Klaviersonate D.840

For his "Schubert+" series, pianist Can Çakmur places all the major solo piano compositions by the Viennese composer alongside works by others who were inspired by his music, thus offering the possibility of seeing these works in a new light. Although each SACD forms part of an almost complete selection of Schubert's piano music, it is also intended as a recital in its own right. In this third installment, Çakmur presents not only a work by Ernst Krenek, but also Krenek's completion of an unfinished Schubert sonata. Krenek has assimilated Schubert's language so well that the result is astounding. As Çakmur says: "I would find it difficult to recognize where Schubert ends and Krenek begins if that were not indicated in the score." Krenek, whose career spanned more than seven decades, was a prolific composer who made use of a variety of styles. His Second Piano Sonata, composed in the 1920s, is a tribute to Schubert by adopting a number of his techniques, although the music is more related to early 20th-century Paris than to 19th-century Vienna. A fascinating and neglected work that deserves to be discovered through the lens of Schubert.