poster for 2015 Schubert Disc 8
× Opening with Schubert’s expressive “Arpeggione” Sonata, performed here on viola, Disc VIII pays tribute to an array of distinguished composers whose works connect to Schubert in powerful ways—through lyricism, magical harmonies, drama, and, above all, a reverence for the vocal line as the most human element of music. In André Previn’s Vocalise, words were not even needed, and in Brahms’s Zwei Gesänge, op. 91, the addition of a singing viola part intensifies the vocal experience. John Harbison’s November 19, 1828 is a haunting evocation of Schubert’s last days and tells the poignant story of the composer, one week from his death, seeking to improve his art by taking a counterpoint lesson.