Franz Peter Schubert is a musical genius of the 19th century. Franz Schubert: biography, personal life and work of the composer When was Franz Schubert born

He said: “Never ask for anything! Never and nothing, and especially among those who are stronger than you. They will offer and give everything themselves!”

This quote from the immortal work “The Master and Margarita” characterizes the life of the Austrian composer Franz Schubert, familiar to most from the song “Ave Maria” (“Ellen’s Third Song”).

During his life, he did not strive for fame. Although the Austrian’s works were distributed from all salons in Vienna, Schubert lived extremely meagerly. Once the writer hung his coat on the balcony with the pockets turned inside out. This gesture was addressed to creditors and meant that there was nothing more to take from Schubert. Having known the sweetness of fame only fleetingly, Franz died at the age of 31. But centuries later, this musical genius became recognized not only in his homeland, but throughout the world: Schubert’s creative legacy is immense, he composed about a thousand works: songs, waltzes, sonatas, serenades and other compositions.

Childhood and adolescence

Franz Peter Schubert was born in Austria, near the picturesque city of Vienna. The gifted boy grew up in an ordinary poor family: his father, schoolteacher Franz Theodor, came from a peasant family, and his mother, cook Elisabeth (née Fitz), was the daughter of a repairman from Silesia. In addition to Franz, the couple raised four more children (out of 14 children born, 9 died in infancy).

It is not surprising that the future maestro showed an early love for sheet music, because music was constantly flowing in his house: Schubert the elder loved to play the violin and cello as an amateur, and Franz’s brother was fond of the piano and clavier. Franz Jr. was surrounded by a delightful world of melodies, as the hospitable Schubert family often received guests and organized musical evenings.

Noticing the talent of their son, who at the age of seven played music on the keys without studying notes, the parents sent Franz to the Lichtenthal parochial school, where the boy tried to master playing the organ, and M. Holzer taught young Schubert the vocal art, which he mastered brilliantly.

When the future composer was 11 years old, he was accepted as a choir member into the court chapel located in Vienna, and was also enrolled in the Konvikt boarding school, where he made his best friends. At the educational institution, Schubert zealously learned the basics of music, but the boy was not good at mathematics and the Latin language.

It is worth saying that no one doubted the talent of the young Austrian. Wenzel Ruzicka, who taught Franz the bass voice of polyphonic musical composition, once stated:

“I have nothing to teach him! He already knows everything from the Lord God.”

And in 1808, to the delight of his parents, Schubert was accepted into the imperial choir. When the boy was 13 years old, he independently wrote his first serious musical composition, and after 2 years the recognized composer Antonio Salieri began working with the young man, who did not even take any monetary compensation from the young Franz.

Music

When Schubert's sonorous, boyish voice began to break, the young composer was understandably forced to leave Konvikt. Franz's father dreamed that he would enter a teacher's seminary and follow in his footsteps. Schubert could not resist the will of his parent, so after graduation he began working at a school, where he taught the alphabet to junior grades.

In 1814 he wrote the opera Satan's Pleasure Castle and a mass in F major. And by the age of 20, Schubert had become the author of at least five symphonies, seven sonatas and three hundred songs. Music did not leave Schubert’s thoughts for a minute: the talented composer woke up even in the middle of the night in order to have time to record the melody that sounded in his sleep.

In his free time from work, the Austrian organized musical evenings: acquaintances and close friends appeared in the house of Schubert, who did not leave the piano and often improvised.

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.

But it cannot be said that the Austrian mastered the keyboard instrument as masterfully as, for example, Beethoven. He did not always make the right impression on the listening public, so Fogal received the attention of the audience at his performances.

Franz Schubert composes music in nature

In 1817, Franz became the author of the music for the song “Trout” based on the words of his namesake Christian Schubert. The composer also became famous thanks to the music for the famous ballad of the German writer “The Forest King,” and in the winter of 1818, Franz’s work “Erlafsee” was published by the publishing house, although before Schubert’s fame, the editors constantly found an excuse to refuse the young performer.

It is worth noting that during the years of peak popularity, Franz acquired profitable acquaintances. So, his comrades (writer Bauernfeld, composer Hüttenbrenner, artist Schwind and other friends) helped the musician with money.

When Schubert was finally convinced of his calling, he left his job at the school in 1818. But his father did not like his son’s spontaneous decision, so he deprived his now adult child of financial assistance. Because of this, Franz had to ask friends for a place to sleep.

Fortune in the composer's life was very changeable. The opera Alfonso and Estrella, composed by Schober, which Franz considered his success, was rejected. In this regard, Schubert's financial situation worsened. Also in 1822, the composer contracted an illness that undermined his health. In mid-summer, Franz moved to Zeliz, where he settled on the estate of Count Johann Esterhazy. There Schubert taught music lessons to his children.

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.

Franz's biography indicates that at times he had to live in dilapidated attics, where, with the light of a burning torch, he composed great works on scraps of greasy paper. The composer was extremely poor, but he did not want to exist on the financial help of friends.

“What will happen to me...” wrote Schubert, “in my old age, perhaps, like Goethe’s harpist, I will have to go from door to door and beg for bread.”

But Franz could not even imagine that he would not grow old. When the musician was on the verge of despair, the goddess of fate smiled at him again: in 1828, Schubert was elected a member of the Vienna Society of Friends of Music, and on March 26, the composer gave his first concert. The performance was triumphant, and the hall was bursting with loud applause. On this day, Franz learned for the first and last time in his life what real success was.

Personal life

In life, the great composer was very timid and shy. Therefore, many of the writer’s circle profited from his gullibility. Franz's financial situation became a stumbling block on the path to happiness, because his beloved chose a rich groom.

Schubert's love was called Teresa Gorb. Franz met this person while in the church choir. It is worth noting that the fair-haired girl was not known as a beauty, but, on the contrary, had an ordinary appearance: her pale face was “decorated” by smallpox marks, and her eyelids “flaunted” sparse and white eyelashes.

But it was not Schubert’s appearance that attracted him in choosing a lady of his heart. He was flattered that Teresa listened to music with awe and inspiration, and at these moments her face took on a ruddy appearance and happiness shone in her eyes.

But, since the girl was raised without a father, her mother insisted that she choose the latter between love and money. Therefore, Gorb married a wealthy pastry chef.

Other information about Schubert's personal life is very scarce. According to rumors, the composer was infected with syphilis in 1822, an incurable disease at that time. Based on this, it can be assumed that Franz did not disdain visiting brothels.

Death

In the autumn of 1828, Franz Schubert was tormented by a two-week fever caused by an infectious intestinal disease - typhoid fever. On November 19, at the age of 32, the great composer died.

The Austrian (in accordance with his last wish) was buried at the Wehring cemetery next to the grave of his idol, Beethoven.

With the proceeds from the triumphal concert, which took place in 1828, Franz Schubert purchased a piano.
In the fall of 1822, the composer wrote “Symphony No. 8,” which went down in history as the “Unfinished Symphony.” The fact is that Franz first created this work in the form of a sketch, and then in the score. But for some unknown reason, Schubert never finished working on his brainchild. According to rumors, the remaining parts of the manuscript were lost and were kept by friends of the Austrian.

Some people mistakenly attribute to Schubert the authorship of the title of the impromptu play. But the phrase “Musical Moment” was invented by the publisher Leydesdorff.
Schubert adored Goethe. The musician dreamed of getting to know this famous writer better, but his dream was not destined to come true.
Schubert's major C major symphony was found 10 years after his death.

The asteroid, which was discovered in 1904, was named after Franz's play Rosamund.
After the composer's death, a mass of unpublished manuscripts remained. For a long time people did not know what Schubert composed.

Discography

Songs (over 600 in total)

Cycle “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” (1823)
Cycle "Winter Reise" (1827)
Collection "Swan Song" (1827-1828, posthumous)
About 70 songs based on Goethe's texts
About 50 songs based on Schiller's texts

Symphonies

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)

Childhood

Franz Schubert born on January 31, 1797 (in a small suburb of Vienna, now part of it) in the family of a teacher at the Lichtenthal parish school, who was an amateur music-player. His father Franz Theodore Schubert, came from a family of Moravian peasants; mother, Elizabeth Schubert(née Fitz), was the daughter of a Silesian mechanic. Of their fourteen children, nine died at an early age, and one of the brothers Franz- Ferdinand also devoted himself to music

Franz showed musical abilities very early. The first to teach him music were his family: his father (violin) and older brother Ignatz (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 rector 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 Konvikt (boarding school). There his friends became Joseph von Spaun, Albert Stadler and Anton Holzapfel. Teachers Schubert there were Wenzel Ruzicka (bass general) and later (until 1816) Antonio Salieri (counterpoint and composition). Schubert He 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 In his studies Schubert Mathematics and Latin were difficult for him, and in 1813 he was expelled from the choir because his voice was breaking. Schubert returned home and entered the teachers' seminary, which he graduated from 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

Job Schubert 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 with the poet Franz von Schober. Schober arranged Schubert meeting with the famous baritone Johann Michael Vogl. Songs Schubert performed by Vogl began to enjoy great popularity in Viennese salons. First success Schubert brought the ballad “The Forest King” (“Erlkönig”), written by him in 1816. In January 1818 the first composition Schubert published - the song Erlafsee (as an addition to the anthology edited by F. Sartori).

Among friends Schubert there were the official J. Spaun, the amateur poet F. Schober, the poet I. Mayrhofer, the poet and comedian E. Bauernfeld, the artists M. Schwind and L. Kupelwieser, the composer A. Hüttenbrenner and J. Schubert. They were fans of creativity Schubert and periodically provided him with financial assistance.

At the beginning of 1818 Schubert left work at school. In July, he moved to Želiz (now the Slovak city of Železovce) to the summer residence of Count Johann Esterházy, where he began teaching music to his daughters. In mid-November he returned to Vienna. The second time he visited Esterhazy was in 1824.

In 1823 he was elected an honorary member of the Styrian and Linz musical unions.

In the 1820s Schubert health problems began. In December 1822 he fell ill, but after a stay in hospital in the autumn of 1823 his health improved.

Last years

From 1826 to 1828 Schubert lived in Vienna, except for a short stay in Graz. The position of vice-kapellmeister in the chapel of the imperial court, for which he applied in 1826, did not go to him, but to Joseph Weigl. On March 26, 1828, he gave his only public concert, which was a great success and brought him 800 guilders. Meanwhile, his numerous songs and piano works were published.

The composer died of typhoid fever on November 19, 1828 at the age of less than 32 years after a two-week fever. According to the last wish, Schubert They buried him in the Wehring cemetery, where the year before, Beethoven, whom he idolized, was buried. An eloquent inscription is engraved on the monument: “Music buried here a precious treasure, but even more wonderful hopes.” On January 22, 1888, his ashes were reburied at the Vienna Central Cemetery.

Creation

Creative heritage Schubert covers a wide variety of genres. He created 9 symphonies, over 25 chamber instrumental works, 21 piano sonatas, many pieces for piano for two and four hands, 10 operas, 6 masses, a number of works for choir, for vocal ensemble, and finally, more than 600 songs. During his lifetime, and for quite a long time after the composer’s death, he was valued mainly as a songwriter. Only from the 19th century did researchers begin to gradually comprehend his achievements in other areas of creativity. Thanks to Schubert the song became equal in importance to other genres for the first time. Her poetic images reflect almost the entire history of Austrian and German poetry, including some foreign authors.

Collections of songs are of great importance in vocal literature. Schubert based on the poems of Wilhelm Müller - “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” and “Winter Reise”, which are, as it were, a continuation of Beethoven’s idea expressed in the collection of songs “To a Distant Beloved”. In these works Schubert showed remarkable melodic talent and a wide variety of moods; he gave the accompaniment greater meaning, greater artistic meaning. The latest collection “Swan Song” is also remarkable, many of the songs from which have gained worldwide fame.

Musical gift Schubert opened new paths of piano music. His Fantasies in C major and F minor, impromptu, musical moments, sonatas are proof of the richest imagination and great harmonic courage. In chamber and symphonic music - string quartet in D minor, quintet in C major, piano quintet “Forellenquintett” (“Trout”), “Great Symphony” in C major and “Unfinished Symphony” in B minor - Schubert demonstrates his unique and independent musical thinking, significantly different from the thinking of Beethoven, living and dominant at that time.

From numerous church works Schubert(mass, offertory, hymns, etc.) the Mass in E-flat major is especially distinguished by its sublime character and musical richness.

Of the operas performed at that time, Schubert Most of all I liked “The Swiss Family” by Joseph Weigl, “Medea” by Luigi Cherubini, “John of Paris” by François Adrien Boieldieu, “Cendrillon” by Izward and especially “Iphigenia in Tauris” by Gluck. Schubert had little interest in Italian opera, which was in great fashion in his time; only “The Barber of Seville” and some passages from “Othello” by Gioachino Rossini attracted him.

Posthumous recognition

After Schubert a mass of unpublished manuscripts remained (six masses, seven symphonies, fifteen operas, etc.). Some smaller works were published immediately after the composer's death, but manuscripts of larger works, little known to the public, remained in the bookcases and drawers of relatives, friends and publishers Schubert. Even those closest to him did not know everything he wrote, and for many years he was recognized mainly only as the king of song. In 1838 Robert Schumann While visiting Vienna, I found a dusty manuscript of the “Great Symphony” Schubert and took it with him to Leipzig, where the work was performed by Felix Mendelssohn. The greatest contribution to the search and discovery of works Schubert made by George Grove and Arthur Sullivan, who visited Vienna in the fall of 1867. They managed to find seven symphonies, accompaniment music from the play Rosamund, several masses and operas, some chamber music and a large variety of fragments and songs. These discoveries led to a significant increase in interest in creativity Schubert. Franz Liszt transcribed and arranged a significant number of works from 1830 to 1870 Schubert, especially songs. He said that Schubert"the most poetic musician who ever lived." For Antonin Dvorak, symphonies were especially interesting Schubert, and Hector Berlioz and Anton Bruckner acknowledged the influence of the Great Symphony on their work.

In 1897, the publishers Breitkopf and Hertel published a critical 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 or were persistent popularizers of music Schubert, or made allusions to it in their own music. Britten, who was an excellent pianist, accompanied many of the songs. Schubert 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 a friend Schubert Anselm Hüttenbrenner, until it was discovered by the Viennese conductor Johann Herbeck and performed in a concert in 1865. (The completed Schubert the first two movements, and instead of the missing 3rd and 4th movements the final movement from the early Third Symphony was performed Schubert in D major.) The symphony was published in 1866 in the form of the first two movements.

The reasons why are still unclear Schubert did not complete the “Unfinished” Symphony. 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 completed Schubert the first two parts are written in different keys, far from each other. (Such cases have not occurred either before or after him.)

Currently, there are several options for completing the “Unfinished” Symphony (in particular, the options of the English musicologist Brian Newbould and the Russian composer Anton Safronov).

Essays

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), etc.;
For piano 2 hands - 23 sonatas (including 6 unfinished; 1815-1828), fantasy (Wanderer, 1822, etc.), 11 impromptu (1827-28), 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, etc.;
Vocal ensembles for male, female voices and mixed compositions with and without accompaniment;
Songs for voice and piano, (over 600) including the cycles “The Beautiful Miller’s Wife” (1823) and “Winter Retreat” (1827), the collection “Swan Song” (1828), “Ellen’s Third Song” (“Ellens dritter Gesang” , also known as Schubert's "Ave Maria").
Forest king

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 in chronological order according to the time they were written.

In astronomy

The asteroid (540) Rosamund, discovered in 1904, is named after Franz Schubert's musical play Rosamund.

Franz Schubert (1797–1828) - Austrian composer. Born into the family of a school teacher. In 1808–12 he was a choirmaster at the Vienna Court Chapel. He was brought up in the Vienna convict, where he studied general bass with V. Ruzicka, counterpoint and composition (until 1816) with A. Salieri. In 1814–18 he was an assistant teacher at his father's school. By 1816, Schubert had created over 250 songs (including words to the words of J. V. Goethe - “Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel”, 1814, “The Forest King”, “To the Charioteer Kronos”, both 1815), 4 singspiels, 3 symphonies and etc. A circle of friends formed around Schubert - admirers of his work (including the official J. Spaun, the amateur poet F. Schober, the poet I. Mayrhofer, the poet and comedian E. Bauernfeld, the artists M. Schwind and L. Kupelwieser, the singer I.M. Fogl, who became a promoter of his songs). As a music teacher to the daughters of Count I. Esterhazy, Schubert visited Hungary (1818 and 1824), together with Vogl he traveled to Upper Austria and Salzburg (1819, 1823, 1825), and visited Graz (1827). Recognition came to Schubert only in the 20s. In 1828, a few months before Schubert's death, his author's concert took place in Vienna, which was a great success. Honorary member of the Styrian and Linz Musical Unions (1823). Schubert is the first major representative of musical romanticism, who expressed, according to B.V. Asafiev, “the joys and sorrows of life” in the way “as most people feel them and would like to convey them.” The most important place in Schubert's work is occupied by the song for voice and piano (German Lied, about 600). One of the greatest melodists, Schubert reformed the song genre, endowing it with deep content. Having enriched the previous song forms - simple and varied strophic, reprise, rhapsodic, multi-part - Schubert created a new type of song of end-to-end development (with a variable motif uniting into a whole in the piano part), as well as the first highly artistic examples of the vocal cycle. Schubert’s songs used poems by about 100 poets, primarily Goethe (about 70 songs), F. Schiller (over 40; “Group from Tartarus”, “The Girl’s Complaint”), W. Müller (the cycles “The Beautiful Miller’s Wife” and “Winter Reise” "), I. Mayrhofer (47 songs; "The Rower"); among other poets are D. Schubart (“Trout”), F. L. Stolberg (“Barcarolle”), M. Claudius (“Girl and Death”), G. F. Schmidt (“Wanderer”), L. Relshtab ( “Evening Serenade”, “Shelter”), F. Rückert (“Hello”, “You are my peace”), W. Shakespeare (“Morning Serenade”), W. Scott (“Ave Maria”). Schubert wrote quartets for male and female voices, 6 masses, cantatas, oratorios, etc. Of the music for musical theater, only the overture and dances for the play “Rosamund, Princess of Cyprus” by V. Chezy (1823). In Schubert's instrumental music, based on the traditions of composers of the Viennese classical school, song-type thematics acquired great importance. The composer sought to preserve the melodious lyrical theme as a whole, giving it new light with the help of tonal recoloring, timbre and texture variations. Of Schubert’s 9 symphonies, 6 early ones (1813–18) are still close to the works of the Viennese classics, although they are distinguished by romantic freshness and spontaneity. The pinnacle examples of romantic symphonism are the lyrical-dramatic 2-part “Unfinished Symphony” (1822) and the majestic heroic-epic “Big” Symphony in C major (1825–28). Of Schubert's orchestral overtures, the two most popular are in the “Italian style” (1817). Schubert is the author of deep and significant chamber instrumental ensembles (one of the best is the trout piano quintet), a number of which were written for home music playing. Piano music is an important area of Schubert's work. Having been influenced by L. Beethoven, Schubert laid down the tradition of a free romantic interpretation of the piano sonata genre. The piano fantasy “The Wanderer” also anticipates the “poem” forms of the romantics (in particular, the structure of some of F. Liszt’s symphonic poems). Schubert's impromptu and musical moments are the first romantic miniatures, close to the works of F. Chopin, R. Schumann, F. Liszt. Piano waltzes, landlers, “German dances,” ecosaises, gallops, etc. reflected the composer’s desire to poetize dance genres. Many of Schubert’s works for piano 4 hands go back to the same tradition of home music-making, including “Hungarian Divertissement” (1824), Fantasia (1828), variations, polonaises, marches. Schubert's work is associated with Austrian folk art and the everyday music of Vienna, although he rarely used genuine folk song themes in his compositions. The composer also incorporated the peculiarities of the musical folklore of the Hungarians and Slavs who lived on the territory of the Austrian Empire. Of great importance in his music are color and brilliance, achieved through orchestration, enrichment of harmony with side triads, bringing together the major and minor keys of the same name, the widespread use of deviations and modulations, and the use of variational development. During Schubert's lifetime, it was mainly his songs that became famous. Many major instrumental works were performed only decades after his death (“The Great” Symphony was performed in 1839, under the baton of F. Mendelssohn; “The Unfinished Symphony” - in 1865).

Essays: Operas - Alfonso and Estrella (1822; staged 1854, Weimar), Fierabras (1823; staged 1897, Karlsruhe), 3 unfinished, including Count von Gleichen, etc.; Singspiel (7), including Claudina von Villa Bella (on a text by Goethe, 1815, the first of 3 acts has been preserved; production 1978, Vienna), The Twin Brothers (1820, Vienna), Conspirators, or Home War (1823; production 1861, Frankfurt on Main); music To plays - The Magic Harp (1820, Vienna), Rosamund, Princess of Cyprus (1823, ibid.); For soloists, choir And orchestra - 7 masses (1814–28), German Requiem (1818), Magnificat (1815), offertories and other wind works, oratorios, cantatas, including Miriam’s Victory Song (1828); For orchestra - symphonies (1813; 1815; 1815; Tragic, 1816; 1816; Small C-dur, 1818; 1821, unfinished; Unfinished, 1822; Large C-dur, 1828), 8 overtures; intimate-instrumental ensembles - 4 sonatas (1816–17), fantasia (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 (1811–26), Trout piano quintet (1819?), string quintet ( 1828), octet for strings and winds (1824), etc.; For piano V 2 hands - 23 sonatas (including 6 unfinished; 1815–28), fantasy (Wanderer, 1822, etc.), 11 impromptu (1827–28), 6 musical moments (1823–28), rondo, variations and other pieces , over 400 dances (waltzes, landlers, German dances, minuets, ecosaises, gallops, etc.; 1812–27); For piano V 4 hands - sonatas, overtures, fantasies, Hungarian divertissement (1824), rondos, variations, polonaises, marches, etc.; vocal ensembles for male, female voices and mixed compositions with and without accompaniment; songs For vote With piano, including the cycles The Beautiful Miller's Wife (1823) and Winter's Journey (1827), the collection Swan Song (1828).

Austrian composer, one of the founders of romanticism in music

short biography

Franz Peter Schubert(German: Franz Peter Schubert; January 31, 1797 - November 19, 1828, Vienna) - Austrian composer, one of the founders of romanticism in music, author of approximately 600 vocal compositions (based on words by Schiller, Goethe, Heine and others), nine symphonies, as well as a large number of chamber and solo piano works.

Schubert's works have still not lost their popularity and are among the most famous examples of classical music.

Childhood

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 rector 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 Konvikt (boarding school). There his friends became Joseph von Spaun, Albert Stadler and Anton Holzapfel. Wenzel Ruzicka taught Schubert general bass, later Antonio Salieri took Schubert to his place for free training, 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 Viennese salons. Schubert’s first success came with 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 J. 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.

At the beginning of 1818, Schubert left his job at the school. In July, he moved to Želiz (now the Slovak city of Železovce) to the summer residence of Count Johann Esterházy, where he began teaching music to his daughters. In mid-November he returned to Vienna. The second time he visited Esterhazy was in 1824.

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

From 1826 to 1828, Schubert lived in Vienna, with the exception of a short stay in Graz. The position of vice-kapellmeister in the chapel of the imperial court, for which he applied in 1826, did not go to him, but to Joseph Weigl. On March 26, 1828, he gave his only public concert, which was a great success and brought him 800 guilders. Meanwhile, his numerous songs and piano works were published.

The composer died of typhoid fever on November 19, 1828 at the age of less than 32 years after a two-week fever. According to his last wishes, Schubert was buried in the Wehring cemetery, where the year before, Beethoven, whom he idolized, was buried. An eloquent inscription is engraved on the monument: “ Music buried here a wonderful treasure, but even more wonderful hopes. Franz Schubert lies here" On January 22, 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.

Creation

Schubert's creative heritage covers a variety of genres. He created 9 symphonies, over 25 chamber instrumental works, 21 piano sonatas, many pieces for piano for two and four hands, 10 operas, 6 masses, a number of works for choir, for vocal ensemble, and finally, more than 600 songs. During his lifetime, and for quite a long time after the composer’s death, he was valued mainly as a songwriter. Only from the 19th century did researchers begin to gradually comprehend his achievements in other areas of creativity. Thanks to Schubert, the song for the first time became equal in importance to other genres. Her poetic images reflect almost the entire history of Austrian and German poetry, including some foreign authors.

Of great importance in vocal literature are Schubert’s collections of songs based on the poems of Wilhelm Müller - “The Beautiful Miller’s Wife” and “Winter Reise”, which are, as it were, a continuation of Beethoven’s idea expressed in the collection of songs “To a Distant Beloved”. In these works Schubert showed remarkable melodic talent and a wide variety of moods; he gave the accompaniment greater significance, greater artistic meaning. The latest collection “Swan Song” is also remarkable, many of the songs from which have gained worldwide fame.

Schubert's musical gift opened up new avenues for piano music. His Fantasies in C major and F minor, impromptu musical moments, sonatas are proof of the richest imagination and great harmonic courage. In chamber and symphonic music - string quartet in D minor, quintet in C major, piano quintet “Forellenquintett” (“Trout”), “ Great Symphony" in C major and "Unfinished Symphony" in B minor - Schubert demonstrates his unique and independent musical thinking, significantly different from the thinking of Beethoven, who was living and dominant at that time.

Of Schubert's numerous church works (masses, offertories, hymns, etc.), the Mass in E-flat major is especially distinguished by its sublime character and musical richness.

Of the operas performed at that time, Schubert most liked “The Swiss Family” by Joseph Weigl, “Medea” by Luigi Cherubini, “John of Paris” by François Adrien Boieldieu, “Cendrillon” by Izward and especially “Iphigenia in Tauris” by Gluck. Schubert had little interest in Italian opera, which was in great fashion in his time; only “The Barber of Seville” and some passages from “Othello” by Gioachino Rossini attracted him.

Posthumous recognition

Schubert left behind a mass of unpublished manuscripts (six masses, seven symphonies, fifteen operas, etc.). Some smaller works were published immediately after the composer's death, but manuscripts of larger works, little known to the public, remained in the bookcases and drawers of Schubert's relatives, friends and publishers. Even those closest to him did not know everything he wrote, and for many years he was recognized mainly only as the king of song. In 1838, Robert Schumann, while visiting Vienna, found a dusty manuscript of Schubert's "Great Symphony" and took it with him to Leipzig, where Felix Mendelssohn performed the work. The greatest contribution to the search and discovery of Schubert's works was made by George Grove and Arthur Sullivan, who visited Vienna in the fall of 1867. They managed to find seven symphonies, accompanying music from the play Rosamund, several masses and operas, some chamber music, and a large variety of fragments and songs. These discoveries led to a significant increase in interest in Schubert's work.

Franz Liszt transcribed and arranged a significant number of Schubert's works, especially songs, from 1830 to 1870. He said that Schubert was “the most poetic musician who ever lived.” For Antonin Dvořák, Schubert's symphonies were especially interesting, and Hector Berlioz and Anton Bruckner acknowledged the influence of the Great Symphony on their work.

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 works 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 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, the options of the English musicologist Brian Newbould and the 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 Miller’s Wife” (1823) and “Winter Reise” (1827), the collection “Swan Song” (1828), “Ellen’s Third Song” (“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

Memory

The asteroid (540) Rosamund, discovered in 1904, is named after Franz Schubert's musical play Rosamund.

Franz Peter Schubert is a great Austrian composer, one of the founders of romanticism in music. He wrote about 600 songs, nine symphonies (including the famous Unfinished Symphony), liturgical music, operas, and a large amount of chamber and solo piano music.

Franz Peter Schubert was born on January 31, 1797 in Lichtenthal (now Alsergrund), a small suburb of Vienna, in the family of a schoolteacher who played music as an amateur. Of the fifteen children in the family, ten died at an early age. Franz showed musical talent very early. From the age of six he studied at a parish school, and his household taught him to play the violin and piano.

At the age of eleven, Franz was accepted into the Konvict - the court chapel, where, in addition to singing, he studied playing many instruments and music theory (under the guidance of Antonio Salieri). Leaving the chapel in 1813, Schubert took a job as a teacher at a school. He studied mainly Gluck, Mozart and Beethoven. He wrote his first independent works - the opera Des Teufels Lustschloss and the Mass in F major - in 1814.

In the field of song, Schubert was a successor to Beethoven. Thanks to Schubert, this genre received an artistic form, enriching the field of concert vocal music. The ballad “The Forest King” (“Erlk?nig”), written in 1816, brought fame to the composer. Soon after it appeared “The Wanderer” (“Der Wanderer”), “Praise of Tears” (“Lob der Thr?nen”), “Zuleika” (“Suleika”) and others.

Of great importance in vocal literature are large collections of Schubert’s songs based on the poems of Wilhelm Müller - “The Beautiful Miller’s Wife” (“Die sch?ne M?llerin”) and “Winter Reise” (“Die Winterreise”), which are, as it were, a continuation of Beethoven’s idea expressed by in the collection of songs “Beloved” (“An die Geliebte”). In all these works Schubert showed remarkable melodic talent and a wide variety of moods; he gave the accompaniment greater meaning, greater artistic meaning. The collection “Swan Song” (“Schwanengesang”) is also remarkable, from which many songs have gained worldwide fame (for example, “St?ndchen”, “Aufenthalt”, “Das Fischerm?dchen”, “Am Meere”). Schubert did not try, like his predecessors, to imitate the national character, but his songs involuntarily reflected the national current, and they became the property of the country. Schubert wrote almost 600 songs. Beethoven enjoyed his songs in the last days of his life. Schubert's amazing musical gift was reflected in the areas of piano and symphony. His fantasies in C major and F minor, impromptu songs, musical moments, and sonatas are proof of his rich imagination and great harmonic erudition. In the string quartet in d-minor, the quintet in c-dur, the piano quartet “Trout” (Forellen Quartett), the large symphony in c-dur and the unfinished symphony in b-minor, Schubert is Beethoven’s successor. In the field of opera, Schubert was not so gifted; although he wrote about 20 of them, they will add little to his fame. Among them, “Der h?usliche Krieg oder die Verschworenen” stands out. Certain numbers of his operas (for example, Rosamund) are quite worthy of a great musician. Of Schubert's numerous church works (masses, offertories, hymns, etc.), the Mass in es major is especially distinguished by its sublime character and musical richness. Schubert's musical productivity was enormous. Beginning in 1813, he composed incessantly.

In the highest circle, where Schubert was invited to accompany his vocal compositions, he was extremely reserved, was not interested in praise and even avoided it; Among his friends, on the contrary, he highly valued approval. The rumor about Schubert's intemperance has some basis: he often drank too much and then became hot-tempered and unpleasant to his circle of friends. Of the operas performed at that time, Schubert liked most of all “The Swiss Family” by Weigel, “Medea” by Cherubini, “John of Paris” by Boieldier, “Cendrillon” by Izouard and especially “Iphigenie in Tauris” by Gluck. Schubert had little interest in Italian opera, which was in great fashion in his time; only “The Barber of Seville” and some passages from Rossini’s “Othello” seduced him. According to biographers, Schubert never changed anything in his compositions, because he did not have it for that time. He did not spare his health and, in the prime of his life and talent, died at the age of 32. The last year of his life, despite his poor health, was especially fruitful: it was then that he wrote a symphony in C major and a mass in es major. During his lifetime he did not enjoy outstanding success. After his death, a mass of manuscripts remained that later saw the light (6 masses, 7 symphonies, 15 operas, etc.).