Violin Sonata in D major D384 (1816)

Schubert’s first thee violin sonatas, written in 1816 and published posthumously twenty years later as three Sonatinas Op.137, derive directly from Mozart, bypassing the ten Beethoven examples as though they had never existed. The model Schubert took for the D major Sonata –    no doubt unconsciously, since the key and the proportions are different – was Mozart’s two-movement Sonata in E minor, K.304.

Schubert at the age of nineteen and Mozart at twenty-two make a fascinating comparison. They begin their alla breve first movements in much the same way, with a very similar theme introduced in quiet octaves by violin and piano together. But, whereas Mozart goes on to occupy himself with other melodic ideas, Schubert prefers to develop his first theme, in uncharacteristically enterprising counterpoint and in characteristically distant harmonic departures. Mozart’s second subject is the more melodious but Schubert’s – derived from the opening theme by diminution – the more organic. Ending the exposition with the first subject in octaves and beginning the next section in the same way, both composers devote the development to the dramatic potential of their respective themes. Schubert’s recapitulation is, characteristically again, fairly literal, while Mozart’s is cleverly varied.

There is no obvious model for Schubert’s next two movements, which are comparatively unambitious. The first section of the A major Andante is generalised Mozart, but the A minor middle section is more personal and the violinist’s decorations make the first section rather more interesting when it return. The Allegro vivace is a neatly constructed sonata rondo, sustained by a delightful main theme and diverted by two playfully dramatic episodes.