| The last decade has witnessed an avalanche of autograph studies dealing with the composer's "compositional" or "creative process." It is the thesis of the present study, however, that autographs alone can reveal little of the composer's creative activities--inspiration, imagination, or invention. On the other hand, autographs may divulge the notational process (rather than the compositional process) by which a composition took graphic form and thereby provide insight into the more physical aspects of the composer's activities--what is termed his "working methods.".;The autographs of the piano sonatas are examined to uncover further details of Schubert's methods with respect to a single genre. The notational characteristics of these autographs evince an extremely consistent notational procedure hitherto unnoticed: from 1815 through May 1817 and from 1822 through 1826 Schubert notated a single first draft for each sonata while from June 1817 through 1819 and from 1827 through 1828 he prepared both a sketch and a subsequent fair copy of each work.;In consideration of the above distinction, the present study explores the autographs of Franz Schubert for evidence of his working methods. The three types of autographs identified in the revised edition of the Deutsch Catalogue--sketches, first drafts, and fair copies--are defined, and examples of each type taken from different genres are explored in order to discover what each type discloses about Schubert's working methods and to determine the position of each type within the complete notational process. Although it appears that Schubert's initial procedure in the notation of a work resulted at times in sketch and at times in a first draft (eliminating the possibility of defining his general working methods in terms of a succession of a definite number and specific types of autographs), the study shows that Schubert's basic approach seems to have been consistent when viewed in terms of a sequence of working stages. |
