The album that contains a series of eight impromptus for solo piano composed in his last days, around 1827, by Franz Schubert, the Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras.
They were published in two sets of four impromptus each. The two sets are now assigned as D. 899 (Op. 90) and D. 935 (Op. 142) respectively.
Piano performed by Maria Joao Pires, a pianist from Portugal.
Digital recording in 1996 and 1997. Released on Deutsche Grammophon.
They are character pieces filled with poetic sentiment, sensitive lyricism, and beautiful melodies in free form. They are most popular ones among Schubert’s piano pieces.
“Four Impromptus” D. 935 (Op. 142) is often performed as a set of four pieces like a four-movement sonata.
No. 3 of “Four Impromptus” D. 935 (Op. 142) is a variation with the theme diverted from Schubert’s incidental music “Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern (Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus)”.
