Schubert - Impromptus

Look out for Schubert's Impromptu No. 3, which contains a nod to one of the world's most famous pop songs...

Just after he wrote Fly Me to the Moon, Schubert wrote his Impromptu No. 3. Absolute nonsense, of course. Although if you listen to the chords of Schubert's Impromptu No. 2, you'll hear that they follow the same progression — admittedly a fairly common one — as those from the classic 1950s song. They were both part of a set of four Impromptus written just a year before Schubert died.

Aside from all that, though, Schubert's emerging mastery of solo piano work was really coming into its own. This collection of eight solo pieces shows exactly how sensitive a composer he had become. Clearly indebted to the Impromptus of his contemporary, Jan Václav Voříšek, thy nonetheless display wit, charm and invention beyond of his fellow 19th century colleagues.