Sonata in B-flat Major, D. 960 (2nd Movement)

Sheet music for the second movement of Franz Schubert's great Piano Sonata in B-flat Major, D. 960. One of the most effective slow movements in the literature, this piece opens with utter despair in the key of C-sharp minor. The theme appears in thirds as a series of sighs, with desolate broken octaves leaping far above. Climbing to an agonized outburst, this passage is then transposed to the key of E major, resulting in a brief but powerful consolation before the return to the bleak tonic key. A central section in A major lifts the mood with a hopeful new melody in longer phrases, with repeated low bass notes giving a hushed excitement. For all its catharsis, it is not enough to prevent the return to C-sharp minor and the opening theme. But the movement quietly turns to C-sharp major, ending with a hope that did not survive the piece's opening. A profound, introspective movement, one of the most emotionally powerful in Schubert's output. For advanced-level students, 9 pages.