Franz Peter Schubert’s last three sonatas, D. 958, 959 and 960 attract modern scholars and performers with their personal, poetic style as well as their problematic interpretive issues. In my document, I will explore nineteen interpretive issues related to them in addition to acknowledging the historical background of these sonatas. Through the juxtapositions, comparisons and observations based on numerous recordings by renowned pianists, this document will demonstrate how these issues are interpreted by different pianists, how these issues can affect a great performance, and how these interpretations relate to Schubert’s music as well as with modern audiences’ expectations.
The motivation behind my research is my desire to explore these interpretive issues among Schubert’s last three sonatas since there are performance problems associated with these pieces that remain unresolved. With the added value of such an examination this document will provoke pianists to question their own personal interpretations of these sonatas.
This document will consist of four chapters: Chapter 1 – An Introduction; Chapter 2 – A Closer Analytical Examination of Nineteen Important Interpretive Issues; Chapter 3 – Experimenting with Selected Interpretations; and Chapter 4 – A Conclusion.