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Free sheet music · Noctave edition

Impromptu in A-flat major, D. 899 No. 4

Franz Schubert 1797–1828

Advanced · 9/101827A-flat major7 min 26 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

Like the third, this fourth Impromptu D. 899 only appeared in 1857, published by Carl Haslinger. Despite its A-flat major title it begins in A-flat minor: the right hand pours out cascades of broken chords in sixteenths, top to bottom, while the left hand sets the chords and then sings a melody in the middle register. The trio, in C-sharp minor, with its repeats, is darker; then the opening returns and the piece brightens into A-flat major.

Work the cascades by positions: each group of four sixteenths lies under the hand, so you only need to link the positions without noise. Keep them pianissimo, like running water, to let through the left-hand melody, which has to sing above everything. In the trio, the repeated chords of the right hand need a relaxed wrist and a full sound that never turns hard.

What makes it hard

Repeated notes
234 notes struck again on the same key within 0.2 seconds.
Stamina
7 min 26 s of music, repeats included, to sustain without losing focus.
Accidentals
4 flats in the key signature, and 25% of the notes altered on top of it.
Speed
6.8 notes a second in the right hand, kept up over at least a quarter of the piece.

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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