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Free sheet music · Noctave edition

Impromptu in B-flat major, D. 935 No. 3

Franz Schubert 1797–1828

Advanced · 7/101827B-flat major12 min 12 sSchubert's Impromptus
Portrait of Franz Schubert, in moonlight

Listen

The first 23 seconds, played by the piano of Noctave, the same sound as in the app.

The piece

The theme of this impromptu, an andante in two in B-flat major, is close to the entr’acte Schubert wrote in 1823 for the play Rosamunde. Five variations follow, the third in B-flat minor and the fourth in G-flat major, before a short, slower coda. Each part is played twice.

The theme itself is simple: shape the top line and let the left-hand chords breathe with it. Each variation then sets a different problem, often faster and faster notes around the theme: find the theme in each one before working on the runs, slowly, then in steps. The key changes, up to six flats in the fourth, mean reading the staff afresh at each new section. Keep the same basic tempo from one variation to the next, 72 to the quarter here, so that the theme can always be heard.

What makes it hard

Stamina
12 min 12 s of music, repeats included, to sustain without losing focus.
Leaps
633 leaps of an octave or more in less than half a second, mostly in the left hand.
Octaves
462 octaves struck with one hand (391 in the right hand, 71 in the left).
Range
The notes span more than 6 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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