Franz Schubert

Schubert wrote over six hundred songs before dying at thirty-one, and it is the songs that dominate this catalogue. If you sing, this is the central repertoire; if you accompany, the piano parts are full partners rather than support, and considerably harder than they sound.

The song cycles — Die schöne Müllerin, Winterreise, Schwanengesang — are published complete and in high, medium and low keys. Buying the wrong transposition is the standard mistake here, because the cycles sit in a range that punishes guessing.

For pianists the Impromptus and Moments musicaux are the accessible way in, and the four-hand duets are among the best music written for two people at one instrument. The late sonatas are enormous and are not a place to start.