For those unaware, Vienna at the turn of the nineteenth century was a polyglot, bustling capital where Italian opera and German song, church polyphony and salon music coexisted at close quarters. Unlike Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven—each drawn there from elsewhere—Franz Schubert (1797–1828) was Viennese by birth, raised in a schoolmaster’s household in the Himmelpfortgrund and educated at the Imperial City College.

A choirboy at the Hofkapelle, he studied with Salieri, absorbed Mozart and Haydn from the college orchestra, and moved among a circle of literate, music-mad friends. That mix of cosmopolitan influence and local habit left a distinctive mark: a composer who thought lyrically yet wrote with structural daring; a native of Vienna for whom song, theatre and the domestic keyboard were natural, almost inseparable, idioms.

South Korean-born pianist Hyewon Chang’s musical journey has seen her grace stages of international renown, including the Weill Concert Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, and the historic birthplace of Franz Joseph Haydn in Rohrau, Austria. Additionally, her performances have resonated through Rolston Hall at the Banff Centre and across numerous venues in America, captivating audiences with her profound musicality and technical prowess.

1. Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 5 in A flat major, D557
I. Allegro moderato [03:52]
II. Andante [03:42]
III. Allegro [04:43]

2. Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 13 in A major, D664, Op. posth. 120
I. Allegro moderato [11:03]
II. Andante [04:44]
III. Allegro [08:02]

3. Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat major, D960
I. Molto moderato [20:34]
II. Andante sostenuto [09:25]
III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace con delicatezza - Trio [04:12]
IV. Allegro ma non troppo - Presto [08:34]

This magnificent set of works opens on Schubert’s Piano Sonata No. 5 in A flat major, D557: and the alluringly playful Allegro moderato, then comes the regal Andante, culminating with the resplendently vibrant Allegro.

Along next is Schubert’s Piano Sonata No. 13 in A major, D664, Op. posth. 120" which begins with the sumptuous Allegro moderato, then we are gifted the demure Andante, ending on the flourishing nature within Allegro.

The third and final piece is Schubert’s Piano Sonata No. 21 in B flat major, D960: which opens on a rather resounding elegant Molto moderato, before we next get the supple Andante sostenuto, the sparkling Scherzo: Allegro vivace con delicatezza - Trio, climaxing on the sprightly Allegro ma non troppo - Presto.

Hyewon Chang @ LinkedIn

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