Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and the early Romantic periods. He is celebrated for his songs and for his chamber music and symphonies.

Early Life and Education

Schubert was born in Vienna in 1797, the son of a schoolmaster. He was one of the fourteen children of the family.

He showed an early talent for the music and was educated at the Imperial and Royal City College. He studied with Antonio Salieri and played the violin in the family quartet.

He trained as a schoolteacher and worked in his father's school. He soon abandoned the teaching to devote himself to the composition.

The Songs

Schubert composed more than six hundred songs, which are the foundation of his reputation. The songs set the poetry of Goethe, Schiller, and other writers.

Gretchen am Spinnrade and the Erlkönig were composed in 1814 when he was seventeen. The works transformed the genre of the art song.

He developed the song cycle in the song collections Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise. The cycles tell a continuous story through the sequence of the songs.

He used the piano accompaniment to express the mood and the imagery of the poem. The technique became a model for the later composers of the Lied.

The Instrumental Works

Schubert composed nine symphonies, of which the Unfinished and the Great C major are the most famous. The Unfinished was left incomplete at his death.

The chamber music includes the String Quintet in C major and the Death and the Maiden quartet. The works are among the greatest of the chamber repertoire.

He composed the piano sonatas and the impromptus and the moments musicaux. The works display the lyrical and the harmonic gifts.

The music is characterised by the melodic invention and the expressive harmony. He anticipated the harmonic language of the later Romantic composers.

The Later Years and the Legacy

Schubert struggled with the poverty and the ill health throughout his life. He contracted the syphilis in 1822 and suffered from the symptoms.

He gave one public concert of his works in 1828 and it was a success. He died in November of that year at the age of thirty-one.

He was buried in the Währing cemetery near the grave of Beethoven, whom he had admired. His remains were later moved to the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna.

He is regarded as one of the greatest of the song composers and a master of the instrumental music. His works were championed by Schumann, Brahms, and Mendelssohn.

The Songs and the Cycles

Schubert composed more than six hundred songs. The works set the poetry of Goethe and Schiller and other writers.

He developed the song cycle in the Die schöne Müllerin and the Winterreise. The cycles tell a continuous story through the sequence of the songs.

He used the piano accompaniment to express the mood and the imagery. The technique became a model for the later composers of the Lied.

The Chamber Music and the Piano

Schubert composed the String Quintet in C major and the Death and the Maiden quartet. The works are among the greatest of the chamber repertoire.

He composed the piano sonatas and the impromptus and the moments musicaux. The works display the lyrical and the harmonic gifts.

He composed the symphonies, of which the Unfinished and the Great C major are the most famous. The works are the pillars of the orchestral repertoire.

The Honours and the Memory

Schubert was buried in the Währing cemetery near the grave of Beethoven. His remains were later moved to the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna.

The Schubert Museum in Vienna occupies the house where he was born. It contains the collection of his manuscripts and the instruments.

He is regarded as one of the greatest of the song composers. His works were championed by Schumann, Brahms, and Mendelssohn.

The Circle of Friends

Schubert was surrounded by a circle of the friends and the admirers. The group met for the evenings of the music and the conversation.

The friends included the poets and the painters and the singers. They supported him and promoted his work.

The Schubertiads were the informal concerts of his works. The gatherings were held in the houses of the friends.

The Health and the Death

Schubert contracted the syphilis in 1822 and suffered from the symptoms. The illness affected his health and his spirits.