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Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal works (mainly lieder), seven complete
symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning co ...
, sacred music, operas, incidental music, and a large body of piano and
chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small nu ...
. His major works include " Erlkönig" (D. 328), the Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667 (''Trout Quintet''), the Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759 (''Unfinished Symphony''), the "Great" Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944, the String Quintet (D. 956), the three last piano sonatas (D. 958–960), the opera ''
Fierrabras ''Fierrabras'', 796, is a three-act German opera with spoken dialogue written by the composer Franz Schubert in 1823, to a libretto by Joseph Kupelwieser, the general manager of the Theater am Kärntnertor (Vienna's Court Opera Theatre). Along ...
'' (D. 796), the incidental music to the play ''
Rosamunde ''Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern'' (''Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus'') is a play by Helmina von Chézy, which is primarily remembered for the incidental music which Franz Schubert composed for it. Music and play premiered in Vienna's Theater an d ...
'' (D. 797), and the song cycles ''
Die schöne Müllerin ' (,"The Fair Maid of the Mill", Op. 25, D. 795), is a song cycle by Franz Schubert from 1823 based on 20 poems by Wilhelm Müller. It is the first of Schubert's two seminal cycles (preceding '' Winterreise'')'','' and a pinnacle of '' Lied'' ...
'' (D. 795) and ''
Winterreise ''Winterreise'' (, ''Winter Journey'') is a song cycle for voice and piano by Franz Schubert ( D. 911, published as Op. 89 in 1828), a setting of 24 poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller. It is the second of Schubert's two song cycles on Müller' ...
'' (D. 911). Born in the Himmelpfortgrund suburb of
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
, Schubert showed uncommon gifts for music from an early age. His father gave him his first violin lessons and his elder brother gave him piano lessons, but Schubert soon exceeded their abilities. In 1808, at the age of eleven, he became a pupil at the Stadtkonvikt school, where he became acquainted with the orchestral music of Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and
Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
. He left the Stadtkonvikt at the end of 1813, and returned home to live with his father, where he began studying to become a schoolteacher. Despite this, he continued his studies in composition with Antonio Salieri and still composed prolifically. In 1821, Schubert was admitted to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde as a performing member, which helped establish his name among the Viennese citizenry. He gave a concert of his own works to critical acclaim in March 1828, the only time he did so in his career. He died eight months later at the age of 31, the cause officially attributed to
typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over severa ...
, but believed by some historians to be
syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium '' Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, a ...
. Appreciation of Schubert's music while he was alive was limited to a relatively small circle of admirers in Vienna, but interest in his work increased greatly in the decades following his death. Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms and other 19th-century composers discovered and championed his works. Today, Schubert is ranked among the greatest composers in the history of Western music and his work continues to be admired.


Biography


Early life and education

Franz Peter Schubert was born in Himmelpfortgrund (now a part of
Alsergrund Alsergrund (; Central Bavarian: ''Oisagrund'') is the ninth district of Vienna, Austria (german: 9. Bezirk, Alsergrund). It is located just north of the first, central district, Innere Stadt. Alsergrund was incorporated in 1862, with seven suburb ...
), Vienna, Archduchy of Austria, on 31 January 1797, and baptized in the Catholic Church the following day. He was the twelfth child of Franz Theodor Florian Schubert (1763–1830) and Maria Elisabeth Katharina Vietz (1756–1812). Schubert's immediate ancestors came originally from the province of Zuckmantel in Austrian Silesia. Kreissle (1869), p. 1 His father, the son of a Moravian peasant, was a well-known parish schoolmaster, and his school in
Lichtental Lichtental is a part of the district of Alsergrund, Vienna. It was an independent municipality until 1850. Notable people * Hans-Adam I, Prince of Liechtenstein (1657–1712) lived here. * Caterina Cavalieri (1755–1801), opera singer, was b ...
(in Vienna's ninth district) had numerous students in attendance. Wilberforce (1866), p. 2: "the school was much frequented" He came to Vienna from Zukmantel in 1784 and was appointed schoolmaster two years later. His mother was the daughter of a Silesian master locksmith and had been a housemaid for a Viennese family before marriage. Of Franz Theodor and Elisabeth's fourteen children (one of them illegitimate, born in 1783), nine died in infancy. At the age of five, Schubert began to receive regular lessons from his father, and a year later he was enrolled at his father's school. Although it is not known exactly when he received his first musical instruction, he was given piano lessons by his brother Ignaz, but they lasted for a very short time as Schubert excelled him within a few months. McKay (1996), p. 11 Ignaz later recalled: His father gave him his first
violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
lessons when he was eight years old, training him to the point where he could play easy duets proficiently. Duncan (1905), p. 3 Soon after, Schubert was given his first lessons outside the family by Michael Holzer, organist and choirmaster of the local parish church in Lichtental. Holzer would often assure Schubert's father, with tears in his eyes, that he had never had such a pupil as Schubert, and the lessons may have largely consisted of conversations and expressions of admiration. Holzer gave the young Schubert instruction in piano and organ as well as in figured bass. According to Holzer, however, he did not give him any real instruction as Schubert would already know anything that he tried to teach him; rather, he looked upon Schubert with "astonishment and silence". The boy seemed to gain more from an acquaintance with a friendly apprentice joiner who took him to a neighbouring pianoforte warehouse where Schubert could practise on better instruments. Wilberforce (1866), p. 3 He also played viola in the family string quartet, with his brothers Ferdinand and Ignaz on first and second violin and his father on the
cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, ...
. Schubert wrote his earliest string quartets for this ensemble. Gibbs (2000), p. 26 Young Schubert first came to the attention of Antonio Salieri, then Vienna's leading musical authority, in 1804, when his vocal talent was recognized. In November 1808, he became a pupil at the Stadtkonvikt (Imperial Seminary) through a choir scholarship. At the Stadtkonvikt, he was introduced to the overtures and symphonies of Mozart, the symphonies of Joseph Haydn and his younger brother Michael Haydn, and the overtures and symphonies of
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
, a composer for whom he developed admiration. McKay (1996), p. 22 Duncan (1905), pp. 5–7 His exposure to these and other works, combined with occasional visits to the opera, laid the foundation for a broader musical education. One important musical influence came from the songs by Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg, an important composer of lieder. The precocious young student "wanted to modernize" Zumsteeg's songs, as reported by Joseph von Spaun, Schubert's friend. Gibbs (2000), p. 29 Schubert's friendship with Spaun began at the Stadtkonvikt and lasted throughout his short life. In those early days, the financially well-off Spaun furnished the impoverished Schubert with much of his manuscript paper. Duncan (1905), p. 7 In the meantime, Schubert's talent began to show in his compositions; Salieri decided to start training him privately in music theory and composition. According to Ferdinand, the boy's first composition for piano was a Fantasy for four hands; his first song, ''Klagegesang der Hagar'', would be written a year later. Kreissle (1869), p. 6 Schubert was occasionally permitted to lead the Stadtkonvikt's orchestra, Duncan (1905), p. 9 and it was the first orchestra he wrote for. He devoted much of the rest of his time at the Stadtkonvikt to composing chamber music, several songs, piano pieces and, more ambitiously, liturgical choral works in the form of a "Salve Regina" (D 27), a "Kyrie" (D 31), in addition to the unfinished "Octet for Winds" (D 72, said to commemorate the 1812 death of his mother), Frost (1915), p. 9 the cantata ''Wer ist groß?'' for male voices and orchestra (D 110, for his father's birthday in 1813), and his first symphony (D 82). Duncan (1905), p. 10


Teacher at his father's school

At the end of 1813, Schubert left the Stadtkonvikt and returned home for teacher training at the St Anna Normal-
hauptschule A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...
. In 1814, he entered his father's school as the teacher of the youngest pupils. For over two years, young Schubert endured severe drudgery. Duncan (1905), pp. 13–14 There were, however, compensatory interests even then: for example, Schubert continued to take private lessons in composition from Salieri, who gave him more actual technical training than any of his other teachers, before they parted ways in 1817. In 1814, Schubert met a young soprano named
Therese Grob Therese Grob (16 November 1798 – 17 March 1875) was a singer and is alleged to have been the first love of the composer Franz Schubert. The composer's friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner recalled – twenty-six years after Schubert's death: "F ...
, daughter of a local silk manufacturer, and wrote several of his liturgical works (including a "Salve Regina" and a "Tantum Ergo") for her; she was also a soloist in the premiere of his Mass No. 1 (D. 105) in September 1814. Schubert wanted to marry her, but was hindered by the harsh marriage-consent law of 1815 Steblin (1998) requiring an aspiring bridegroom to show he had the means to support a family. Gibbs (2000), p. 39 In November 1816, after failing to gain a musical post in Laibach (now
Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...
,
Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...
), Schubert sent Grob's brother Heinrich a collection of songs retained by the family into the twentieth century. Newbould (1999), p. 64 One of Schubert's most prolific years was 1815. He composed over 20,000 bars of music, more than half of which were for orchestra, including nine church works (despite his being an agnostic), a symphony, and about 140 Lieder. Newbould (1999), p. 40 In that year, he was also introduced to
Anselm Hüttenbrenner Anselm Hüttenbrenner (13 October 1794 – 5 June 1868) was an Austrian composer. He was on friendly terms with both Ludwig van Beethovenhe was one of only two people present at his deathand Franz Schubert, his recollections of whom constitute a ...
and Franz von Schober, who would become his lifelong friends. Another friend, Johann Mayrhofer, was introduced to him by Spaun in 1815. Throughout 1815, Schubert lived at home with his father. He continued to teach at the school and give private musical instruction, earning enough money for his basic needs, including clothing, manuscript paper, pens, and ink, but with little to no money left over for luxuries. Spaun was well aware that Schubert was discontented with his life at the schoolhouse, and was concerned for Schubert's development intellectually and musically. In May 1816, Spaun moved from his apartment in Landskrongasse (in the inner city) to a new home in the Landstraße suburb; one of the first things he did after he settled into the new home was to invite Schubert to spend a few days with him. This was probably Schubert's first visit away from home or school. Schubert's unhappiness during his years as a schoolteacher possibly showed early signs of depression, and it is virtually certain that Schubert suffered from
cyclothymia Cyclothymia ( ), also known as cyclothymic disorder, psychothemia/psychothymia, bipolar III, affective personality disorder and cyclothymic personality disorder, is a mental and behavioural disorder that involves numerous periods of symptoms of ...
throughout his life. In 1989 the musicologist Maynard Solomon suggested that Schubert was erotically attracted to men, a thesis that has been heatedly debated. The musicologist and Schubert expert
Rita Steblin Rita Katherine Steblin (April 22, 1951 – September 3, 2019)
obituary, ''Figures of Speech'' was a
has said that he was "chasing women". The theory of Schubert's sexuality or "Schubert as Other" has continued to influence current scholarship.


Support from friends

Significant changes happened in 1816. Schober, a student and of good family and some means, invited Schubert to lodge with him at his mother's house. The proposal was particularly opportune, for Schubert had just made the unsuccessful application for the post of
kapellmeister at Laibach, and he had also decided not to resume teaching duties at his father's school. By the end of the year, he became a guest in Schober's lodgings. For a time, he attempted to increase the household resources by giving music lessons, but they were soon abandoned, and he devoted himself to composition. "I compose every morning, and when one piece is done, I begin another." Duncan (1905), p. 26 During this year, he focused on orchestral and choral works, although he also continued to write Lieder. McKay (1996), p. 56 Much of this work was unpublished, but manuscripts and copies circulated among friends and admirers. Gibbs (2000), p. 44 In early 1817, Schober introduced Schubert to Johann Michael Vogl, a prominent baritone twenty years Schubert's senior. Vogl, for whom Schubert went on to write a great many songs, became one of Schubert's main proponents in Viennese musical circles. Schubert also met Joseph Hüttenbrenner (brother of Anselm), who also played a role in promoting his music. Newbould (1999), p. 66 These, and an increasing circle of friends and musicians, became responsible for promoting, collecting, and, after his death, preserving his work. Duncan (1905), pp. 90–93 In late 1817, Schubert's father gained a new position at a school in Rossau, not far from Lichtental. Schubert rejoined his father and reluctantly took up teaching duties there. In early 1818, he applied for membership in the prestigious Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, intending to gain admission as an accompanist, but also so that his music, especially the songs, could be performed in the evening concerts. He was rejected on the basis that he was "no amateur", although he had been employed as a schoolteacher at the time and there were professional musicians already among the society's membership. McKay (1996), 75 However, he began to gain more notice in the press, and the first public performance of a secular work, an overture performed in February 1818, received praise from the press in Vienna and abroad. Gibbs (2000), p. 59 Schubert spent the summer of 1818 as a music teacher to the family of Count Johann Karl Esterházy at their château in Zseliz (now Želiezovce, Slovakia). The pay was relatively good, and his duties teaching piano and singing to the two daughters were relatively light, allowing him to compose happily. Schubert may have written his Marche Militaire in D major (D. 733 no. 1) for Marie and Karoline, in addition to other piano duets. Newbould (1999), p. 235 On his return from Zseliz, he took up residence with his friend Mayrhofer. Newbould (1999) pp. 69–72 During the early 1820s, Schubert was part of a close-knit circle of artists and students who had social gatherings together that became known as ''
Schubertiad A Schubertiade (also spelled Schubertiad) is an event held to celebrate the music of Franz Schubert (1797–1828). Modern Schubertiades also include concert series and festivals, such as the Schubertiade Vorarlberg. History During Schubert's lifet ...
s.'' Many of them took place in Ignaz von Sonnleithner's large apartment in the Gundelhof (Brandstätte 5, Vienna). The tight circle of friends with which Schubert surrounded himself was dealt a blow in early 1820. Schubert and four of his friends were arrested by the Austrian police, who (in the aftermath of the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
and
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...
) were on their guard against revolutionary activities and suspicious of any gathering of youth or students. One of Schubert's friends,
Johann Senn Johann Chrysostomus Senn (1 April 1795, Pfunds – 30 September 1857, Innsbruck; pseudonym: ''Bombastus Bebederwa'') was a political lyric poet of the Vormärz. Life Johann Senn was the son of the freedom fighter, Franz Michael Senn. He lived i ...
, was put on trial, imprisoned for over a year, and then permanently forbidden to enter Vienna. The other four, including Schubert, were "severely reprimanded", in part for "inveighing against fficialswith insulting and opprobrious language". Gibbs (2000), p. 67 While Schubert never saw Senn again, he did set some of his poems, ''Selige Welt'' (D. 743) and ''Schwanengesang'' (D 744), to music. The incident may have played a role in a falling-out with Mayrhofer, with whom he was living at the time. Gibbs (2000), p. 68 Schubert, who was only a little more than five feet tall, was nicknamed "Schwammerl" by his friends, which Gibbs describes as translating to "Tubby" or "Little Mushroom". "Schwamm" is German (in the Austrian and Bavarian dialects) for mushroom; the ending "-erl" makes it a diminutive. Gibbs also claims he may have occasionally drunk to excess, noting that references to Schubert's heavy drinking "... come not only in later accounts, but also in documents dating from his lifetime."


Musical maturity

The compositions of 1819 and 1820 show a marked advance in development and maturity of style. The unfinished oratorio ''Lazarus'' (D. 689) was begun in February; later followed, among some smaller works, by the hymn "Der 23. Psalm" (D. 706), the octet " Gesang der Geister über den Wassern" (D. 714), the Quartettsatz in C minor (D. 703), and the ''
Wanderer Fantasy The Fantasie in C major, Op. 15 ( D. 760), popularly known as the ''Wanderer Fantasy'', is a four-movement fantasy for solo piano composed by Franz Schubert in 1822. It is widely considered Schubert's most technically demanding composition for th ...
'' in C major for piano (D. 760). In 1820, two of Schubert's operas were staged: ''
Die Zwillingsbrüder ' (''The Twin Brothers'', D. 647) is a one-act Singspiel (sometimes also described as a Posse mit Gesang) composed by Franz Schubert in 1819 on a libretto by Georg Ernst von Hofmann. ' was first performed at the Kärntnertortheater on June 14, 1 ...
'' (D. 647) appeared at the Theater am Kärntnertor on 14 June, and ''Die Zauberharfe'' (D. 644) appeared at the Theater an der Wien on 21 August. Austin (1873), pp. 46–47 Hitherto, his larger compositions (apart from his masses) had been restricted to the amateur orchestra at the Gundelhof (Brandstätte 5, Vienna), a society which grew out of the quartet-parties at his home. Now he began to assume a more prominent position, addressing a wider public. Publishers, however, remained distant, with
Anton Diabelli Anton (or Antonio) Diabelli (5 September 17818 April 1858) was an Austrian music publisher, editor and composer. Best known in his time as a publisher, he is most familiar today as the composer of the waltz on which Ludwig van Beethoven wrote ...
hesitantly agreeing to print some of his works on commission. Wilberforce (1866), pp. 90–92 The first seven opus numbers (all songs) appeared on these terms; then the commission ceased, and he began to receive parsimonious royalties. The situation improved somewhat in March 1821 when Vogl performed the song " Erlkönig" (D. 328) at a concert that was extremely well received. Wilberforce (1866), p. 25 That month, Schubert composed a Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli (D 718), being one of the fifty composers who contributed to the '' Vaterländischer Künstlerverein'' publication. The production of the two operas turned Schubert's attention more firmly than ever in the direction of the stage, where, for a variety of reasons, he was almost completely unsuccessful. All in all, he embarked on twenty stage projects, each of them failures that were quickly forgotten. In 1822, ''
Alfonso und Estrella ' (''Alfonso and Estrella''), 732, is an opera with music by Franz Schubert, set to a German libretto by Franz von Schober, written in 1822. Along with the later '' Fierrabras'', composed in 1823, it marks Schubert's attempt to compose grand Rom ...
'' was rejected, partly owing to its libretto (written by Schubert's friend Franz von Schober). Newbould (1999), p. 173 In 1823, ''
Fierrabras ''Fierrabras'', 796, is a three-act German opera with spoken dialogue written by the composer Franz Schubert in 1823, to a libretto by Joseph Kupelwieser, the general manager of the Theater am Kärntnertor (Vienna's Court Opera Theatre). Along ...
'' (D 796) was rejected: Domenico Barbaia, impresario for the court theatres, largely lost interest in new German opera due to the popularity of Rossini and the Italian operatic style, and the failure of Carl Maria von Weber's '' Euryanthe''. Denny (1997), pp. 245–246 ''Die Verschworenen'' (''The Conspirators'', D 787) was prohibited by the censor (apparently because of its title), Gibbs (2000), p. 111 and '' Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern'' (D 797) was withdrawn after two nights, owing to the poor quality of the play for which Schubert had written incidental music. Despite his operatic failures, Schubert's reputation was growing steadily on other fronts. In 1821, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde finally accepted him as a performing member, and the number of performances of his music grew remarkably. McKay (1996), p. 101 These performances helped Schubert's reputation grow rapidly among the members of the Gesellschaft and established his name. Some of the members of the Gesellschaft, most notably Ignaz von Sonnleithner and his son Leopold von Sonnleithner, had a sizeable influence on the affairs of the society, and as a result of that and of Schubert's growing reputation, his works were included in three major concerts of the Gesellschaft in 1821. In April, one of his male-voice quartets was performed, and in November, his Overture in E minor (D. 648) received its first public performance; at a different concert on the same day as the premiere of the Overture, his song ''
Der Wanderer "Der Wanderer" ( D 489) ormerly D 493is a lied composed by Franz Schubert in October 1816 for voice and piano. A revised version was published near the end of May 1821 as opus 4, number 1. The words are taken from a German poem by Georg Phili ...
'' (D. 489) was performed. In 1822, Schubert made the acquaintance of both Weber and
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
, but little came of it in either case; however, Beethoven is said to have acknowledged the younger man's gifts on a few occasions. On his deathbed, Beethoven is said to have looked into some of the younger man's works and exclaimed: "Truly, the spark of divine genius resides in this Schubert!" Beethoven also reportedly predicted that Schubert "would make a great sensation in the world," and regretted that he had not been more familiar with him earlier; he wished to see his operas and works for piano, but his severe illness prevented him from doing so. Thayer (1921), pp. 299–300


Last years and masterworks

Despite his preoccupation with the stage, and later with his official duties, Schubert wrote much music during these years. He completed the Mass in A-flat major, (D. 678) in 1822, and later that year embarked suddenly on a work which more decisively than almost any other in those years showed his maturing personal vision, the Symphony in B minor, known as the ''Unfinished'' Symphony (D. 759). The reason he left it unfinished – after writing two movements and sketches some way into a third – continues to be discussed and written about, and it is also remarkable that he did not mention it to any of his friends, even though, as
Brian Newbould Brian Newbould (born 26 February 1936) is an English composer, conductor and author who has conjecturally completed Franz Schubert's Symphonies D 708A in D major, No. 7 in E major, No. 8 in B minor ("Unfinished") and No. 10 ("Last") in D major ...
notes, he must have felt thrilled by what he was achieving. In 1823, Schubert wrote his first large-scale
song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle, of individually complete songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rare ...
, ''
Die schöne Müllerin ' (,"The Fair Maid of the Mill", Op. 25, D. 795), is a song cycle by Franz Schubert from 1823 based on 20 poems by Wilhelm Müller. It is the first of Schubert's two seminal cycles (preceding '' Winterreise'')'','' and a pinnacle of '' Lied'' ...
'' (D. 795), setting poems by Wilhelm Müller. Newbould (1999), p. 215 This series, together with the later cycle ''
Winterreise ''Winterreise'' (, ''Winter Journey'') is a song cycle for voice and piano by Franz Schubert ( D. 911, published as Op. 89 in 1828), a setting of 24 poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller. It is the second of Schubert's two song cycles on Müller' ...
'' (D. 911, also setting texts of Müller in 1827) is widely considered one of the pinnacles of Lieder. He also composed the song '' Du bist die Ruh''' (''You are rest and peace'', Reed (1997), pp. 208–209 D. 776) during this year. Also in that year, symptoms of
syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium '' Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, a ...
first appeared. Newbould (1999), p. 210 In 1824, he wrote the Variations in E minor for flute and piano; ''Trockne Blumen'', a song from the cycle ''
Die schöne Müllerin ' (,"The Fair Maid of the Mill", Op. 25, D. 795), is a song cycle by Franz Schubert from 1823 based on 20 poems by Wilhelm Müller. It is the first of Schubert's two seminal cycles (preceding '' Winterreise'')'','' and a pinnacle of '' Lied'' ...
''; and several string quartets. He also wrote the Sonata in A minor for arpeggione and piano (D. 821) at the time when there was a minor craze over that instrument. Newbould (1999), pp. 221–225 In the spring of that year, he wrote the Octet in F major (D. 803), a sketch for a "Grand Symphony," and in the summer went back to ''Zseliz''. There he became attracted to Hungarian musical idiom and wrote the ''Divertissement à la hongroise'' in G minor for piano duet (D. 818) and the String Quartet in A minor ''Rosamunde'' (D. 804). It has been said that he held a hopeless passion for his pupil, the Countess Caroline Esterházy, but the only work he dedicated to her was his Fantasia in F minor for piano duet (D. 940). Newbould (1999), p. 218 His friend
Eduard von Bauernfeld Eduard von Bauernfeld (13 January 1802 – 9 August 1890), Austrian dramatist, was born at Vienna. Life Having studied jurisprudence at the University of Vienna, he entered the government service in a legal capacity, and after holding variou ...
penned the following verse, which appears to reference Schubert's unrequited sentiments:
In love with a Countess of youthful grace, —A pupil of Galt's; in desperate case Young Schubert surrenders himself to another, And fain would avoid such affectionate pother Duncan (1905), p. 99
The setbacks of previous years were compensated by the prosperity and happiness of 1825. Publication had been moving more rapidly, the stress of poverty was for a time lightened, and in the summer he had a pleasant holiday in Upper Austria where he was welcomed with enthusiasm. It was during this tour that he produced the seven-song cycle ''Fräulein am See'', based on Walter Scott's '' The Lady of the Lake'', and including " Ellens Gesang III" ("Hymn to the Virgin") (D. 839, Op. 52, No. 6); the lyrics of Adam Storck's German translation of the Scott poem are now frequently replaced by the full text of the traditional Roman Catholic prayer
Hail Mary The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Annunciation) and Mary' ...
(''Ave Maria'' in Latin), but for which the Schubert melody is not an original setting. The original only opens with the greeting "Ave Maria", which also recurs only in the refrain. Emmons (2006), p. 38 In 1825, Schubert also wrote the Piano Sonata in A minor (D 845, first published as op. 42), and began the Symphony in C major (''Great C major'', D. 944), which was completed the following year. Newbould (1999), p. 228 From 1826 to 1828, Schubert resided continuously in Vienna, except for a brief visit to Graz, Austria, in 1827. In 1826, he dedicated a symphony (D. 944, that later came to be known as the ''Great C major'') to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and received an honorarium in return. The String Quartet No. 14 in D minor (D. 810), with the variations on '' Death and the Maiden'', was written during the winter of 1825–1826, and first played on 25 January 1826. Later in the year came the String Quartet No. 15 in G major, (D 887, first published as op. 161), the '' Rondo in B minor for violin and piano'' (D. 895), ''Rondeau brillant'', and the Piano Sonata in G major, (D 894, first published as ''Fantasie in G'', op. 78). He also produced in 1826 three Shakespearian songs, of which "" (D. 889) and "" (D. 891) were allegedly written on the same day, the former at a tavern where he broke his afternoon's walk, the latter on his return to his lodging in the evening. Smith & Carlson (1995), p. 78 The works of his last two years reveal a composer entering a new professional and compositional stage. Although parts of Schubert's personality were influenced by his friends, he nurtured an intensely personal dimension in solitude; it was out of this dimension that he wrote his greatest music. The death of Beethoven affected Schubert deeply, and may have motivated Schubert to reach new artistic peaks. In 1827, Schubert wrote the song cycle ''
Winterreise ''Winterreise'' (, ''Winter Journey'') is a song cycle for voice and piano by Franz Schubert ( D. 911, published as Op. 89 in 1828), a setting of 24 poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller. It is the second of Schubert's two song cycles on Müller' ...
'' (D. 911), the Fantasy in C major for violin and piano (D. 934, first published as op. post. 159), the Impromptus for piano, and the two piano trios ( the first in B-flat major (D. 898), and the second in E-flat major, (D. 929); Newbould (1999) pp. 261–263 in 1828 the cantata ''Mirjams Siegesgesang'' (''Victory Song of Miriam'', D 942) on a text by Franz Grillparzer, the Mass in E-flat major (D. 950), the ''Tantum Ergo'' (D. 962) in the same key, the String Quintet in C major (D. 956), the second "Benedictus" to the Mass in C major (D. 961), the three final piano sonatas (D. 958, D. 959, and D. 960), and the collection ''13 Lieder nach Gedichten von Rellstab und Heine'' for voice and piano, also known as '' Schwanengesang'' (''Swan-song'', D. 957). Newbould (1999) pp. 270–274 (This collection – which includes settings of words by Heinrich Heine, Ludwig Rellstab, and
Johann Gabriel Seidl Johann Gabriel Seidl (21 June 1804 – 18 July 1875) was an Austrian archeologist, poet, storyteller and dramatist. He wrote the lyrics to "Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze unsern Kaiser, unser Land!" This was the 1854 version of the Austrian ...
– is not a true song cycle like ''Die schöne Müllerin'' or ''Winterreise''.) The ''Great C major'' symphony is dated 1828, but Schubert scholars believe that this symphony was largely written in 1825–1826 (being referred to while he was on holiday at Gastein in 1825—that work, once considered lost, is now generally seen as an early stage of his C major symphony) and was revised for prospective performance in 1828. The orchestra of the Gesellschaft reportedly read through the symphony at a rehearsal, but never scheduled a public performance of it. The reasons continue to be unknown, although the difficulty of the symphony is the possible explanation. Griffel (1997), p. 203 In the last weeks of his life, he began to sketch three movements for a new Symphony in D major (D 936A); Newbould (1999), p. 385 In this work, he anticipates Mahler's use of folksong-like harmonics and bare soundscapes. Schubert expressed the wish, were he to survive his final illness, to further develop his knowledge of harmony and counterpoint, and had actually made appointments for lessons with the counterpoint master Simon Sechter. Schonberg (1997), p. 130 On 26 March 1828, the anniversary of Beethoven's death, Schubert gave, for the only time in his career, a public concert of his own works. Newbould (1999), pp. 265–266 The concert was a success popularly and financially, even though it would be overshadowed by Niccolò Paganini's first appearances in Vienna shortly after.


Final illness and death

In the midst of this creative activity, his health deteriorated. By the late 1820s, Schubert's health was failing and he confided to some friends that he feared that he was near death. In the late summer of 1828, he saw the physician Ernst Rinna, who may have confirmed Schubert's suspicions that he was ill beyond cure and likely to die soon. Some of his symptoms matched those of mercury poisoning ( mercury was then a common treatment for syphilis, again suggesting that Schubert suffered from it). Gibbs (2000), pp. 168–169 At the beginning of November, he again fell ill, experiencing headaches, fever, swollen joints, and vomiting. He was generally unable to retain solid food and his condition worsened. Five days before Schubert's death, his friend the violinist Karl Holz and his string quartet visited to play for him. The last musical work he had wished to hear was Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131; Holz commented: "The King of Harmony has sent the King of Song a friendly bidding to the crossing". Schubert died in Vienna, aged 31, on 19 November 1828, at the apartment of his brother Ferdinand. The cause of his death was officially diagnosed as
typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over severa ...
, though other theories have been proposed, including the tertiary stage of syphilis. Newbould (1999), p. 275. Although there are accounts by his friends that indirectly imply that he was syphilitic, the symptoms of his final illness do not correspond with tertiary syphilis. Six weeks before his death, he walked 42 miles in three days, ruling out musculoskeletal syphilis. In the month of his death, he composed his last work, "Der Hirt Auf Den Felsen", making neurosyphilis unlikely. Finally, meningo-vascular syphilis is unlikely because it presents as progressive stroke-like picture, and Schubert had no neurological manifestation until his final delirium, which started only two days before his death. This, and the fact that his final illness was characterized by gastrointestinal symptoms (namely vomiting), led Robert L. Rold to argue that his final illness was a gastrointestinal one, like salmonella or indeed typhus. Eva M. Cybulska goes further and says that Schubert's syphilis is a conjecture. His multi-system signs and symptoms, she says, could point at a number of different illness such as
leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
,
anaemia Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, th ...
, or Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and that many tell-tale signs of syphilis —
chancre A chancre ( )chancres
thefreedictionary
is a painless
, mucous plaques, rash on the thorax, pupil abnormality, dysgraphia — were absent. She argues that the syphilis diagnosis originated with Schubert's biographer Otto Deutsch in 1907, based on the aforementioned indirect references by his friends, and uncritically repeated ever since. It was near the grave of Beethoven, whom he had admired all his life, that Schubert was buried at his own request, in the village cemetery of Währing on the edge of the Vienna Woods. A year earlier he had served as a torchbearer at Beethoven's funeral. In 1872, a memorial to Franz Schubert was erected in Vienna's Stadtpark. Duncan (1905), pp. 79–80 In 1888, both Schubert's and Beethoven's graves were moved to the
Zentralfriedhof The Vienna Central Cemetery (german: Wiener Zentralfriedhof) is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its ...
where they can now be found next to those of Johann Strauss II and Johannes Brahms. Gibbs (2000), p. 197 Anton Bruckner was present at both exhumations, and he reached into both coffins and held the revered skulls in his hands. The cemetery in Währing was converted into a park in 1925, called the Schubert Park, and his former grave site was marked by a bust. His epitaph, written by his friend, the poet Franz Grillparzer, reads: ''Die Tonkunst begrub hier einen reichen Besitz, aber noch viel schönere Hoffnungen'' ("The art of music has here interred a precious treasure, but yet far fairer hopes").


Music

Schubert was remarkably prolific, writing over 1,500 works in his short career. His compositional style progressed rapidly throughout his short life. Gammond (1982), p. 143, discussing in particular his chamber music The largest number of his compositions are songs for solo voice and piano (roughly 630). Schubert also composed a considerable number of secular works for two or more voices, namely part songs, choruses and cantatas. He completed eight orchestral overtures and seven complete symphonies, in addition to fragments of six others. While he composed no concertos, he did write three concertante works for violin and orchestra. Schubert wrote a large body of music for solo piano, including eleven incontrovertibly completed sonatas and at least eleven more in varying states of completion, numerous miscellaneous works and many short dances, in addition to producing a large set of works for piano four hands. He also wrote over fifty chamber works, including some fragmentary works. Schubert's sacred output includes seven masses, one oratorio and one requiem, among other mass movements and numerous smaller compositions. Ewen (2007), p. 384 He completed only eleven of his twenty stage works.


Style

In July 1947 the Austrian composer Ernst Krenek discussed Schubert's style, abashedly admitting that he had at first "shared the wide-spread opinion that Schubert was a lucky inventor of pleasing tunes ... lacking the dramatic power and searching intelligence which distinguished such 'real' masters as J. S. Bach or
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
". Krenek wrote that he reached a completely different assessment after a close study of Schubert's pieces at the urging of his friend and fellow composer
Eduard Erdmann Eduard Erdmann (5 March 1896 – 21 June 1958) was a Baltic German pianist and composer. Erdmann was born in Wenden (Cēsis) in the Governorate of Livonia. He was the great-nephew of the philosopher Johann Eduard Erdmann. His first musical s ...
. Krenek pointed to the piano sonatas as giving "ample evidence that chubertwas much more than an easy-going tune-smith who did not know, and did not care, about the craft of composition." Each sonata then in print, according to Krenek, exhibited "a great wealth of technical finesse" and revealed Schubert as "far from satisfied with pouring his charming ideas into conventional moulds; on the contrary he was a thinking artist with a keen appetite for experimentation." Lev.


Instrumental music, stage works and church music

That "appetite for experimentation" manifests itself repeatedly in Schubert's output in a wide variety of forms and genres, including opera, liturgical music, chamber and solo piano music, and symphonic works. Perhaps most familiarly, his adventurousness is reflected in his notably original sense of modulation; for example, the second movement of the String Quintet (D. 956), which is in E major, features a central section in the
distant key In music, a closely related key (or close key) is one sharing many common tones with an original key, as opposed to a distantly related key (or distant key). In music harmony, there are six of them: five share all, or all except one, pitches wit ...
of F minor. Gammond (1982), p. 117 It also appears in unusual choices of instrumentation, as in the Sonata in A minor for arpeggione and piano (D. 821), or the unconventional scoring of the '' Trout Quintet'' (D. 667) for piano, violin, viola, cello, and double bass, whereas conventional piano quintets are scored for piano and string quartet. Although Schubert was clearly influenced by the Classical sonata forms of Beethoven and Mozart, his formal structures and his developments tend to give the impression more of melodic development than of harmonic drama. Gammond (1982), pp. 76–81 This combination of Classical form and long-breathed Romantic melody sometimes lends them a discursive style: his ''Great C Major Symphony'' was described by Robert Schumann as running to "heavenly lengths". Brown (2002), p. 630


Lieder and art songs

It was in the genre of the Lied that Schubert made his most indelible mark.
Leon Plantinga Leon B. Plantinga is an American musicologist specializing in music of the later eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. His writings have influenced scholarship on Clementi, Beethoven, and Schumann, and his textbook ''Romantic Music'' continues to se ...
remarks that "in his more than six hundred Lieder he explored and expanded the potentialities of the genre, as no composer before him." Prior to Schubert's influence, Lieder tended toward a strophic, syllabic treatment of text, evoking the folksong qualities engendered by the stirrings of Romantic nationalism. Among Schubert's treatments of the poetry of Goethe, his settings of "
Gretchen am Spinnrade "" (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel), Op. 2, 118, is a Lied composed by Franz Schubert using the text from Part One, scene 15 of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's ''Faust''. With "Gretchen am Spinnrade" and some 600 other songs for voice and piano, S ...
" (D. 118) and "
Der Erlkönig Der or DER may refer to: Places * Darkənd, Azerbaijan * Dearborn (Amtrak station) (station code), in Michigan, US * Der (Sumer), an ancient city located in modern-day Iraq * d'Entrecasteaux Ridge, an oceanic ridge in the south-west Pacific Ocean ...
" (D. 328) are particularly striking for their dramatic content, forward-looking uses of harmony, and use of eloquent pictorial keyboard figurations, such as the depiction of the spinning wheel and treadle in the piano in "Gretchen" and the furious and ceaseless gallop in "". Swafford (1992), p. 211 He composed music using the poems of myriad poets, with Goethe,
Mayrhofer Mayrhofer is a German surname meaning "from the region of Mayrhof" in Austria. Notable people with the surname include: *Carl Mayrhofer (183782), Austrian obstetrician *Johann Mayrhofer (17871836), Austrian poet and librettist known for his friend ...
, and Schiller the most frequent, and others, including Heinrich Heine,
Friedrich Rückert Friedrich Rückert (16 May 1788 – 31 January 1866) was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages. Biography Rückert was born in Schweinfurt and was the eldest son of a lawyer. He was educated at the local '' Gymnasiu ...
, and Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff. Of particular note are his two
song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle, of individually complete songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rare ...
s on the poems of Wilhelm Müller, ''
Die schöne Müllerin ' (,"The Fair Maid of the Mill", Op. 25, D. 795), is a song cycle by Franz Schubert from 1823 based on 20 poems by Wilhelm Müller. It is the first of Schubert's two seminal cycles (preceding '' Winterreise'')'','' and a pinnacle of '' Lied'' ...
'' and ''
Winterreise ''Winterreise'' (, ''Winter Journey'') is a song cycle for voice and piano by Franz Schubert ( D. 911, published as Op. 89 in 1828), a setting of 24 poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller. It is the second of Schubert's two song cycles on Müller' ...
'', which helped to establish the genre and its potential for musical, poetic, and almost operatic dramatic narrative. His last collection of songs, published in 1828 after his death, '' Schwanengesang'', is also an innovative contribution to German Lieder literature, as it features poems by different poets, namely Ludwig Rellstab, Heine, and
Johann Gabriel Seidl Johann Gabriel Seidl (21 June 1804 – 18 July 1875) was an Austrian archeologist, poet, storyteller and dramatist. He wrote the lyrics to "Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze unsern Kaiser, unser Land!" This was the 1854 version of the Austrian ...
. The ''
Wiener Theaterzeitung ''Wiener Theater Zeitung'' (also Bäuerles Theaterzeitung, Wiener allgemeine Theaterzeitung) was an Austrian journal founded by Adolf Bäuerle. It was published from 1806 to 1860 in Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT- ...
'', writing about ''Winterreise'' at the time, commented that it was a work that "none can sing or hear without being deeply moved". Gammond (1982), pp. 153–156 Antonín Dvořák wrote in 1894 that Schubert, whom he considered one of the truly great composers, was clearly influential on shorter works, especially Lieder and shorter piano works: "The tendency of the romantic school has been toward short forms, and although Weber helped to show the way, to Schubert belongs the chief credit of originating the short models of piano forte pieces which the romantic school has preferably cultivated.... Schubert created a new epoch with the Lied.... All other songwriters have followed in his footsteps." Dvořák (1894), pp. 344–345


Publication – catalogue

When Schubert died he had around 100
opus number In musicology, the opus number is the "work number" that is assigned to a musical composition, or to a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer's production. Opus numbers are used to distinguish among compositi ...
s published, mainly songs, chamber music and smaller piano compositions. Publication of smaller pieces continued (including opus numbers up to 173 in the 1860s, 50 instalments with songs published by Diabelli and dozens of first publications Peters), but the manuscripts of many of the longer works, whose existence was not widely known, remained hidden in cabinets and file boxes of Schubert's family, friends, and publishers. Even some of Schubert's friends were unaware of the full scope of what he wrote, and for many years he was primarily recognized as the "prince of song", although there was recognition of some of his larger-scale efforts. Gibbs (2000), pp. 61–62 In 1838 Robert Schumann, on a visit to Vienna, found the dusty manuscript of the C major Symphony (D. 944) and took it back to
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
where it was performed by Felix Mendelssohn and celebrated in the '' Neue Zeitschrift.'' An important step towards the recovery of the neglected works was the journey to Vienna which the music historian George Grove and the composer Arthur Sullivan made in October 1867. The travellers unearthed the manuscripts of six of the symphonies, parts of the incidental music to ''
Rosamunde ''Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern'' (''Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus'') is a play by Helmina von Chézy, which is primarily remembered for the incidental music which Franz Schubert composed for it. Music and play premiered in Vienna's Theater an d ...
'', the Mass No. 1 in F major (D. 105), and the operas ''Des Teufels Lustschloss'' (D. 84), ''Fernardo'' (D. 220), ''
Der vierjährige Posten ', 190, is a one-act singspiel by Franz Schubert to a libretto by Theodor Körner written for 's (1784–1814) opera of the same title that premiered in 1813 in Vienna's Theater an der Wien. Elizabeth Norman McKay: ''Franz Schubert's music for th ...
'' (D. 190), and ''
Die Freunde von Salamanka ''Die Freunde von Salamanka'' D.326 is an 1815 singspiel in two acts by Franz Schubert to a libretto by Johann Mayrhofer. The score, overture and eighteen numbers, is for three sopranos, three tenors, six basses, mixed choir and orchestra: :: Akt ...
'' (D. 326), and several other unnamed works. With these discoveries, Grove and Sullivan were able to inform the public of the existence of these works; in addition, they were able to copy the fourth and sixth symphonies, the ''
Rosamunde ''Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern'' (''Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus'') is a play by Helmina von Chézy, which is primarily remembered for the incidental music which Franz Schubert composed for it. Music and play premiered in Vienna's Theater an d ...
'' incidental music, and the overture to ''Die Freunde von Salamanka''. Kreissle (1869), pp. 297–332, in which Grove recounts his visit to Vienna. This led to more widespread public interest in Schubert's work.See e.g. Kreissle (1869), p. 324, where Grove describes current (1860s) interest in Schubert's work, and Gibbs (1997), pp. 250–251, describing the size and scope of the 1897 Schubert centennial commemorations.


Complete editions

From 1884 to 1897, Breitkopf & Härtel published
Franz Schubert's Works Franz Schubert's Works: Complete and Authoritative Edition (german: Franz Schubert's Werke: Kritisch durchgesehene Gesammtausgabe), also known as the Collected Edition, is a late 19th-century publication of Franz Schubert's compositions.Deutsch 19 ...
, a critical edition including a contribution made – among others – by Johannes Brahms, editor of the first series containing eight symphonies. The publication of the Neue Schubert-Ausgabe by Bärenreiter started in the second half of the 20th century.


Deutsch catalogue

Since relatively few of Schubert's works were published in his lifetime, only a small number of them have
opus number In musicology, the opus number is the "work number" that is assigned to a musical composition, or to a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer's production. Opus numbers are used to distinguish among compositi ...
s assigned, and even in those cases, the sequence of the numbers does not give a good indication of the order of composition. Austrian musicologist Otto Erich Deutsch (1883–1967) is known for compiling the first comprehensive catalogue of Schubert's works. This was first published in English in 1951 ('' Schubert Thematic Catalogue'') and subsequently revised for a new edition in German in 1978 ('' Franz Schubert: Thematisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke in chronologischer Folge'' – Franz Schubert: Thematic Catalogue of his Works in Chronological Order).


Numbering issues

Confusion arose quite early over the numbering of Schubert's late symphonies. Schubert's last completed symphony, the ''Great C major'' , was assigned the numbers 7, 8, 9 and 10, depending on publication. Similarly the ''Unfinished'' has been indicated with the numbers 7, 8, and 9.See #Numbering of symphonies The order usually followed for these late symphonies by English-language sources is: *No. 7: E major, D 729 *No. 8:
B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: : Changes n ...
, D 759 ''Unfinished'' *No. 9: C major, D 944 ''Great C major'' *No. 10: D major, D 936A An even broader confusion arose over the numbering of the piano sonatas, with numbering systems ranging from 15 to 23 sonatas.


Instruments

Among pianos Schubert had access to were a Benignus Seidner piano (now displayed at the Schubert Geburtshaus in Vienna) and an
Anton Walter Gabriel Anton Walter (5 February 1752 – 11 April 1826) was a builder of pianos. The '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' describes him as "the most famous Viennese piano maker of his time".Latcham (2009) Life Walter was born in Neuha ...
& Sohn piano (today in the collection of the Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum). Schubert was also familiar with instruments by Viennese piano builder Conrad Graf.


Recognition

A feeling of regret for the loss of potential masterpieces caused by Schubert's early death at age 31 was expressed in the epitaph on his large tombstone written by Grillparzer: "Here music has buried a treasure, but even fairer hopes." Duncan (1905), p. 80 Some prominent musicians share a similar view, including the pianist Radu Lupu, who said: " chubertis the composer for whom I am really most sorry that he died so young. ... Just before he died, when he wrote his beautiful two-cello String Quintet in C, he said very modestly that he was trying to learn a little more about counterpoint, and he was perfectly right. We'll never know in what direction he was going or would have gone." However, others have expressed disagreement with this early view. For instance, Robert Schumann said: "It is pointless to guess at what more chubertmight have achieved. He did enough; and let them be honoured who have striven and accomplished as he did", and the pianist
András Schiff Sir András Schiff (; born 21 December 1953) is a Hungarian-born British classical pianist and conductor, who has received numerous major awards and honours, including the Grammy Award, Gramophone Award, Mozart Medal, and Royal Academy of Mus ...
said that: "Schubert lived a very short life, but it was a very concentrated life. In 31 years, he lived more than other people would live in 100 years, and it is needless to speculate what could he have written had he lived another 50 years. It's irrelevant, just like with Mozart; these are the two natural geniuses of music." The
Wiener Schubertbund The Wiener Schubertbund ("Vienna Schubert Society") is a men's choir in Vienna, Austria, founded in 1863. History The choir's founder in 1863, and its first musical director, was Franz Mair. It was originally affiliated to a teachers' associati ...
, one of Vienna's leading choral societies, was founded in 1863, whilst the Gründerzeit was taking place. The Schubertbund quickly became a rallying point for schoolteachers and other members of the Viennese middle class who felt increasingly embattled during the Gründerzeit and the aftermath of the Panic of 1873. In 1872, the dedication of the Schubert Denkmal, a gift to the city from Vienna's leading male chorus, the
Wiener Männergesang-Verein The Wiener Männergesang-Verein ("Vienna Men's Choral Society" or "Vienna Male Voice Choir") is a men's choir in Vienna, Austria, founded in 1843. The choir has regularly appeared with the Vienna Philharmonic, and has performed worldwide. Notable ...
, took place; the chorus performed at the event. The Denkmal was designed by Austrian sculptor Carl Kundmann and is located in Vienna's Stadtpark. Schubert's chamber music continues to be popular. In a survey conducted by the ABC Classic FM radio station in 2008, Schubert's chamber works dominated the field, with the ''Trout Quintet'' ranked first, the String Quintet in C major ranked second, and the Notturno in E-flat major for piano trio ranked third. Furthermore, eight more of his chamber works were among the 100 ranked pieces: both piano trios, the String Quartet No. 14 (''Death and the Maiden''), the String Quartet No. 15, the Arpeggione Sonata, the
Octet Octet may refer to: Music * Octet (music), ensemble consisting of eight instruments or voices, or composition written for such an ensemble ** String octet, a piece of music written for eight string instruments *** Octet (Mendelssohn), 1825 com ...
, the Fantasie in F minor for piano four-hands, and the ''Adagio and Rondo Concertante'' for piano quartet. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' chief music critic
Anthony Tommasini Anthony Carl Tommasini (born April 14, 1948) is an American music critic and author who specializes in classical music. Described as "a discerning critic, whose taste, knowledge and judgment have made him a must-read", Tommasini was the chief c ...
, who ranked Schubert as the fourth greatest composer, wrote of him:
You have to love the guy, who died at 31, ill, impoverished and neglected except by a circle of friends who were in awe of his genius. For his hundreds of songs alone – including the haunting cycle ''
Winterreise ''Winterreise'' (, ''Winter Journey'') is a song cycle for voice and piano by Franz Schubert ( D. 911, published as Op. 89 in 1828), a setting of 24 poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller. It is the second of Schubert's two song cycles on Müller' ...
'', which will never release its tenacious hold on singers and audiences – Schubert is central to our concert life... Schubert's first few symphonies may be works in progress. But the ''Unfinished'' and especially the ''Great C major'' Symphony are astonishing. The latter one paves the way for Bruckner and prefigures Mahler.


Tributes by other musicians

From the 1830s through the 1870s, Franz Liszt transcribed and arranged several of Schubert's works, particularly the songs. Liszt, who was a significant force in spreading Schubert's work after his death, said Schubert was "the most poetic musician who ever lived." Liszt (1989), p. 144 Schubert's symphonies were of particular interest to Antonín Dvořák. Hector Berlioz and Anton Bruckner acknowledged the influence of the ''Great C Major'' Symphony. It was Robert Schumann who, having seen the manuscript of the ''Great C Major'' Symphony in Vienna in 1838, drew it to the attention of Mendelssohn, who led the first performance of the symphony, in a heavily abridged version, in Leipzig in 1839. In the 20th century, composers such as Richard Strauss, Anton Webern,
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
, George Crumb, and Hans Zender championed or paid homage to Schubert in some of their works. Britten, an accomplished pianist, accompanied many of Schubert's Lieder and performed many piano solo and duet works. Newbould (1999), pp. 403–404 German electronic music group Kraftwerk has an track titled ''Franz Schubert'' on their 1977 album '' Trans-Europe Express''.


Commemorations

In 1897, the 100th anniversary of Schubert's birth was marked in the musical world by festivals and performances dedicated to his music. In Vienna, there were ten days of concerts, and the Emperor Franz Joseph gave a speech recognising Schubert as the creator of the art song, and one of Austria's favourite sons. Rodenberg (1900), p. 118 ''The Musical Times'', February 1897, p. 113 Karlsruhe saw the first production of his opera ''
Fierrabras ''Fierrabras'', 796, is a three-act German opera with spoken dialogue written by the composer Franz Schubert in 1823, to a libretto by Joseph Kupelwieser, the general manager of the Theater am Kärntnertor (Vienna's Court Opera Theatre). Along ...
''. Gibbs (1997), p. 318 In 1928, Schubert Week was held in Europe and the United States to mark the centenary of the composer's death. Works by Schubert were performed in churches, in concert halls, and on radio stations. A competition, with top prize money of $10,000 and sponsorship by the Columbia Phonograph Company, was held for "original symphonic works presented as an apotheosis of the lyrical genius of Schubert, and dedicated to his memory". The winning entry was Kurt Atterberg's sixth symphony.


In film and television

Schubert has featured as a character in several films including ''
Schubert's Dream of Spring ''Schubert's Dream of Spring'' (german: Schuberts Frühlingstraum, link=no) is a 1931 German musical film directed by Richard Oswald and starring Carl Jöken, Gretl Theimer and Alfred Läutner. It was shot at the Halensee Studios in Berlin wit ...
'' (1931), ''
Gently My Songs Entreat ''Gently My Songs Entreat'' (German: ') is a 1933 Austrian-German musical film directed by Willi Forst and starring Marta Eggerth, Luise Ullrich and Hans Jaray. The film was shot at the Sievering Studios in Vienna with art direction by Julius v ...
'' (1933), '' Serenade'' (1940), ''
The Great Awakening ''The Great Awakening'' is the fourth studio album from the Christian rock band Leeland, released on September 20, 2011. ''The Great Awakening'' received a nomination to the 54th Grammy Awards The 54th Annual Grammy Awards were held on Februar ...
'' (1941), ''
It's Only Love "It's Only Love" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written mostly by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was first released in 1965 on the ''Help!'' album in the United Kingdom and on the ''Rubber Soul'' album in the ...
'' (1947), '' Franz Schubert'' (1953), ''
Das Dreimäderlhaus ''Das Dreimäderlhaus'' (''House of the Three Girls''), adapted into English-language versions as ''Blossom Time'' and ''Lilac Time'', is a Viennese pastiche operetta with music by Franz Schubert, rearranged by Heinrich Berté (1857–1924), a ...
'' (1958), and ''
Mit meinen heißen Tränen ''Mit meinen heißen Tränen'' ("with my hot tears") is a West German-Austrian-Swiss joint production film which depicts the final years of the life of 19th century Austrian composer Franz Schubert. It was released on 31 October 1986 in Germany, Au ...
'' (1986). Schubert's music has also been featured in numerous post- silent era films, including
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's ''
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'' (1940), which features
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(D. 839); and the biographical film '' Carrington'' (1995), which features the second movement of the String Quintet in C major (D. 956), as well as the English version of '' The Adventures of Milo and Otis'' (1989), which features Serenade and Auf dem Wasser zu singen (D. 774). Schubert's String Quartet No. 15 in G is featured prominently in the Woody Allen film '' Crimes and Misdemeanors'' (1989). The Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667 (''Trout Quintet'') is featured in the 2011 film Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows by Guy Ritchie. The music of the String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, " Death and the Maiden", is often used to accompany documentaries or films, notably the 1994 film of that name by
Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a ( né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, tw ...
. The second movement from the Piano Trio No. 2 in E-Flat Major, Op. 100/D.929, was featured in Stanley Kubrick's 1975 film "Barry Lyndon". Schubert's life was covered in the documentary ''Franz Peter Schubert: The Greatest Love and the Greatest Sorrow'' by
Christopher Nupen Christopher Nupen (30 September 1934 – 19 February 2023) was a South African-born filmmaker based in the United Kingdom specialising in biographical documentaries of musicians. Early life and education Nupen was born in South Africa on 30 Sep ...
(1994), and in the documentary ''Schubert – The Wanderer'' by
András Schiff Sir András Schiff (; born 21 December 1953) is a Hungarian-born British classical pianist and conductor, who has received numerous major awards and honours, including the Grammy Award, Gramophone Award, Mozart Medal, and Royal Academy of Mus ...
and Mischa Scorer (1997), both produced for the BBC. "Great Performances," "Now Hear This: The Schubert Generation Series," hosted by Scott Yoo, explored commentary and performances by contemporary musician admirers.Now Hear This "The Schubert Generation"
'' PBS'', September 25, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2022.


Footnotes


References


Notes


Sources

Works by Otto Erich Deutsch Otto Erich Deutsch, working in the first half of the 20th century, was probably the preeminent scholar of Schubert's life and music. In addition to the catalogue of Schubert's works, he collected and organized a great deal of material about Schubert, some of which remains in print. * * * * 19th- and early 20th-century scholarship * * * * * * * The first full-length biography of Schubert (volume 1). * The first full-length biography of Schubert (volume 2). * * * * Modern scholarship * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Numbering of symphonies The following sources illustrate the confusion around the numbering of Schubert's late symphonies. The B minor ''Unfinished'' Symphony is variously published as No. 7 and No. 8, in both German and English. * German-language publication of the ''Unfinished'' Symphony score as No. 7. * English-language publication of the ''Unfinished'' Symphony score as No. 7. * English-language publication of the ''Unfinished'' Symphony score as No. 8.


External links

*
Texts and translations of vocal music by Schubert
a
The LiederNet ArchiveFranz Schubert Museum in Hohenems/Austria
* *

* ttp://www.schubert-institut.at/ Franz-Schubert-Institut in Baden bei Wien


Recordings


Schubertlied.de
– Free recordings of many Lieder by Schubert (mp3)
Schubert cylinder recordings
from the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.


Sheet music


Schubertline.co.uk
about 250 of Schubert's Songs (Schubertline edition) * *
Free digital scores by Franz Schubert
in th
OpenScore Lieder Corpus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schubert, Franz 1797 births 1828 deaths 19th-century Austrian musicians 19th-century Austrian male musicians 19th-century classical composers 19th-century classical pianists Austrian agnostics Austrian classical pianists Austrian Classical-period composers Austrian male classical composers Austrian opera composers Austrian people of Moravian-German descent Austrian Romantic composers Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery Catholic liturgical composers Child classical musicians Composers for piano Deaths from typhoid fever Esterházy family Infectious disease deaths in Austria Male classical pianists Male opera composers Pupils of Antonio Salieri Composers from Vienna String quartet composers