The very intensity of Paul Lewis's commitment to the cause of Franz Schubert has conferred a special status on his series presenting the piano music of the composer's last six years. For the Bristol audience, there's been a process of accretion, with the earlier recitals – plus the song-cycles in partnership with Mark Padmore – inviting a far greater appreciation of Schubert's art.

Lewis's programming is evidence of his deeply purposeful approach. Beginning with the German Dances, D.783, with their suggestions of a young Chopin, and the Allegretto in C minor D.915, he then put the two sonatas in A minor, D.784 and 845 respectively, either side of the interval. It offered fascinating comparison, mapping the extraordinary way in which Schubert's creative processes developed over two short years. Setting aside the question of what Schubert might have achieved had he not died tragically young, Lewis requires only that one listen to what is there. And in letting the music speak for itself – however wayward and unpredictable – rather than trying to fit it into a classical straitjacket, he allowed Schubert's own logic to assert itself.

The clarity of Lewis's delivery brought out the austere, almost funereal beauty of the opening of D.784. Conversely, in D.845, where everything emerges on a grander, more tragic plane, his attention to the pedalling lent varying degrees of misty aura to the sound. Schubert's innovative, exquisite way with variations in the Andante and the finale's dramatic flights of imagination were all lovingly detailed. Serious stuff, yes, but St George's stamped their feet approvingly.