Piano Sonata in A-flat major, D 557 (Schubert)

Franz Schubert's Piano Sonata in A♭ major, D 557 was composed in May 1817.

The work is relatively short and a performance takes somewhat between 10 and 15 minutes. The sonata is cheerful and uncomplicated, and carries remembrances of Mozart and the Baroque era.¹

The beginning of the first movement resembles the opening of the menuetto, D. 380, Nr. 3.²

The final movement has a dance-like character.¹ The fact that it is in the key of E♭ major rather than the tonic key of A♭ major is evidence in favor of Schubert possibly intending to add a fourth movement, although the extant third movement has much of the character of a finale. At the time this was written it was quite unusual to end a composition in another key than its tonic, however Schubert did do this in some of his early works, e.g. D. 553 ("Auf der Donau", beginning in E♭ major and ending in F♯ minor).³

The sonata was first published in 1888, in the Breitkopf & Härtel complete edition.

Manuscripts

The autograph of the sonata, dated May 1817, is incomplete — it stops at the 28th measure of the third movement, but there is a contemporary complete manuscript.²

First publication — Alte Gesammtausgabe (AGA)

D. 557 was first published in 1888 as No. 3 of the Piano Sonatas volume (Series X) of the Kritisch durchgesehene Gesammtausgabe.²

Urtext Editions

Both Paul Badura-Skoda (Henle) and Martino Tirimo (Wiener Urtext) published an Urtext edition in 1997.³⁴

Neue Schubert-Ausgabe (NSA)

In the New Schubert Edition D. 557 is given in VII/2/1.⁵