Group 1

Khoa Phan Howard You’re way ahead of me since I never even had AP Music Theory, LOL!

Khoa Phan Howard Welcome! Happy to have another Schubert lover join the group.  I've always been a bit of a theory nerd.  I find it really helpful in understanding a piece's structure and in memorization.  I'm working on the D. 899 Impromptus and just starting on the D. 960 sonata. 

Khoa Phan Howard Hope we get to hear your lovely Schubert pieces sometime!

Vidhya Bashyam I’m new to these pieces also.  Little gems!

Gail Starr Little gems is such a great description for the Moments Musicaux!

Marc M Does anyone else hear the chord in the first full measure (D-flat 7) as a suspension?  I hear it as a ii7 (4-3 inversion) with a 2-1 suspension of C resolving to B-flat.  Curious if anyone else analyzed it that way instead of as a IV7 chord.

Bryan Coryell Actually, I had it down as a ii chord initially, but then I second guessed myself. “No b-flat! Can’t possibly be ii,” I said. But you’re right, it’s a ii, and Ben’s post confirms it today…haha.

Marc M Good work! And yes, I interpret the chords in the first couple bars as a written-out suspension of the C over a ii6/5 chord. Calling it a IV7 chord doesn't hurt! But I hope you see how it's a bit too "vertical" in its thinking: like I say in the video below, it's true only in isolation, but if you were to just listen to somebody play those bars, you'd hear the soprano voice as a kind of appoggiatura. Same goes with the chord in bar 3: sure it's "F minor" in isolation, but the Fs are clearly suspended from the prior bar and seek immediate resolution on the tonic chord.

But again, this is a small thing! A few other comments: I wouldn't think of a secondary dominant as moving to a "new key." If anything, it's actually reinforcing the current key. It's the difference between "modulation" (which implies an actually move to a new key) and "tonicization" (a big dumb word music theorists use that just means to emphasize a certain chord within a given tonality by using that chord's dominant/leading tone).

There's a few other things you'll need to get the hang of when you're looking at/listening to Schubert's music – like the augmented 6th chord (he uses several flavors in this piece in rather unorthodox ways, so don't worry about it too much) – but overall your analysis is solid! A good basis for taking the next step and really starting to understand Schubert's chromatic tricks and why they might be meaningful.

Monika Tusnady Oh Monika..so beautiful and what an appropriate description of this piece!

Thank you so much, Vidhya Bashyam !

Monika Tusnady What a sensitive, lyrical interpretation dear Monika!  You’ve inspired me to give it a go tomorrow, too.  (Without the snowy backdrop).

Monika Tusnady Lovely playing, Monika! With this background you are on a true Schubert Winter journey. 

Monika Tusnady Very beautiful and moving, Monika! 

Gail Starr o yay! Truth be told, I am now inspired to continue with another Moment Musical!

Juan Carlos Olite thank you. Have you memorized it? Despite understanding the score, I still feel insecure about playing from memory. 

Andrea Buckland Yes! Winterreise without leaving home! Then again, Schubert always has us explore parts of the human psyche that are new to us. 

Monika Tusnady I've been away from home all week without the piano (but to be honest I haven't had a bad time at all, among other things I saw Rigoletto in Madrid 😂...).  Today I come back and I'll try to do all the assignments starting tomorrow, because Schubert is very special to me. 

Monika Tusnady it's a very serene atmosphere which you paint, playing with ebb and flow. Very nice!

Love the sound of your piano and set up you have next to the windows too!