Buy Schubert Piano Sheet Music

Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert was an Austrian composer and pianist who died at the young age of 31. In his lifetime, he was able to remarkably compose over 1,500 works. Overshadowed by Beethoven during his lifetime, Schubert’s compositions started to receive the reputation it deserved towards the last year of life and after his death. Composers such as Brahms, Mendelssohn, Liszt, and Schumann studied and enjoyed the works that Schubert composed. You can find the Best Editions Schubert here on this website. His piano sonatas, piano duets, fantasies, valses sentimentales, moments musicaux, drei klavierstucke, and impromptus must be learned by any serious pianist.

Note: Schubert’s piano sonatas provide plenty of issues for editors to cover. Some of Schubert’s autograph scores for his piano music are missing (such as with D. 845), and with the Schubert’s autograph scores that still exist, errors still occur. It seems that at times, Schubert would not keep a careful eye with the first editions of his works. Sometimes these would be full of errors, and often times, they are the only source editors have to work with.

Paul Badura-Skoda has made very remarkable discoveries with Schubert’s music. He is the editor for Universal Wiener edition in 1969 (I could only find his editions of Impromptus online). One notable discovery he made is with the four missing measures in Sonata in A minor, D 845, Mvt. 2 Variation 1 M. 45-48. He assumed that the mistake was made by the engraver, who accidentally left out four measures. The engraver needed to make a new plate for page where he left off (p.12) and left out 4 measures when he started the plate for the next page. Another discovery includes interpreting the compound dynamic markings with Schubert. Some editors, Paul Badura-Skoda included, wrote their own four measures to fill in these missing measures.

Paul Badura-Skoda does the editing for Henle’s volume 3 for Schubert’s piano sonatas, and Wiener Urtext Wanderer Fantasy and Impromptus, Musical Moments, and 3 piano pieces. His is the best edition for Schubert.

Schubert Piano Sonatas

Henle Verlag Urtext

The third volume, Early and Unfinished Sonatas, is edited by Paul Badura Skoda. If you read the notes in the beginning of this page, you would know that he is the true expert with editing Schubert’s works. Anything edited by him for Schubert’s piano works is the best edition for Schubert.

The first two volumes are edited by Paul Mies (also wrote a book on Beethoven Sketches) and fingering by Hans-Martin Theopold. Paul Mies does an excellent job with this edition.

The print is also nice and large, enabling easy reading.

Click here to read more about this excellent edition for Schubert’s piano sonatas.

Here is an example of the Henle Schubert Piano Sonatas:

Click here to see a sample of Paul Mires’s edition.

Click here to see a sample of Paul Badura Skoda’s edition.

Piano Sonatas Volume I

Piano Sonatas Volume Ii

Piano Sonatas, Vol. 3 (Early And Unfinished Sonatas)

Wiener Urtext

Editing and fingering by Martino Tirimo. Contains details about Schubert’s style, the works, and on Schubert’s piano. Published in 1999.

This edition is the first complete edition for Schubert edited by the same editor. The unfinished sonatas are completed imitating Schubert’s style. The appendix contains musical fragments and sources of earlier versions of the scores. Also, there are nice commentaries on interpreting Schubert.

Click here to see an example of this edition.

Click here to see an example of this edition.

SCHUBERT – Sonatas Completas 1º para Piano (Urtext) (Tirimo)

SCHUBERT – Sonatas Completas 2º para Piano (Urtext) (Tirimo)

The Complete Piano Sonatas, Volume 3 (UT50222)

Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!

ABRSM Signature Series

Published in 1979. Edited by Howard Ferguson.

This ABRSM edition of Schubert is prepared from original sources of Schubert’s writing. It contains performance notes, introductory notes, and fingering suggestions. Edited by Howard Ferguson.

The fingering suggestions are quite notable for this edition, and it is worth taking a read through it.

The print is smaller in comparison to the Henle and Wiener urtext.

Contains recommended passages for the Sonata D. 845 by the editor (though I personally do not recommend playing them).

Click here to see a sample of this edition

Note: Be careful of using this edition!

I had believed that this as the best edition for Schubert at one point. Get the Henle edited by Paul Mires or the UW edited by Paul Badura Skoda or Martino Tirimo instead.

I discovered an editorial marking made by Howard Ferguson that is indistinguishable from what the composer intended. This is in Sonata in A minor, D. 845, Mvt 2 M. 44. The editor chooses to place a trill on the low F-sharp on beat 3. With its appears on the score, it seems as though this is Schubert’s own marking.

I looked at other editions, included the Henle edited by Paul Mires, Tirimo’s edition with WU, and Julius Epstein‘s edition by Breitkopf and Hartel (Dover/IMSLP). These editions do not feature a trill on this F-Sharp.

Also, with recordings of this sonata, no one plays a trill on this note. Wilhelm Kempff, Maria Pires, and and Richter‘s recording plays a solid eighth note with no ornamentation.

Reading through the introduction and commentary notes of this sonata, nowhere is it cited why the editor decided to add this marking. It would have been okay if this trill was placed in parenthesis or noted that this is an editorial marking,  but there is no way to know that this is an editorial marking and not the composers. Other editions in their commentary sections also did not mention anything about the ornamentation in the F-sharp in M. 44.

My fear is that there could be other markings like this throughout the other sonatas and works of Schubert edited by Howard Ferguson.

Complete Pianoforte Sonatas: v. 1: Including the Unfinished Works (Signature Series (ABRSM))

Complete Pianoforte Sonatas: v. 2: Including the Unfinished Works (Signature Series (ABRSM))

Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!

Dover Edition

Reproduced from the Breitkopf & Härtel Schubert-Gesammtausgabe. This edition is known for having missing passages in the unfinished sonatas.

Here is an example of the Dover Schubert Piano Sonatas:

Complete Sonatas for Pianoforte Solo (Dover Music for Piano)

Wanderer Fantasy in C K 760

Wiener Urtext

Edited by Paul Badura Skoda.

Click here to see a sample or purchase this edition!

Barenreiter Urtext

Edited by Walther Dürr.

Click here to see an example of Barenreiter Wanderer Fantasy.

Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!

ABRSM

The ABRSM Wanderer Fantasy is edited by Howard Ferguson

Click here to see a sample.

Schubert Moments Musicaux Op 94 K 780

Wiener Urtext

Edited by Paul Badura Skoda

Click here for a sample and pricing!

Henle Verlag Urtext

Fingering and editing by Walter Gieseking

Here is a sample of the Henle Schubert Op 94 

Click here for reviews and pricing on Amazon.com!

Alfred Masterwork Edition

The Alfred Masterwork Schubert Op. 94 is edited by Murray Baylor

Schubert Impromptus D 899 and D 935

Wiener Urtext

Edited by Paul Badora Skoda

Click here for sample and pricing!

Henle Verlag Urtext

Fingering and editing by Walter Gieseking.

Here is a sample of the Henle Schubert Impromptus.

ABRSM Signature Series

Edited by Howard Ferguson

Here is a sample of the ABRSM 1983 edition Schubert Impromptus.

Click here to see a sample of this edition

Impromptus, Op. 90: D. 899 (Signature Series (ABRSM))

Impromptus, Op. 142: D. 935 (Signature Series (ABRSM))

Alfred Masterwork Series

Click here to see an example of the Alfred Masterwork Schubert works.

Edited by Murray Baylor

Schubert — Impromptus, Op. 90 (Alfred Masterwork Edition)

Drei Klavierstucke, D 946

Barenreiter Urtext

Edited by Walther Durr

Click here for a sample and for pricing!

Henle Verlag Urtext

Edited by Paul Mies and fingering by Walther Lampe.

Here is a sample of the Henle Schubert D 946 –

Schubert: 3 Piano Pieces (Impromptus) op. post. D 946 (Henle Urtext)

ABRSM Signature Series

The ABRSM Schubert D 946 is edited by Howard Ferguson.

Click here to see a sample

Three Piano Pieces: D. 946 (Signature Series (ABRSM))

Schubert Piano Trios

Barenreiter Urtext

Edited by Arnold Feil.

Click here to see an example of the Barenreiter edition for Schubert piano trios.

Quintet in A major The Trout

Barenreiter Urtext

Edited by Arnold Feil.

Click on the following link to see a sample of the Barenreiter Schubert Trout Quintet.

Henle Verlag

Edited by Wiltrud Haug-Freienstein and fingering by Klaus Schilde

Here is a sample of the Henle Schubert Trout Quintet:

Eulenberg

The Eulenberg edition of Schubert’s Trout Quintet can be found for free on IMSLP.