Episode Details

The B-Flat Piano Sonata D960, which Schubert completed two months before his death, in 1828, is a vast and complex work.

It’s the last of a triptych of piano sonatas that Schubert wrote, possibly in response to the death of his hero Beethoven the year before. Schubert had been a pallbearer at Beethoven’s funeral.

Pianists Imogen Cooper, Steven Osborne and James Lisney consider what it’s like to play this work.

And Andrea Avery and Pamela Rose describe ways in which this sonata has marked and shaped their lives.

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact.

Producer: Rosie Boulton

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2019.