Moment musical No. 3 (Op. 94 No. 3, D. 780)

Background

Franz Schubert's six Moments musicaux, D. 780, were published in Vienna in 1828, the last year of his life, as his Op. 94. The title on the first edition, Momens musicals, was not quite correct French, but the idea was clear: short, self-contained "musical moments" rather than a sonata in several movements. Collections like this, sometimes called character pieces, became one of the favourite forms of the Romantic piano, and Schubert was one of the first great composers to write them.

No. 3 had already appeared in print five years earlier. In 1823 it was included in an album of new piano music under the title Air russe, "Russian air". It became the best loved of the six and has since been arranged for almost every instrument and ensemble.

How to practise it

The piece is in F minor and 2/4 time, and nearly all of it rests on a light, steady left-hand pattern: a bass note, then a two-note chord, twice in every bar.

Treat it like a dancer's steps, short and springy, never heavy. Practise it alone until it runs almost by itself, with the chords a shade softer than the bass notes.

The tune enters in bar 3. It moves mainly in eighth notes with a quick pair of sixteenths, and from bar 4 the right hand often plays two notes at once:

In this arrangement some melody notes are preceded by tiny grace notes, played very quickly just before the beat. Learn the tune without them first, then add them as a light flick of the finger.

The trickiest spot is bar 9, where the right hand plays quick parallel thirds: C over A flat, B flat over G, A flat over F, then B flat over G again. Try fingers 5 and 3, then 4 and 2, then 3 and 1, then 4 and 2. Practise the four pairs slowly, pausing after each, until the hand moves as one unit. The same bar comes back twice later on.

A map of the piece:

• Bars 1 to 18: introduction, then the tune played twice.
• Bars 19 to 34: a brighter section in A flat major, also played twice.
• Bars 35 to 50: the music moves through other keys.
• Bars 51 to 58: the tune returns.
• From bar 59: the ending, which finally turns to F major.

A plan: hands separately at 50 beats a minute, then hands together at 50, 70 and the full 88. Use little or no pedal, so the left hand stays crisp. Keep the mood light and slightly wry: it is a dance, not a lament.

Eighth and sixteenth notes are explained in the note lengths and rhythm guide.