TRACKLIST

CD 1

No. 4 in A minor, D. 537

Adagio in E major, D. 612

No. 20 in A major, D. 959

CD 2

No. 18 in G major, D. 894

No. 19 in C minor, D. 958

This album was recorded on a C. Bechstein concert grand piano D 282. 

Description

Pianist William Youn, a South Korean native residing in Munich for several years, embarked on a new project after the resounding success of his highly acclaimed recording of the complete Mozart piano sonatas. This time, he delved into the cycle of piano sonatas by Franz Schubert.

The first volume of this Schubert collection garnered immense praise. The first CD of the entire recording of Schubert gets full recognition. On the first CD, he begins with the last, the great B-flat Major Sonata D. 960, which was composed in 1828, the year of Schubert's death, and contrasts its occasionally dreamy sounds.

The second album in the series features Sonatas No. 4 (D. 537), No. 18 (D. 894), No. 19 (D. 958), and No. 20 (D. 959). These sonatas, particularly No. 18, 19, and 20, hold a significant place in Schubert's repertoire as his last major solo piano compositions (with Sonata No. 21 being the final one).

Sonata No. 18, the last to be published during Schubert's lifetime, was later hailed by R. Schumann as the epitome of perfection in both form and conception among all of Schubert's sonatas. Composed in the final months of his life, Sonatas Nos. 19 and 20, written between spring and autumn of 1828, were published ten years after Schubert's demise and are now regarded as crucial masterpieces of the composer's mature oeuvre.