Andantino varié in B minor D 823, Op. 84 (Schubert)
Movements
Notes
This is the slow middle movement of Schubert’s Divertissement sur des motifs originaux français D823. The work is seldom played in its complete form, but the Andantino varié in B minor, has achieved the status of a self-contained item—understandably so, since it is one of the most perfect and beautiful of all Schubert’s duets. The inspiration behind it is likely to have been Mozart’s piano duet Variations in G major K501, which have a similar chamber-music intimacy, and in which—as in Schubert’s piece—the theme returns in all its original simplicity to round the music off.
