If 1825 had been a fruitful year for piano writing—it also included his Sonata in D major, D850 and the 8 Ecossaises, D977—1817 was Schubert’s other highly productive keyboard year; one that gave rise to repeated experiments with the piano sonata. Alongside six such works (commentators still argue how many sonatas were truly finished) the year yielded a set of Variations on a Theme by Anselm Hüttenbrenner, D576 and Two Scherzos, D593, believed to have been written in November when Schubert had temporally returned to live in his father’s schoolhouse.

The first is a convivial Allegretto in B-flat whose 'how do you do?' opening gesture and carefree manner has a certain Haydnesque humour where impish triplets make way for a song-like Trio in E flat major. Viennese gaiety is swept aside by the succeeding Scherzo, an extrovert Allegro moderato in D flat major launched with a series of rallying chords, which periodically return (twice in the distant key of E major) to provide structural pillars for busy passage work. The outwardly boisterous feel is set in relief by the quieter, yet still playful, central Trio.

from notes by David Truslove © 2020