Description
Sonate As-dur (D557). In a way this sonata, which was composed in 1817 is to be regarded as a homage to the aesthetics of Mozart and Haydn. It is exceptional that a sonata in A flat major ends with an Allegro in E flat major.
Einunddreissig Tänze. The stereotype of Schubert, reveling – at parties – in impromptu piano performances, tirelessly stringing one waltz to another, is not unfounded. The dances, produced in huge quantities by the composer from his earliest years to his death, may best be compared with hastily sketched diary notes. In this way Schubert had at his disposal an inexhaustible store of certain themes and modulations on which he could draw at his own discretion. A solution in order to introduce a meaningful structure in this immense mer à boire is offered here by arranging the keys of the various dances according to the principle which Chopin applied in his Préludes opus 28: C/a, G/e, D/b; etcetera. Thus, at the end of the cycle we inevitably end up in D minor, the key of the song Der Tod und das Mädchen. With the comforting words spoken by Death, the cycle, which may be interpreted as a metaphor of Schubert’s life, comes to its final conclusion.
Leen de Broekert (1949-2009) studied Piano and Organ at the Royal Academy of Music in The Hague. He graduated in both subjects. He also qualified as a harpsichord player and fortepianist with Jos van Immerseel. In 1979 he was one of the laureates of the International Contest for Organ in Bruges, with an honourable citation for his Interpretation of Bach. As a fortepianist and organist he was frequently asked for concerts in Germany as well as in Holland. He also performed in England, France, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Italy and Switzerland and recorded several CDs both on pianoforte and organ. Leen de Broekert was the organist of the Koorkerk (Abbey church) in Middelburg. He died, at the age of sixty, after a short illness, in Middelburg on 29 July 2009.
