Last night in Herbst Theatre Jonathan Biss presented the second of this three Echoes of Schubert recitals, which he had prepared for his visits to San Francisco Performances. Each of the programs was structured around one of Franz Schubert’s last three piano sonatas. The second of these, D. 959 in A major, was the only work on the second half of the program. Once again, the program began with one of the impromptus, this time the second of the four D. 935 impromptus, written in the key of A-flat major. This was again followed by a contemporary reflection on Schubert’s late works. This time that selection was Alvin Singleton’s “Bed-Stuy Sonata,” which was being given its second performance.
In writing about Schubert, Robert Schumann cited the “heavenly length” of many of his compositions, particularly those composed towards the end of his life. D. 959 is definitely a “heavenly length” work, and Biss honored that epithet by taking the repeat in his performance of the opening movement. He also remarked (in passing while introducing the Singleton selection) that, where D. 959 is concerned, “The ambiguity is the point.” While I am not sure I agree with him, I suspect that he would agree with me that this is a far cry from sit-back-relax-and-enjoy music. D. 959 is very much music for exercising Hercule Poirot’s “little grey cells;” and Biss definitely provided that attentive listener with all the exercise (s)he deserved.
Nevertheless, while I found last night’s “metaphorical journey” more satisfying than the one I encountered in the performance of D. 958 this past January, I would still like to take issue with the matter of clarity. It goes without saying that there is an almost (?) overflowing abundance of notes that the pianist must play during the course of this sonata. By all rights, Schubert expected us to be aware of all of them; but that expectation was put in jeopardy by Biss’ rather generous use of the damper pedal.
The fact is that, where these late sonatas are concerned, I have a particular preference for a “period” instrument, where the decay time is faster, making it more difficult for the notes to bump into each other, so to speak. The result is that clarity rises above the dangers of mush that are almost inevitable when this music is played on a contemporary instrument, whatever the technical qualities of that instrument may be. This danger was evident not only in the sonata but also in the middle section of the A-flat major impromptu.
The “brownstone” row houses of Bedford-Stuyvesant (photograph by the webmaster of BedStuyGateway.com, from Wikimedia Commons, public domain)
Fortunately, mush was not an issue where the “Bed-Stuy Sonata” was concerned. For those unfamiliar with the “megalopolitan” stretch along the Atlantic coast, the title refers to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, an area with a long (not to mention checkered) history. There is also a significant length to the sonata, which, as Biss observed in his opening remarks, gives little acknowledgement to conventional sonata form.
Personally, I found the listening experience to amount to an auditory version of stream-of-consciousness literature. To the extent that any of my past encounters may be relevant, I would say that “Bed-Stuy Sonata” comes closer to the wild and free-wheeling extended improvisations by Cecil Taylor than I have ever experienced in through-composed music. I just hope that I get a crack at a second listening experience.
I suppose it would be fair to say that Singleton’s sonata served up as many eyebrow-raising moments as Schubert’s did!
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