Impromptus (Schubert)
Franz Schubert's Impromptus are a series of eight pieces for solo piano composed in 1827. They were published in two sets of four impromptus each: the first set was published in the composer's lifetime as Op. 90, and the second set was published posthumously as Op. posth. 142. They are now catalogued as D. 899 and D. 935 respectively.
Three other unnamed piano compositions (D. 946), written in May 1828, a few months before the composer's death, are alternatively indicated as Impromptus or Klavierstücke ("piano pieces").
The Impromptus are often considered companion pieces to the Six moments musicaux, and they are often recorded and published together.
It has been said that Schubert was deeply influenced in writing these pieces by the Impromptus, Op. 7 (1822) of Jan Václav Voříšek and by the music of Voříšek's teacher Václav Tomášek.
Read more about Impromptus (Schubert): Four Impromptus, D. 899 (Op. 90), Four Impromptus, D. 935 (Op. Posth. 142), Drei Klavierstücke, D. 946, Cultural References