Concerto in A major, K. 488.

This movement has an expanded ternary form structure: ABA’CA’’.

• Section A is presented in E minor.
• This is followed by the graceful Section B in the relative major, G major.
• After Section B, the main section, reduced to its rhythmic skeleton, returns in the tonic key (Section A’).
• Section C is in a contrasting C major.

In contrast to the less active Section A, both middle sections, B and C, are characterized by sixteenth-note motion. When Section A finally returns, the rhythms of both middle sections appear in the accompaniment figure. That is, the left hand in Section A’’, supporting the recapitulated opening melody, constantly articulates in sixteenth notes. Thus, at the end of this movement, a kind of integration of the main section and both middle sections takes place.

Third Movement: Menuetto: Allegro vivace, B major, 3/4 time

Although 'Menuetto' is explicitly stated at the beginning of the movement, it is in fact a scherzo movement, as it is a rapid movement where one measure is counted as one beat, rather than a three-beat dance. This type of movement, the scherzo, was introduced by Haydn as a substitute for the minuet movement and later formalized by Beethoven as a rapid middle movement.

Both the main section and the trio section consist of a ternary form. In contrast to the active main section in B major, the trio section suddenly becomes quiet and is in G major. The key of this trio section is not only a mediant relationship to the main section but also related to the second movement.