it.  The lively Scherzo, with its quiet Trio, is a little gem.  The clear-cut, concise form of such movements saved Schubert from all danger of diffuseness; and in them, as Mozart remarked to the Emperor Joseph, who complained of the number of notes in his opera, Die Entfuehrung, there are “just as many as are necessary.”  The sonata in A minor (Op. 164), which consists of three movements, is short and delightful from beginning to end.  In the opening Allegro the second subject occurs, by way of exception, in the major key of the submediant.  There is much to admire in the 3rd, in E flat, especially the Minuet and Trio; yet the music is not pure Schubert.  About six years elapsed between this and the next sonata, in A minor (1823).  Schubert had already written his B minor Symphony, and though the first two movements of the sonata will not compare with those of the former in loftiness of conception, there is a certain kinship between the two works.  In both there are fitful gusts of passion, a feeling of awe, and a tone of sadness which tells of disappointed hopes, of lost illusions.  The Finale, though fine, stands on a lower level.  During the years 1825-26, Schubert wrote, besides one in A major (Op. 120), three magnificent sonatas:  one in A minor, dedicated to the Archduke Rudolph (Op. 42), another in D (Op. 53), and a third in G (Op. 78).  In these three works we have the composer’s ripest efforts.  The first movement of the 1st, in A minor, is well-nigh perfect.  That opening phrase—­

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haunts one like a sad dream; and the development section, long, though not monotonous, is full of it.  Without sacrificing his individuality, Schubert has here caught something of Beethoven’s peculiar method of treating a theme,—­that is, of evolving new phrases from its various sections.  The coda, again, has penetrating power, and the fierce concluding phrase sounds like the passionate resistance of a proud artist to the stern degrees of fate.  The tender melody and delicate variations of the Andante, the bold Scherzo, with its soft Trio, and the energetic Finale are all exceedingly interesting; yet they do not affect us like the first movement, in which lies not only the majesty, but the mystery of genius.  The sonata in D has a vigorous opening Allegro,—­a long, lovely, slow movement,—­a crisp Scherzo, but a peculiar Finale, one which Schumann qualifies as comical (possirlich).  The sonata in G contains some of the composer’s most charming, characteristic music.  The opening moderato e cantabile is a tone-poem of touching pathos.  The sad principal theme is supported by such soft, tender harmonies, that its very sadness charms.  In the development section it assumes a different character.  Melancholy gives place to passion, at times fierce; then calm returns.  The coda is one of the most fascinating ever penned by Schubert.  The slow movement and Menuetto form worthy companions; but with the Finale the composer breaks the spell.  Schumann says:  “Keep away from it; it has no imagination, no enigma to solve.”