Esteemed Juilliard professor Jerome Lowenthal sits down with tonebase Head of Piano Ben Laude to discuss the rise of Schubert in the 20th Century, what Lowenthal learned from Kapell and Cortot, performing Rachmaninoff with Stokowski, and what to make of composers' recordings of their own music.

In this lesson, American pianist Jerome Lowenthal introduces Schubert's first set of four Impromptus, Op. 90 (D. 899), before walking you through No. 1 in C minor. This work, as Lowenthal demonstrates with several examples, is an example of an artist borrowing from his predecessors, in this case Beethoven.

Emphasizing a narrative approach, Lowenthal likens the lyrical first theme to the opening of Rachmaninoff's Third Concerto. He then demonstrates the character of the music as it transforms and moves to the second theme.

Lowenthal shows reveals how the work is structured in a quasi-sonata form, and how you can make sense of this unusual structure by applying the narrative interpretation and developing the drama. In the technically challenging middle section, Lowenthal urges you to mold your mechanism to the music, so that technique is never divorced from expression. A grasp of the meter and a sense for how the phrases are shaped aids in developing facility.

In the end, Lowenthal quotes Robert Browning – "a man's reach should never exceed his grasp" – to encourage you to tackle this works challenges, both technical and musical.

In this lesson, American pianist Jerome Lowenthal teaches you Schubert's Op. 90 No. 2.

Emphasizing the interconnectedness of the Impromptus, Lowenthal suggests you add segues in between them, in keeping with the narrative element of the music. These are stories and you are the narrator, and in between movements you can set the scene for the next piece.

In the A Section, Lowenthal urges you not to reduce the scalar passages to pure mechanism. If you feel the meter, and follow the contour of the right hand line as it twists and turns, you will capture the spirit of the music.

Practicing scales is important to Lowenthal as they help you internalize patterns in your fingers. Always approach scales with firm fingertips, and play them with graduated intensity, so that they always sounds alive.

In the B Section, Lowenthal takes you on a tour of its turbulent drama, pausing to reveal aspects of the music that deserve attention. Finally, Lowenthal discusses the tragic coda, drawing your attention to certain harmonic surprises and ultimately a suprising ending in E-flat Minor.

Join Juilliard professor Jerome Lowenthal as he presents Schubert’s Impromptu in A-flat Major (or is it A-flat Minor?), Op. 90 No. 4.

After improvising a segue from the previous Impromptu, Lowenthal turns to the question of phrasing the opening passage, concentrating on preserving a longer line while shaping the cascading figures in the right hand. As the A Section develops, a theme enters in the bass register, prompting Lowenthal to tell a story of Rachmaninoff’s performance of the work in Carnegie Hall, where his left hand was mistaken for a cello.

The B Section is an example of the game of major and minor that Schubert often played, and Lowenthal draws your attention to the slight tonal shifts in crafting your interpretation.

Lowenthal ends by turning to technique, insisting that you mold your hands to the music, and inform your physical gestures with expressive intentions. When voicing chords, Lowenthal recommends playing them as if they were arpeggiated. He ends by summing up the entire set of Impromptus, which continue to inspire 200 years after they were composed.