In this video, American pianist Andrew Tyson performs Schubert’s well-known Sonata in A Major, K. 664. Tyson’s vision of this piece is strikingly beautiful, full of vivid characters, yearning Romanticism, and deft fingerwork.

Although D. 664 is often called the “Little” A Major to distinguish it from D. 959 (Schubert’s large, four-movement Sonata in A Major), the emotional scope contained in its three short movements makes it a masterpiece of the period. The poised and deeply expressive melodies are as wonderful as any of Schubert’s great lieder for voice and piano, while the form and musical texture are often reminiscent of string quartet writing. It was most likely written in 1819 during Schubert’s summer sojourn at the foot of the Austrian Alps. The winsomeness of this sonata is a clear testament to the beauty of the mountain landscape and its charming young dedicatee, Josephine von Koller.