The composer Franz Schubert wrote his Moments Musicaux between 1823 and 1827. These short pieces are some of the composer’s most popular. He wrote them to give his public what they wanted; a chance to play music at home. He gave them much more; he gave them a masterpiece.

Yesterday, I heard pianist Jonathan Biss play Schubert’s three last sonatas. He performed them flawlessly, viscerally, emotionally. The last piece on the program was the Opus 960 sonata, which begins so melodically, with such depth and richness, that another world seemed to open with those notes and harmonic shifts.

We sat around the piano, about 200 of us, and at intermission the piano was flipped so that those who saw Biss’s hands in the first half of the program saw his face in the second half. I’m not sure which was more moving,. Biss’s hands never stopped, even in “rest,” but his face was transporting.

I was lucky to watch it during the final piece, the Opus 960 Sonata. Biss then became a conduit for Schubert, lying on his deathbed, sending his last notes to the world. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so moved by hearing a piece of live music. It was my “moment musicaux.”