Schubert's Piano Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960, is one of his last and most profound works, celebrated for its expansive lyricism and profound emotional depth. Its seemingly simple melodies unfold with immense harmonic richness and structural integrity.
Achieving a transcendentally singing tone and navigating the immense harmonic and emotional scope is the central challenge.
Piano Sonata in B-flat major (D. 960) is rated Henle level 8 of 9 — concert repertoire, roughly diploma level. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 9.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 8 — meaning you can already play level 7–8 pieces cleanly. Learning it one level early is possible as a stretch piece, but more than that usually leads to months of frustration.
A typical performance of Piano Sonata in B-flat major (D. 960) lasts about 30 minutes.
Piano Sonata in B-flat major (D. 960) is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.