How are you?
This week's lecture is “Franz
Schubert”, the 10th topic of “Classical Music”, which is a summary of the contents of “95.
Classical Music: 10. Franz Schubert” introduced on July
8th, 2017.
Franz Schubert, born on 31 January 1797 and died on 19 November 1828, was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a vast works, including more than 600 secular vocal works (mainly lieder), 7 complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music, and many piano and chamber music.
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 (D. 796), the incidental music to the play Rosamunde (D. 797), and the song cycles Die schöne Müllerin (D. 795) and Winterreise (D. 911).
Born in the Himmelpfortgrund, suburb of Vienna, Schubert was the twelfth child of Franz Theodor Florian Schubert and Maria Elisabeth Katharina Vietz and showed an extraordinary talent for music from an early age. His father was his first violin teacher and his elder brother was his first piano teacher, but Schubert soon surpassed their abilities.
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| The house in which Schubert was born |
In 1808, at the age of 11, he entered the Stadtkonvikt school, where he became acquainted with the orchestral music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. After returning home from the Stadtkonvikt at the end of 1813, he began studying to become a schoolteacher. Nevertheless, he continued his studies in composition with Antonio Salieri and still composed many works.
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| Schubert c. 1814, Josef Abel |
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| Portrait of Antonio Salieri, Joseph Willibrord Mähler (1815) |
In 1821, Schubert became a member of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde as a performer, which helped establish his name among the citizens of Vienna. In March 1828, he gave a concert in which he performed his own works to critical acclaim.
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| The Great Hall of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde |
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| Watercolour of Franz Schubert, Wilhelm August Rieder (1825) |
Eight months later, Schubert died at the age of 31 and the official cause of his death was typhoid fever, although some believe it was due to syphilis. Five days before Schubert's death, his friend, violinist Karl Holz and his string quartet visited him to play for him, and the last musical work Schubert wanted to hear was Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131.
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| Schubert's glasses |
The location of the
village cemetery in Währing, Vienna, where Schubert was buried by his will, was
near the cemetery of Beethoven, whom he admired throughout his life.
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| The site of Schubert's first tomb at Währing |
In 1872, a memorial to
Schubert was erected in Vienna's Stadtpark, and in 1888 the tombs of both
Schubert and Beethoven were moved to the Zentralfriedhof, where they are now
located next to those of Johann Strauss II and Johannes Brahms.
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| Franz Schubert grave at Wiener Zentralfriedhof |
During Schubert's lifetime,
his small circle of admirers in Vienna could only appreciate his music, but
interest in his work increased significantly in the decades following his
death.
Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms and other 19th-century composers discovered and admired his works.
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| Memorial at the Kalvarienberg Church, Hernals |
Today, Schubert is regarded as one of the
greatest composers of Western classical music, and his music continues to grow
in popularity.
Thank you.
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