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Franz Peter Schubert was born in the suburbs of Vienna into the family of a Lichtenthal parish school teacher and an amateur musician. His father, Franz Theodor Schubert, came from a family of Moravian peasants; mother, Elisabeth Schubert (née Fitz), was the daughter of a Silesian mechanic. Of their fourteen children, nine died at an early age, and one of Franz's brothers, Ferdinand, also devoted himself to music.
Franz showed musical talent very early. His first mentors were members of his household: his father taught him to play the violin, and his older brother Ignatz taught him to play the piano. From the age of six he studied at the parish school of Lichtenthal. From the age of seven he took organ lessons from the bandmaster of the Lichtental church. The regent of the parish church, M. Holzer, taught him to sing..
Thanks to his beautiful voice, at the age of eleven, Franz was accepted as a “singing boy” into the Viennese court chapel and into the Konvict (boarding school). There his friends became Joseph von Spaun, Albert Stadler and Anton Holzapfel. Wenzel Ružička taught Schubert general bass; later Antonio Salieri took Schubert to study for free and taught counterpoint and composition (until 1816). Schubert studied not only singing, but also became acquainted with the instrumental works of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as he was second violin in the Konvikt orchestra.
His talent as a composer soon emerged. From 1810 to 1813, Schubert wrote an opera, a symphony, piano pieces and songs.
Schubert struggled with mathematics and Latin in his studies, and in 1813 he was expelled from the choir because his voice was breaking. Schubert returned home and entered the teachers' seminary, from which he graduated in 1814. Then he got a job as a teacher at the school where his father worked (he worked at this school until 1818). In his spare time, he composed music. He studied mainly Gluck, Mozart and Beethoven. He wrote his first independent works - the opera "Satan's Pleasure Castle" and the Mass in F major - in 1814.
Maturity
Schubert's work did not correspond to his calling, and he made attempts to establish himself as a composer. But publishers refused to publish his works. In the spring of 1816, he was denied the post of bandmaster in Laibach (now Ljubljana). Soon Joseph von Spaun introduced Schubert to the poet Franz von Schober. Schober arranged for Schubert to meet the famous baritone Johann Michael Vogl. Schubert's songs performed by Vogl began to enjoy great popularity in the Viennese salons. Schubert's first success came from Goethe's ballad “The Forest King” (“Erlkönig”), which he set to music in 1816. In January 1818, Schubert's first composition was published - the song Erlafsee(as a supplement to the anthology edited by F. Sartori).
Among Schubert's friends were the official J. Spaun, the amateur musician A. Holzapfel, the amateur poet F. Schober, the poet I. Mayrhofer, the poet and comedian E. Bauernfeld, the artists M. Schwind and L. Kupelwieser, the composers A. Hüttenbrenner and J . Schubert, singer A. Milder-Hauptmann. They were admirers of Schubert's work and periodically provided him with financial assistance.
In 1823 he was elected an honorary member of the Styrian and Linz Musical Unions.
In the 1820s, Schubert began to have health problems. In December 1822 he fell ill, but after a stay in hospital in the autumn of 1823 his health improved.
Last years
In 1897, the publishers Breitkopf and Hertel published a scientifically verified edition of the composer's works, whose chief editor was Johannes Brahms. Twentieth-century composers such as Benjamin Britten, Richard Strauss, and George Crum were either promoters of Schubert's work or made allusions to his work in their own music. Britten, who was an excellent pianist, accompanied many of Schubert's songs and often played his solos and duets.
Unfinished Symphony
The time of creation of the symphony in B minor DV 759 (“Unfinished”) was the autumn of 1822. It was dedicated to the amateur musical society in Graz, and Schubert presented two parts of it in 1824.
The manuscript was kept for more than 40 years by Schubert's friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner, until it was discovered by the Viennese conductor Johann Herbeck and performed in a concert in 1865. (The first two movements completed by Schubert were performed, and instead of the missing 3rd and 4th movements, the final movement from Schubert’s early Third Symphony in D major was performed.) The symphony was published in 1866 in the form of the first two movements.
The reasons why Schubert did not complete the “Unfinished” Symphony are still unclear. Apparently, he intended to bring it to its logical conclusion: the first two parts were completely finished, and the 3rd part (in the nature of a scherzo) remained in sketches. There are no sketches for the ending (or they may have been lost).
For a long time there was a point of view that the “Unfinished” symphony is a completely completed work, since the circle of images and their development exhausts itself within two parts. As a comparison, they talked about Beethoven's sonatas in two movements and that later works of this kind became common among Romantic composers. However, this version is contradicted by the fact that the first two movements completed by Schubert were written in different keys, far from each other. (Such cases have not occurred either before or after him.)
There is also an opinion that the music that became one of the intermissions to Rosamund, written in sonata form, in the key of B minor and having a dramatic character, could have been conceived as a finale. But this point of view has no documentary evidence.
Currently, there are several options for completing the “Unfinished” Symphony (in particular, options by English musicologist Brian Newbould and Russian composer Anton Safronov).
Essays
- Operas - Alfonso and Estrella (1822; staged 1854, Weimar), Fierrabras (1823; staged 1897, Karlsruhe), 3 unfinished, including Count von Gleichen, and others;
- Singspiel (7), including Claudina von Villa Bella (on a text by Goethe, 1815, the first of 3 acts has been preserved; staged 1978, Vienna), The Twin Brothers (1820, Vienna), The Conspirators, or Home War (1823; staged 1861 , Frankfurt am Main);
- Music for plays - The Magic Harp (1820, Vienna), Rosamund, Princess of Cyprus (1823, ibid.);
- For soloists, choir and orchestra - 7 masses (1814-1828), German Requiem (1818), Magnificat (1815), offertories and other spiritual works, oratorios, cantatas, including Miriam's Victory Song (1828);
- For orchestra - symphonies (1813; 1815; 1815; Tragic, 1816; 1816; Small C major, 1818; 1821, unfinished; Unfinished, 1822; Major C major, 1828), 8 overtures;
- Chamber instrumental ensembles - 4 sonatas (1816-1817), fantasy (1827) for violin and piano; sonata for arpeggione and piano (1824), 2 piano trios (1827, 1828?), 2 string trios (1816, 1817), 14 or 16 string quartets (1811-1826), Trout piano quintet (1819?), string quintet ( 1828), octet for strings and winds (1824), Introduction and variations on the theme of the song “Withered Flowers” (“Trockene Blumen” D 802) for flute and piano, etc.;
- For piano 2 hands - 23 sonatas (including 6 unfinished; 1815-1828), fantasy (Wanderer, 1822, etc.), 11 impromptu (1827-1828), 6 musical moments (1823-1828), rondo, variations and other pieces, over 400 dances (waltzes, ländlers, German dances, minuets, ecosaises, gallops, etc.; 1812-1827);
- For piano 4 hands - sonatas, overtures, fantasies, Hungarian divertissement (1824), rondos, variations, polonaises, marches.
- Vocal ensembles for male, female voices and mixed compositions with and without accompaniment;
- Songs for voice and piano (more than 600), including the cycles “The Beautiful Millwoman” (1823) and “Winter Road” (1827), the collection “Swan Song” (1828), “The Third Song of Ellen” (“Ellens dritter Gesang” , also known as Schubert’s “Ave Maria”), “The Forest King” (“Erlkönig”, based on poems by J. W. Goethe, 1816).
Catalog of works
Since relatively few of his works were published during the composer's lifetime, only a few of them have their own opus number, but even in such cases the number does not accurately reflect the time of creation of the work. In 1951, musicologist Otto Erich Deutsch published a catalog of Schubert's works, where all of the composer's works are arranged chronologically according to the time they were written.
Memory
The asteroid (540) Rosamund, discovered in 1904, is named after Franz Schubert's musical play Rosamund [ ] .
see also
Notes
- , With. 609.
- Schubert Franz Peter / Yu. N. Khokhlov // Great Soviet encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
- Schubert Franz (undefined) . Collier's Encyclopedia. - Open society. 2000. Retrieved March 24, 2012. Archived May 31, 2012.
- // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
- Walther Dürr, Andreas Krause (Hrsg.): Schubert Handbuch, Bärenreiter/Metzler, Kassel u.a. bzw. Stuttgart u.a., 2. Aufl. 2007, S. 68, ISBN 978-3-7618-2041-4
- Dietmar Grieser: Der Onkel aus Preßburg. Auf österreichischen Spuren durch die Slowakei, Amalthea-Verlag, Wien 2009, ISBN 978-3-85002-684-0, S. 184
- Andreas Otte, Konrad Wink. Kerners Krankheiten großer Musiker. - Schattauer, Stuttgart/New York, 6. Aufl. 2008, S. 169,
Franz Peter Schubert.
There were and are many talented people in the world who succeeded in some area and became famous. There are many such talented people among composers; in fact, each of them is talented in their own way. One of the most famous composers of all centuries is Schubert.
Franz was born in 1797 in a suburb of Vienna. His family was large, so his parents paid attention mainly to the younger children. But already from childhood, Schubert showed a talent for music. At the age of 11, the composer thoroughly took up music and entered the court music school, where he began to study this art in more detail and learned to play other musical instruments.
Schubert presented his initial melodies to the people already in 1814, when he was only 17 years old. His style reminded critics of previous authors, so Franz’s early works did not bring much recognition.
Fame came to the future composer suddenly, in 1816, when the ballad “The Forest King” was published, which is still popular in theater and dance performances. Then his career took off, the young musician gained experience, and modern critics often highlight his cycles “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” and “Winter Reise”.
Many of Schubert’s melodies created during this period gained worldwide fame, for example: “Serenade” (collection “Swan Song”), “Shelter”, “By the Sea”.
The composer left behind 600 pieces of music, 400 of which are widely used for dancing. His waltzes are written to be played by 4 hands, which allows performers to work in duets. But despite such an exhaustive number of songs and melodies, I experienced financial problems throughout my short life. Who knows, maybe if he had enough money, he would have become more successful and famous during his lifetime, could have overcome the illness that broke him and would have left behind more works.
Interesting facts about Schubert's life:
All his life the composer loved one girl from a count's family, her name was Caroline Exterhazy. She was his student and was offended by her teacher because he never dedicated a melody to her, to which he said that all his works were about her.
Schubert's Quartet in D minor was initially rejected by the Paris Philharmonic, but 13 years after its composition they finally agreed to perform it. Right at the premiere, the conductor told Franz: “This is bad, don’t get confused with such things.” It happened right in public. The composer collected the sheets of music and left; they never heard from him again for the quartet.
There is a legend that one day he met a well-dressed lady on the street, she called him by name and introduced herself as Destiny. She asked him to choose a path: be a poor teacher and live a long life, or be famous and leave a little after his thirtieth birthday. After that, he left school and devoted himself to music.
Schubert’s biography cannot be told briefly, because like all creative people in his life there were ups and downs, secrets and unsolved mysteries. Franz Peter Schubert died on November 19, 1828, when he was only 32 years old. Typhus, spreading throughout Europe by leaps and bounds, took the life of this talented composer.Franz Schubert is a famous Austrian composer. His life was quite short, he lived only 31 years, from 1797 to 1828. But during this short period he made a huge contribution to the development of world musical culture. You can verify this by studying the biography and work of Schubert. This outstanding composer is considered one of the most prominent founders of the romantic movement in musical art. Having familiarized yourself with the most important events in Schubert's biography, you can better understand his work.
Family
The biography of Franz Schubert begins on January 31, 1797. He was born into a poor family in Lichtenthal, a suburb of Vienna. His father, who came from a peasant family, was a school teacher. He was distinguished by his hard work and integrity. He raised his children, instilling in them that work is the basis of existence. Mother was the daughter of a mechanic. There were fourteen children in the family, but nine of them died in infancy.
Schubert's biography, in a very brief summary, demonstrates the important role of family in the development of a little musician. She was very musical. His father played the cello, and little Franz’s brothers played other musical instruments. Often musical evenings were held in their house, and sometimes all the amateur musicians they knew would gather at them.
First music lessons
From the short biography of Franz Schubert it is known that his unique musical abilities appeared very early. Having discovered them, his father and older brother Ignatz began classes with him. Ignatz taught him to play the piano, and his father taught him the violin. After some time, the boy became a full-fledged member of the family string quartet, in which he confidently performed the viola part. It soon became clear that Franz needed more professional music studies. Therefore, musical lessons with the gifted boy were entrusted to the regent of the Lichtenthal Church, Michael Holzer. The teacher admired the extraordinary musical abilities of his student. In addition, Franz had a wonderful voice. By the age of eleven, he performed difficult solo parts in the church choir, and also played the violin part, including solo, in the church orchestra. The father was very pleased with his son's success.
Konvikt
When Franz was eleven years old, he took part in a competition to select singers for the imperial royal court singing chapel. Having successfully passed all the tests, Franz Schubert becomes a singer. He is enrolled in Konvikt, a free boarding school for gifted children from low-income families. The younger Schubert now has the opportunity to receive general and musical education for free, which becomes a benefit for his family. The boy lives in a boarding school and comes home only for the holidays.
Studying Schubert's short biography, one can understand that the environment that developed in this educational institution contributed to the development of the gifted boy's musical abilities. Here Franz daily practices singing, playing the violin and piano, and theoretical disciplines. A student orchestra was organized at the school, in which Schubert played first violin. The conductor of the orchestra, Wenzel Ruzicka, noticing the extraordinary talent of his student, often entrusted him with the duties of conductor. The orchestra performed a wide variety of music. Thus, the future composer became acquainted with orchestral music of various genres. He was particularly impressed by the music of the Viennese classics: Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, as well as Beethoven’s musical masterpieces.
First compositions
While studying in convict, Franz began to compose. Schubert's biography states that he was thirteen years old at the time. He writes music with great passion, often to the detriment of his schoolwork. Among his first compositions are a number of songs and a fantasy for piano. Demonstrating outstanding musical abilities, the boy attracts the attention of the famous court composer Antonio Salieri. He begins classes with Schubert, during which he teaches him counterpoint and composition. Teacher and student are connected not only by musical lessons, but also by warm relationships. These classes continued after Schubert left the convict.
Observing the rapid development of his son's musical talent, his father began to worry about his future. Understanding the hardship of existence for musicians, even the most famous and recognized ones, his father tries to protect Franz from such a fate. He dreamed of seeing his son become a school teacher. As a punishment for his excessive passion for music, he forbids his son to be at home on weekends and holidays. However, the bans did not help. Schubert Jr. could not give up music.
Leaving the convict
Having not completed his training in convict, Schubert, at the age of thirteen, decides to leave it. This was facilitated by a number of circumstances, which are described in the biography of F. Schubert. First, a voice mutation that no longer allowed Franz to sing in the choir. Secondly, his excessive passion for music left his interest in other sciences far behind. He was scheduled for a re-examination, but Schubert did not take advantage of this opportunity and left his training in convict.
Franz still had to return to school. In 1813 he entered the regular school of St. Anne, graduated from it and received a certificate of education.
Start of independent life
Schubert's biography tells that for the next four years he works as an assistant school teacher at the school where his father also works. Franz teaches children literacy and other subjects. The wages were extremely low, which forced the young Schubert to constantly seek additional income in the form of private lessons. Thus, he has practically no time left to compose music. But the passion for music does not go away. It's only getting stronger. Franz received enormous help and support from his friends, who organized concerts and useful contacts for him, and supplied him with music paper, which he always lacked.
During this period (1814-1816), his famous songs “The Forest King” and “Margarita at the Spinning Wheel” with words by Goethe, over 250 songs, singspiels, 3 symphonies and many other works appeared.
The composer's imaginative world
Franz Schubert is a romantic in spirit. He placed the life of the soul and heart at the basis of all existence. His heroes are simple people with a rich inner world. The theme of social inequality appears in his work. The composer often draws attention to how unfair society is to an ordinary modest person who does not have material wealth, but is spiritually rich.
Nature in its various states becomes a favorite theme of Schubert’s chamber vocal work.
Meet Vogl
After getting acquainted (briefly) with Schubert’s biography, the most important event seems to be his acquaintance with the outstanding Viennese opera singer Johann Michael Vogl. It happened in 1817 through the efforts of the composer’s friends. This acquaintance was of great importance in the life of Franz. In him he acquired a devoted friend and performer of his songs. Subsequently, Vogl played a huge role in promoting the chamber and vocal creativity of the young composer.
"Schubertiades"
Over time, a circle of creative youth formed around Franz, consisting of poets, playwrights, artists, and composers. Schubert's biography mentions that meetings were often dedicated to his work. In such cases they were called "Schubertiads". Meetings were held in the home of one of the circle members or in the Vienna Crown coffee shop. All members of the circle were united by an interest in art, passion for music and poetry.
Trip to Hungary
The composer lived in Vienna, rarely leaving it. All the trips he made were related to concerts or teaching. Schubert's biography briefly mentions that during the summers of 1818 and 1824, Schubert lived on the estate of Count Esterhazy Zeliz. The composer was invited there to teach music to the young countesses.
Joint concerts
In 1819, 1823 and 1825, Schubert and Vogl traveled around Upper Austria and toured at the same time. Such joint concerts are a huge success among the public. Vogl strives to introduce listeners to the work of his composer friend and to make his works known and loved outside of Vienna. Gradually, Schubert's fame is growing; people talk about him more and more often not only in professional circles, but also among ordinary listeners.
First editions
Schubert's biography contains facts about the beginning of publications of the young composer's works. In 1921, thanks to the care of F. Schubert’s friends, “The Forest King” was published. After the first edition, other Schubert works began to be published. His music becomes famous not only in Austria, but also far beyond its borders. In 1825, songs, piano works and chamber opuses began to be performed in Russia.
Success or illusion?
Schubert's songs and piano works are gaining great popularity. His works were highly appreciated by Beethoven, the composer's idol. But, along with the fame that Schubert gains thanks to Vogl’s propaganda activities, disappointments remain. The composer's symphonies were never performed, operas and singspiels are practically never staged. To this day, 5 operas and 11 singspiels by Schubert are in oblivion. A similar fate befell many other works that are rarely performed in concerts.
Creative flourishing
In the 20s, Schubert appeared in the song cycles “The Beautiful Miller’s Wife” and “Winter Reise” to the words of W. Müller, chamber ensembles, sonatas for piano, fantasy “The Wanderer” for piano, as well as symphonies – “Unfinished” No. 8 and “ Big" No. 9.
In the spring of 1828, the composer's friends organized a concert of Schubert's works, which took place in the hall of the Society of Music Lovers. The composer used the money received from the concert to purchase the first piano of his life.
Death of the composer
In the autumn of 1828, Schubert unexpectedly became seriously ill. His torment lasted three weeks. On November 19, 18128, Franz Schubert passed away.
Only a year and a half has passed since Schubert took part in the funeral of his idol - the last Viennese classic L. Beethoven. Now he too was buried in this cemetery.
Having familiarized yourself with the summary of Schubert's biography, you can understand the meaning of the inscription that was carved on his tombstone. It tells that a rich treasure is buried in the grave, but even more wonderful hopes.
Songs are the basis of Schubert's creative heritage
When talking about the creative heritage of this wonderful composer, we usually always highlight his song genre. Schubert wrote a huge number of songs - about 600. This is no coincidence, since vocal miniature is becoming one of the most popular genres of romantic composers. It was here that Schubert was able to fully reveal the main theme of the romantic movement in art - the rich inner world of the hero with his feelings and experiences. The first song masterpieces were created by the young composer at the age of seventeen. Each of Schubert's songs is an inimitable artistic image, born from the fusion of music and poetry. The content of the songs is conveyed not only by the text, but also by the music, which precisely follows it, emphasizing the originality of the artistic image and creating a special emotional background.
In his chamber vocal work, Schubert used both the texts of the famous poets Schiller and Goethe, and the poetry of his contemporaries, the names of many of whom became known thanks to the composer’s songs. In their poetry they reflected the spiritual world inherent in representatives of the romantic movement in art, which was close and understandable to the young Schubert. During the composer's lifetime, only a few of his songs were published.
His best classical works are considered to be the “Unfinished Symphony” and the “Great Symphony in C major”. The composer's piano music is very popular: waltzes, landlers, gallops, ecosaises, marches, polonaises. Many works are intended for home performance.
Franz Peter Schubert died of typhoid fever in the city of Vienna on November 19, 1828. In accordance with his last wishes, Schubert was buried in the cemetery where the year before, Ludwig Beethoven, whom he idolized, was buried. In January 1888, his ashes, along with Beethoven's ashes, were reburied in the Central Cemetery of Vienna. Later, the famous burial site of composers and musicians was formed around their graves.
Works of Franz Schubert
Songs (over 600 in total)
Cycle “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” (1823)
Cycle “Winterreise” (1827)
Collection "Swan Song" (1827-1828, posthumous)
About 70 songs based on Goethe's texts
About 50 songs based on Schiller's textsSymphonies
First D major (1813)
Second B major (1815)
Third D major (1815)
Fourth C minor “Tragic” (1816)
Fifth B major (1816)
Sixth C major (1818)Quartets (22 in total)
Quartet B major op. 168 (1814)
Quartet g minor (1815)
Quartet a minor op. 29 (1824)
Quartet in d minor (1824-1826)
Quartet G major op. 161 (1826)Franz Peter Schubert was born on January 31, 1797 in Vienna, Austria. He was the fourth son in the family of a school teacher who loved music. As a boy he sang in the Vienna Court Chapel, then helped his father at school. By the age of nineteen, Franz had already written more than 250 songs, several symphonies and other musical works.
In the spring of 1816, Franz tried to get a job as the director of the choir chapel, but his plans were not destined to come true. Soon, thanks to friends, Schubert met the famous Austrian baritone Johann Fogal. It was this singer of romances who helped Schubert establish himself in life: he performed songs to the accompaniment of Franz in the music salons of Vienna.
Wide recognition came to him in the 1820s. In 1828, his concert took place, at which he and other musicians performed his works. This happened a few months before the composer's death. Despite his short life, Schubert composed 9 symphonies, sonatas, and wrote chamber music.
In 1823, Schubert became an honorary member of the Styrian and Linz Musical Unions. In the same year, the musician composed the song cycle “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” based on the words of the romantic poet Wilhelm Müller. These songs tell about a young man who went in search of happiness. But the young man’s happiness lay in love: when he saw the miller’s daughter, Cupid’s arrow rushed into his heart. But the beloved drew attention to his rival, a young hunter, so the joyful and sublime feeling of the traveler soon grew into desperate grief.
After the tremendous success of “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” in the winter and autumn of 1827, Schubert worked on another cycle called “Winter Reise”. The music written to Müller's words is characterized by pessimism. Franz himself called his brainchild “a wreath of creepy songs.” It is noteworthy that Schubert wrote such gloomy compositions about unrequited love shortly before his own death.
A special place in his work is occupied by songs, of which the composer wrote more than 600. Franz enriched existing songs and wrote new ones based on poems by such outstanding poets as Goethe, Schiller, Shakespeare, Scott. It was the songs that made Schubert famous during his lifetime. He also wrote quartets, cantatas, masses and oratorios. And in Schubert's classical music the influence of the lyrical song theme is clearly evident.
The teachers paid tribute to the amazing ease with which the boy mastered musical knowledge. Thanks to his success in learning and good command of his voice, Schubert in 1808 was admitted to the Imperial Chapel and to Konvikt, the best boarding school in Vienna. During 1810–1813 he wrote many works: opera, symphony, piano pieces and songs (including Hagar's Complaint, Hagars Klage, 1811). A. Salieri became interested in the young musician, and from 1812 to 1817 Schubert studied composition with him.
In 1813 he entered the teachers' seminary and a year later began teaching at the school where his father served. In his spare time, he composed his first mass and set to music Goethe's poem Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel (Gretchen am Spinnrade, October 19, 1813) - this was Schubert's first masterpiece and the first great German song.
The years 1815–1816 are notable for the phenomenal productivity of the young genius. In 1815 he composed two symphonies, two masses, four operettas, several string quartets and about 150 songs. In 1816, two more symphonies appeared - the Tragic and often heard Fifth in B flat major, as well as another mass and over 100 songs. Among the songs of these years are the Wanderer (Der Wanderer) and the famous Forest King (Erlk nig); both songs soon received universal acclaim.
Through his devoted friend J. von Spaun, Schubert met the artist M. von Schwind and the wealthy amateur poet F. von Schober, who arranged a meeting between Schubert and the famous baritone M. Vogl. Thanks to Vogl's inspired performances of Schubert's songs, they gained popularity in Viennese salons. The composer himself continued to work at the school, but eventually left the service in July 1818 and went to Zeliz, the summer residence of Count Johann Esterhazy, where he served as a music teacher. In the spring the Sixth Symphony was completed, and in Gelize Schubert composed Variations on a French Song, op. 10 for two pianos, dedicated to Beethoven.
Upon his return to Vienna, Schubert received an order for an operetta (singspiel) called The Twin Brothers (Die Zwillingsbruder). It was completed by January 1819 and performed at the Kärtnertortheater in June 1820. Schubert spent the summer holidays in 1819 with Vogl in Upper Austria, where he composed the well-known Forel piano quintet (A major).
The following years turned out to be difficult for Schubert, since his character did not know how to achieve the favor of influential Viennese musical figures. Romance The Forest King, published as op. 1 (apparently in 1821), marked the beginning of the regular publication of Schubert's works. In February 1822 he completed the opera Alfonso and Estrella (Alfonso und Estrella); in October the Unfinished Symphony (B minor) was released.
The following year was marked in Schubert's biography by the composer's illness and despondency. His opera was not staged; he composed two more - The Conspirators (Die Verschworenen) and Fierrabras (Fierrabras), but they suffered the same fate. The wonderful vocal cycle The Beautiful Miller's Wife (Die sch ne Mullerin) and the music for the dramatic play Rosamunde, which was well received by the audience, indicate that Schubert did not give up. At the beginning of 1824 he worked on string quartets in A minor and D minor (The Girl and Death) and on the octet in F major, but need forced him to again become a teacher in the Esterhazy family. The summer stay in Zheliz had a beneficial effect on Schubert's health. There he composed two opuses for piano four hands - the Grand Duo sonata in C major and Variations on an original theme in A flat major. In 1825, he again went with Vogl to Upper Austria, where his friends received the warmest welcome. Songs with lyrics by W. Scott (including the famous Ave Maria) and a piano sonata in D major reflect the spiritual renewal of their author.
In 1826, Schubert petitioned for the position of conductor in the court chapel, but the petition was not granted. His latest string quartet (in G major) and songs based on Shakespeare's words (among them Morning Serenade) appeared during a summer trip to Wehring, a village near Vienna. In Vienna itself, Schubert's songs were widely known and loved at that time; In private homes, musical evenings were regularly held, dedicated exclusively to his music - the so-called. Schubertiades. In 1827, among other things, the vocal cycle Winterreise and cycles of piano pieces (Musical Moments and Impromptu) were written.
Best of the day
In 1828, alarming signs of an impending illness appeared; the feverish pace of Schubert's composing activity can be interpreted both as a symptom of the illness and as a cause that accelerated the death. Masterpiece followed masterpiece: the majestic Symphony in C major, a vocal cycle posthumously published as Swan Song, a string quintet in C major and the last three piano sonatas. As before, publishers refused to take Schubert's major works or paid negligibly little; ill health prevented him from going by invitation to give a concert in Pest. Schubert died of typhus on November 19, 1828.
Schubert was buried next to Beethoven, who had died a year earlier. On January 22, 1888, Schubert's ashes were reburied in the Central Cemetery of Vienna.
CREATION
Vocal and choral genres. The song-romance genre as interpreted by Schubert represents such an original contribution to the music of the 19th century that we can talk about the emergence of a special form, which is usually denoted by the German word Lied. Schubert's songs - and there are more than 650 of them - give many variations of this form, so that classification is hardly possible here. In principle, Lied is of two types: strophic, in which all or almost all verses are sung to the same melody; “through” (durchkomponiert), in which each verse can have its own musical solution. Field rose (Haidenroslein) is an example of the first species; The Young Nun (Die junge Nonne) – the second.
Two factors contributed to the rise of the Lied: the ubiquity of the piano and the rise of German lyric poetry. Schubert managed to do what his predecessors could not: by composing on a specific poetic text, he created a context with his music that gave the word a new meaning. This could be a sound-visual context - for example, the gurgle of water in the songs from The Beautiful Miller's Woman or the whirring of the spinning wheel in Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel, or an emotional context - for example, chords conveying the reverent mood of the evening in Sunset (Im Abendroth) or the midnight horror in The Double (Der Doppelgonger). Sometimes, thanks to Schubert’s special gift, a mysterious connection is established between the landscape and the mood of the poem: for example, the imitation of the monotonous hum of an organ grinder in The Organ Grinder (Der Leiermann) wonderfully conveys both the severity of the winter landscape and the despair of a homeless wanderer.
German poetry, which was flourishing at that time, became an invaluable source of inspiration for Schubert. Those who question the composer’s literary taste on the grounds that among the more than six hundred poetic texts he has sounded there are very weak poems are wrong - for example, who would remember the poetic lines of the romances Forel or To Music (An die Musik), if not Schubert's genius? But still, the greatest masterpieces were created by the composer based on the texts of his favorite poets, luminaries of German literature - Goethe, Schiller, Heine. Schubert's songs - no matter who the author of the words are - are characterized by a direct impact on the listener: thanks to the genius of the composer, the listener immediately becomes not an observer, but an accomplice.
Schubert's polyphonic vocal works are somewhat less expressive than the romances. The vocal ensembles contain wonderful pages, but none of them, except perhaps the five-voice No, only the one who knew (Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt, 1819), captures the listener as much as the romances. The unfinished spiritual opera The Raising of Lazarus (Lazarus) is more of an oratorio; the music here is beautiful, and the score contains anticipations of some of Wagner's techniques. (In our time, the opera The Raising of Lazarus was completed by the Russian composer E. Denisov and was successfully performed in several countries.)
Schubert composed six masses. They also have very bright parts, but still in Schubert this genre does not rise to the heights of perfection that were achieved in the masses of Bach, Beethoven, and later Bruckner. Only in the last mass (in E-flat major) does Schubert's musical genius overcome his detached attitude towards Latin texts.
Orchestral music. In his youth, Schubert led and conducted a student orchestra. At the same time, he mastered the skill of instrumentation, but life rarely gave him reasons to write for the orchestra; after six youth symphonies, only a symphony in B minor (Unfinished) and a symphony in C major (1828) were created. In the series of early symphonies, the fifth (B minor) is the most interesting, but only Schubert’s Unfinished introduces us to a new world, far from the classical styles of the composer’s predecessors. Like them, the development of themes and texture in Unfinished is full of intellectual brilliance, but in terms of the strength of its emotional impact, Unfinished is close to Schubert’s songs. In the majestic C major symphony, such qualities appear even more clearly.
The music for Rosamunde contains two intermissions (in B minor and B major) and lovely ballet scenes. Only the first intermission is serious in tone, but all the music for Rosamunde is purely Schubertian in the freshness of its harmonic and melodic language.
Among other orchestral works, the overtures stand out. In two of them (C major and D major), written in 1817, the influence of G. Rossini is felt, and their subtitles (not given by Schubert) indicate: “in the Italian style.” Also of interest are three operatic overtures: Alfonso and Estrella, Rosamond (originally intended for the early composition of The Magic Harp - Die Zauberharfe) and Fierrabras - the most perfect example of this form by Schubert.
Chamber instrumental genres. Chamber works reveal the composer's inner world to the greatest extent; in addition, they clearly reflect the spirit of his beloved Vienna. The tenderness and poetry of Schubert’s nature are captured in the masterpieces that are commonly called the “seven stars” of his chamber heritage.
The Trout Quintet is a harbinger of a new, romantic worldview in the chamber-instrumental genre; charming melodies and cheerful rhythms brought the composition great popularity. Five years later, two string quartets appeared: the quartet in A minor (Op. 29), perceived by many as the composer’s confession, and the quartet The Girl and Death, where melody and poetry are combined with deep tragedy. Schubert's last quartet in G major represents the quintessence of the composer's mastery; The scale of the cycle and the complexity of the forms pose some obstacle to the popularity of this work, but the last quartet, like the Symphony in C major, are the absolute peaks of Schubert's work. The lyrical-dramatic character of the early quartets is also characteristic of the Quintet in C major (1828), but it cannot compare in perfection with the Quartet in G major.
The octet is a romantic interpretation of the classical suite genre. The use of additional woodwinds gives the composer a reason to compose touching melodies and create colorful modulations that embody Gemutlichkeit - the good-natured, cozy charm of old Vienna. Both Schubert trios – op. 99, B-flat major and op. 100, E-flat major - have both strengths and weaknesses: the structural organization and beauty of the music of the first two movements captivate the listener, while the finales of both cycles seem too lightweight.
Piano works. Schubert composed many pieces for piano 4 hands. Many of them (marches, polonaises, overtures) are charming music for home use. But among this part of the composer’s heritage there are also more serious works. Such are the Grand Duo Sonata with its symphonic scope (though, as already mentioned, there is no indication that the cycle was originally conceived as a symphony), Variations in A-flat major with their sharp characteristic and Fantasy in F minor Op. 103 is a first-class and widely recognized essay.
About two dozen Schubert piano sonatas are second only to Beethoven's in their significance. Half a dozen youthful sonatas are of interest mainly to admirers of Schubert's art; the rest are known all over the world. The sonatas in A minor, D major and G major (1825–1826) clearly demonstrate the composer’s understanding of the sonata principle: dance and song forms are combined here with classical techniques for developing themes. In the three sonatas, which appeared shortly before the composer's death, the song and dance elements appear in a purified, sublime form; the emotional world of these works is richer than in earlier opuses. The last sonata in B-flat major is the result of Schubert’s work on the thematism and form of the sonata cycle.