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Free sheet music · Noctave edition

Impromptu in E-flat major, D. 899 No. 2

Franz Schubert 1797–1828

Advanced · 9/101827E-flat major4 min 24 sThe EssentialsSchubert's Impromptus
Portrait of Franz Schubert, in moonlight

Listen

The first 20 seconds, played by the piano of Noctave, the same sound as in the app.

The piece

Published with the first one in December 1827 by Tobias Haslinger, this impromptu in E-flat major rests on a perpetual motion in the right hand: triplet eighths that climb and fall without stopping, over a light bass in three. At its centre, in B minor, a rougher episode marked ben marcato sets strong accents against it. The coda speeds up (accelerando over four bars) and the piece ends, against expectation, in E-flat minor.

Everything depends on even triplets: pass the thumb without jolts, keep the wrist supple, and start slowly, barely stressing the first beat to feel the bar. The left hand stays discreet, a bass note then a chord. In the central episode the accents need weight from the arm, not stiffness. Raise the tempo in steps up to the 192 to the quarter of this edition.

What makes it hard

Accidentals
35% of the notes carry an accidental outside the key signature: chromatic writing.
Speed
9.5 notes a second in the right hand, kept up over at least a quarter of the piece.
Leaps
292 leaps of an octave or more in less than half a second, in both hands.
Range
The notes span more than 5 octaves of the keyboard.

Measured on the score, repeats included, at the written tempo.

Play it in Noctave

The score, free. The version that falls in light, in Noctave: the notes come down to your keyboard at your tempo, then fade to leave you the score. Noctave is coming soon to Android: leave your address to hear when it is out.

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