Composed in May 1828, half a year before his death. Schubert's creative drive in his final year was remarkably high, leading to the composition of a new symphony (unfinished), a Mass, a String Quintet, and song collections such as the "Rellstab Lieder" and "Heine Lieder," published posthumously as Schwanengesang. Among his piano works, masterpieces like his four-hand piano pieces and the last three piano sonatas, D958-960, were created.

These three piano pieces adopt either ternary form (da capo form) or rondo form, and each creates contrast through changes in atmosphere, tempo, and meter. However, their transitions are smoothly crafted through ingenious harmonic progressions.

Their publication took place in 1868, 40 years after the composer's death, edited anonymously by Brahms.

No. 1: E-flat major/minor, Allegro assai, 2/4 time. Ternary form.

The outer sections feature stormy intensity from the left hand's triplets, and the alternating appearance of E-flat major and E-flat minor creates a sense of instability. In contrast, the middle section shifts to Andante, B major, 2/2 time, becoming a strikingly calm piece of music. Originally, this piece was written in ABACA rondo form, but the final CA section was later removed by Schubert himself.

No. 2: Allegretto, E-flat major, 6/8 time. ABACA rondo form.

A bright rondo theme, quoted from a chorus in Schubert's own opera Fierrabras (1823), contrasts with two episodes. The episodes consist of a dark and intense C minor (C major) section with a background of sixteenth-note tremolos, and an A-flat minor, 2/2 time section featuring a plaintive, pleading melody.

No. 3: Allegro, C major, 2/4 time. Ternary form.

Against a lively theme characterized by syncopation, the middle section shifts to D-flat major, 3/2 time, repeating the same rhythmic pattern, but ultimately concludes refreshingly with the return of the opening theme.