Schuberts Trio No. 2 in E-flat, D.

929:
Tension and Release in the Tonal Narrative

Sahun Hong
19th Century Keyboard Literature
Dr. Sharon Levy
11/30/2016
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Schuberts Trio No. 2 in E-flat, D. 929:

Tension and Release in the Tonal Narrative

Franz Schuberts Second Piano Trio, often celebrated for its mammoth scale, is famous for its

iconic second movement that found its way into popular culture through cinema and television,

including a feature in Stanley Kubricks 1975 Barry Lyndon. It is also known for its ingenious

use of the second movements theme as a critical idea of the fourth, giving sense of unity to the

Trio as a whole. One of Schuberts trademark devices is mixed-mode coloration of the

subdominant in progressions such as I-iv-I, often found in closing material that would otherwise

be harmonically quite plain - this is, of course, achieved by lowering the 6th scale degree, the 3rd

of the subdominant. In his Piano Trio No. 2, Schubert expands on this idea and turns the lowered

6th scale degree into the very ide fixe of the work. This essay aims to take a deep look at how

Schuberts use of flat-6 as melodic/harmonic device (C-flat/B-natural) and obsessive tonal center

(B minor, the more distant key between B maj./min.) develops progressively throughout the

course of the work - creating the foundation for a gripping tonal narrative - and using the

seemingly drawn-out, complicated fourth movement to become a very clear catalyst for

harmonic resolution of the piece as a whole.

Schubert: Trio No. 2 in E-flat, D.929: I. Allegro (Sonata form)

A Trans. B Clos. Dev. A recap Trans. B Clos. Coda

1-16 17-47 48-115 116-181 182-384 385-400 401-433 434-501 502-565 566-63

The first movement is full of harmonic richness and surprise throughout - after the opening 16

bars in E-flat, the transition moves quickly through B-flat (m. 17), G-flat (m. 24), back to E-flat

major (m. 32), E-flat minor (m. 36), and finally to B minor (m. 46). The G-flat in E-flat minor is
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enharmonically transformed to F-sharp in B minor - a beautiful shift, and an extremely distant

key for the B group. This is the beginning of a long-winded narrative between the keys E-flat

major, E-flat minor, and B minor. The B group also goes through many key areas by means of

mediant stepping-down - G minor, E-flat major, C minor. The tonal center begins to return to

E-flat after a phrase that foreshadows the second movements theme (I: mm. 81-83; II:mm.

11-12). Only after all of this does Schubert allow a transition to the closing material, in the more

familiar key of B-flat. Not surprisingly, the rather elaborate closing material of 66 measures

takes one more shocking detour to D major (m. 161) before finishing the exposition.

The development also moves through the full gamut of distant keys - B major (m. 195), B minor

(mm. 205), F major (m. 221), F-sharp major (m. 247), F-sharp minor (m. 257), C major (m. 273),

D-flat major (m. 299), C-sharp minor (m. 309), and finally arriving at the retransitions dominant

pedal (m. 337-384). Schubert adds tension to flat-6 in the retransition by continually giving

alternating B-flat and C-flat in the bass (mm. 337-344, etc.)

Schubert decisively hammers home the point of flat-6 in the coda, which begins with an

explosive fff outburst (mm. 571-581) - 10 bars of sustained augmented 6th (C-flat in the bass),

and then resolving the tension between C-flat and B-flat with a tumultuous cascade of triplets to

E-flat. But as if to prod us and nag, C-flat as harmonic device is resolved, but the flat-6 key of B

minor is still unresolved, Schubert immediately reminds us of the B minor tonality in m. 597.

The significant appearances of B minor thus far, in the B group and beginning of the

development, had always been used to modulate to other distant keys, but not back home to
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E-flat - this sense of unsettled tension is supported musically by the movements speculative

ending (mm. 632-634).

Schubert, in the C minor second movement, focuses wholly on developing the story of its

Wanderer-evocative theme and does not use B minor as a key center, instead reserving the B

minor chord for one pained declamation in m. 119. Amidst a developmental passage in the

distant key of F-sharp minor, Schubert breaks loose with a piercing high B minor chord in the

piano crying out to be resolved while the strings play fast passage-work, evoking the highest of

emotional intensity. In contrast, the key of B minor is completely avoided the third movement, in

the innocent Scherzo and rustic Trio - the only light-hearted movement of the monumental work.

Schubert: Trio No. 2 in E-flat, D.929: IV. Allegro moderato (Hybrid Sonata/Rondo)

Analysis as sonata A B C Clos. Dev.* A recap B C Clos. Coda

1-72 73-120 121-162 163-230 231-538 539-616 617-648 653-690 691-759 760-846

Analysis as rondo A B A2** B A C [A] B B+C A B

1-72 73-120 120-162 163-192 193-274 275-314 315-320 321-473 474-537 538-616 617-648

A2 B A C A
649-609 691-720 721-790 791-838 839-846

*These measure numbers are from the Brenreiter edition, which include the measures cut from
the development in the first edition. These extra measures are sometimes performed, but often omitted due to
the sheer length of the movement without the omissions (~15 min. with cuts, ~18 without.)

**Though called C in an analysis as a sonata form, this section has the same rhythm of the A section.
Schubert continually uses small details like this, likely unknowingly, to create a true hybrid
sonata/rondo movement (or, sonata/sonata-rondo, as the rondo also follows the sonata key principle.)

In what seems like an ever-circling montage of motives and keys, Schubert brings closure in the

fourth movement to many areas of the piece yet unsolved. Though the fourth movement seems

massive and unlimited in scope, a closer look reveals a general consolidation of exploratory key
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areas, which brings more clarity to the harmonic ideas at work - crucially, the long-awaited

resolution of the problem of the B minor tonality. The movement is primarily in a sonata form,

although it can, with perfect accuracy, be analyzed as a pure rondo or sonata-rondo as well. The

ability for this final movement to exist as a true sonata/rondo hybrid is uncanny, and leaves

speculation as to whether Schubert was aware of the details of his formal construction.

The exposition has three theme groups, A in E-flat major (m.1), B in F minor (m. 73), and C in

B-flat major (m. 121). All three are in diatonic keys; the closing material (m. 171) also remains

conservative in its key areas, staying in C major, C minor, and B-flat major. The only real

harmonic interest begins in the development (m. 231), where Schubert utilizes a sadistically

simple stepping-up modulation from B-flat to B natural, bringing back the B minor tonality

which had almost been forgotten by this point. The theme from the second movement returns in

6/8 instead of 2/4 in the same B minor (m. 275), and any question about whether this is an actual

development is refuted simply by the fact that the piano accompaniment to the cellos theme

comes directly from the C group (m. 139) - yet another ingenious touch. This appearance of B

minor, like those in the first movement, is not resolved, but rather moves to the distant D minor

(m. 321). By choosing to reiterate this theme from a previous movement, and coupling it with the

tension caused in the first movement by the tonality of B minor, Schubert confirms the pained

nature of the second movements theme.

The development is rather short in popular performance practice, due to cuts made in the first

edition. Many performances of late, however, have included the original bars found in the

manuscript with the rise of urtext editions based strongly from manuscripts. Following a
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rhapsodic section in E-flat minor (mm. 438-459) is the cut which would skip directly to the

retransition. The omitted material (mm. 473-513) is a beautiful juxtaposition of the B group

material with the second movement theme, for a striking effect that adds to the dj vu effect

already present. But what key would Schubert choose for a second iteration of the second

movement theme? Herein lies the end-all of stark evidence of the secret of this works harmonic

construction - the obstinate, unresolved, ide fixe tonality we have seen repeatedly: B minor.

The retransition is found in mm. 514-538. Contrasting the bombastic resolution of C-flat to

B-flat in the first movement, Schubert transforms the B minor chord enharmonically to E-flat

minor, in the same way as in mm. 36-46, but in reverse the F-sharp in B minor becomes G-flat

in E-flat minor, and E-flat minor then becomes E-flat major to complete the recapitulation. Here

we see that B minor is finally resolved properly to E-flat major. The end of the development

moves, thus, in this fashion: E-flat minor -> B minor -> E-flat major - the enigmatic triptych.

Schubert then brings back the iconic second movement theme for the final time in E-flat minor

(m. 795). But immediately preceding is a progression of alternating Neopolitan (F-flat major)

and E-flat minor chords, with accented C-flats in the piano in ff (mm. 779-788) - a final memory

of the saga of flat-6. In the final return of the second movement theme, Schubert moves directly

from E-flat minor to E-flat major, eschewing the B-minor transition, as if to say, It is finished.

Armed with an artful and almost divinely inspired use of harmony as a blueprint for his Second

Piano Trio, Schubert used the monumental fourth movement as the unifying catalyst of the work,

providing closure to an epic harmonic narrative of tension and release.