Schubert biography. Biography of Schubert Franz
Franz Peter Schubert was born on January 31, 1797 in a suburb of Vienna. His musical abilities manifested themselves quite early. He received his first music lessons at home. He was taught to play the violin by his father, and the piano by his older brother.
At the age of six, Franz Peter entered the parish school of Lichtenthal. The future composer had an amazingly beautiful voice. Thanks to this, at the age of 11 he was accepted as a “singing boy” into the capital’s court chapel.
Until 1816, Schubert studied for free with A. Salieri. He learned the basics of composition and counterpoint.
His talent as a composer manifested itself already in adolescence. Studying the biography of Franz Schubert , you should know that in the period from 1810 to 1813. he created several songs, piano pieces, a symphony and an opera.
Mature years
The path to art began with Schubert’s acquaintance with baritone I.M. Foglem. He performed several songs by the aspiring composer, and they quickly gained popularity. The first serious success for the young composer came from Goethe’s ballad “The Forest King,” which he set to music.
January 1818 was marked by the publication of the musician's first composition.
The composer's short biography was eventful. He met and became friends with A. Hüttenbrenner, I. Mayrhofer, A. Milder-Hauptmann. Being devoted fans of the musician’s work, they often helped him with money.
In July 1818, Schubert left for Zheliz. His teaching experience allowed him to get a job as a music teacher for Count I. Esterhazy. In the second half of November the musician returned to Vienna.
Features of creativity
Getting to know Schubert's short biography , you should know that he was primarily known as a songwriter. Musical collections based on poems by V. Muller are of great importance in vocal literature.
Songs from the composer's latest collection, “Swan Song,” have become famous throughout the world. An analysis of Schubert's work shows that he was a brave and original musician. He did not follow the road blazed by Beethoven, but chose his own path. This is especially noticeable in the piano quintet “Trout”, as well as in the B minor “Unfinished Symphony”.
Schubert left many church works. Of these, Mass No. 6 in E-flat major has gained the most popularity.
Illness and death
1823 was marked by the election of Schubert as an honorary member of the musical unions in Linz and Styria. The brief biography of the musician states that he applied for the position of court conductor. But it went to J. Weigl.
Schubert's only public concert took place on March 26, 1828. It was a huge success and brought him a small fee. Works for piano and songs by the composer were published.
Schubert died of typhoid fever in November 1828. He was less than 32 years old. During his short life, the musician was able to do the most important thing – realize your amazing gift.
Chronological table
Other biography options
4.2 points. Total ratings received: 664."GREAT SYMPHONY" BY FRANZ SCHUBERT
Throughout his life and for quite a long time after death, he was the personification of a misunderstood genius who never achieved recognition. His music was admired only by his friends and family, and most of his works were discovered and published many years after his untimely death.
Frustrated, always needy Schubert created divine music. Not being very happy, remaining lonely and feeling isolated from the whole world, he wrote wonderful music filled with freshness. So who was this short, myopic, short-lived wanderer, named at birth Franz Peter Schubert?
Youngest son
The Schubert family comes from Austrian Silesia. The composer's father moved to Vienna and after a while became the director of a school in the suburbs of Lichtenthal. He married a girl from his village who worked as a cook. The family did not have enough funds, although it cannot be said that they lived in poverty. The marriage produced 14 children, of whom only five survived. The youngest of the sons was Franz Peter Schubert.
Thanks to his ability to play various instruments, as well as his dedication to music, Schubert soon received a promotion - the post of first violin. He also had to conduct the orchestra if the chief conductor was absent.
Irresistible desire
His music wanted to come out, but he kept his impulses secret. Still, it was very difficult to resist the impulse to compose. Thoughts flowed through me Franz, and he never had enough music paper to write down everything that was rushing out.
Almost all my life Schubert lived, if not in poverty, then with limited means, but he always experienced a particularly acute shortage of music paper. Already at the age of 13, he wrote an incredible amount: sonatas, masses, songs, operas, symphonies... Unfortunately, only some of these early works saw the light of day.
U Schubert had an amazing habit: marking on the notes the exact date when he began composing a piece and when he finished it. It is very strange that in 1812 he wrote only one song - “Sad” - a small and not his most outstanding work. It's hard to believe that not a single song came from the composer's pen during one of the most fruitful years of his work. Maybe, Schubert was so absorbed in instrumental music that it distracted his attention from his favorite genre. But the list of instrumental and religious music written during the same year is simply huge.
Schubert's failed marriage
1813 is considered the final period of early creativity. Due to adolescence, the voice began to break, and Franz no more could sing in the court chapel. The emperor allowed him to stay at school, but the young genius no longer wanted to study. He returned home and, at his father's insistence, became a teacher's assistant at his school. He happened to work in a class for the youngest, with children who still don’t know how to do anything and quickly forget everything. This was unbearable for the young genius. He often lost his temper, correcting students with kicks and slaps. Despite his desperate efforts, they were always unhappy with him.
In this period Schubert met Teresa Grom. The manufacturer's daughter, to put it mildly, was not a beauty - whitish, with faded eyebrows, like many blondes, and with traces of smallpox on her face. She sang in the church choir, and as soon as the music began to sound, Teresa was transformed from an ugly girl into a noticeable girl, illuminated by an inner light. Schubert could not remain indifferent and in 1814 decided to get married. However, financial difficulties prevented him from starting a family. Schubert Teresa’s mother was not satisfied with the school teacher’s penniless salary, and she, in turn, could not go against her parents’ will. After crying, she married the pastry chef.
End of routine
Devoting myself entirely to tedious work, Schubert never for a moment stopped working on what was given to him from birth. His productivity as a composer is simply amazing. 1815 is considered the most productive year of life Schubert.
He wrote more than 100 songs, half a dozen operas and operettas, several symphonies, church music, and so on. During this time he worked a lot with Salieri. Now it’s hard to even imagine how and where he found time to compose. Many songs written during this period became the best in his work, what is even more surprising is that he sometimes wrote 5-8 songs a day.
Late 1815 – early 1816 Schubert wrote one of his best songs, “King Earl,” based on the verses of Goethe’s ballad. He read it twice and the music just poured out of him. The composer barely had time to write down the notes. One of his friends caught him in the process, and the song was performed that same evening. But after that the work lay on the table for 6 years, until did not perform it at the concert at the opera house. And only then the song received instant recognition.
A lot of works were written in 1816, although the opera genre was somewhat pushed aside in front of songs and cantatas. The cantata "Prometheus" was written to order, and for it Schubert received his first fee, 40 Austrian florins (a very small amount). This work of the composer was lost, but those who listened noted that the cantata was very good. Myself Schubert I was very pleased with this work.
Three years passed in endless self-punishment and unprecedented self-sacrifice and, finally, Schubert decided to free himself from the position that bound him. And even if this meant leaving Vienna and quarreling with his father, he was ready for anything.
Franz's new acquaintances
Franz von Schober
In December 1815, it was decided to add a music school to the regular school in Leibach. A teacher position was opened with a meager salary of only 500 Viennese florins. Schubert submits an application, and although it was not supported by a very strong recommendation from Salieri, someone else was appointed to the position, and the plan to escape from the house collapsed. However, help came from unexpected places.
Student Schober, born in Sweden and came to Germany, was so amazed by the songs Schubert, that I decided to meet the author at any cost. Seeing how the composer, absorbed in the work of a teacher's assistant, corrects the mistakes of little students, Schober decided to save the young genius from the hated vicious circle of everyday duties and offered to take one of the rooms in the apartment he was renting. That's what they did, and after some time Schubert moved in with the poet Mayrhofer, many of whose poems he later set to music. Thus began friendship and intellectual communication between the two talents. In this friendship there was a third, no less important - , famous performer of Viennese operas.
Schubert becomes famous
Johann Michael Vogl
Songs Franz became more and more attracted to the singer, and one day he came to him uninvited and looked at his work. Friendship Schubert With Voglem had a huge influence on the young composer. Vogl helped him in choosing poems for songs, recited poems with expression so that the music written Schubert, emphasized as much as possible the ideas expressed in the poems. Schubert came to Foglu in the morning, and they either composed together or corrected what had already been written. Schubert I relied heavily on my friend’s opinion and accepted most of his comments.
The fact that not all comments improved the composer's work is evident from the manuscripts of some songs written Schubert. A young and enthusiastic genius does not always grasp the taste and needs of the public, but a practicing performer usually understands its requirements better. Johann Vogl was not exactly the proofreader the genius needed, but on the other hand, he became the one who made Schubert famous.
Vienna - the kingdom of pianos
Beginning in 1821 for three years Schubert wrote mainly dance music. At the same time, the composer was ordered to write two additional parts for Herold’s opera “The Bell, or the Devil Page,” which he took on with great pleasure, because he really wanted to write something dramatic.
Natural spread of music popularity Schubert passed through musical circles that were open to him. Vienna has earned a reputation as the center of the music world. 
In every home, the piano was an indispensable part of evening gatherings, which included much music, dancing, reading and discussion. Schubert was one of the most famous and welcome guests at the Biedermeier meetings in Vienna.
A typical Schubertiad consisted of music and entertainment, unobtrusive conversation, and banter with the guests. As a rule, it all started with singing songs Schubert, often only written and accompanied by the composer, after which Franz and his friends played the piano in duets or with cheerful vocal accompaniment. The Schubertiades were often sponsored by high-ranking officials. This was the happiest time in the composer's life.
The year 1823 was one of the most productive and musically important years of my life. Schubert. He spent it in Vienna, working tirelessly. As a result, the drama Rosamund and the operas Fierabras and Singspiel were written. It was during this period that the delightful cycle of songs “The Beautiful Miller's Woman” was written. Many of these songs were created in the hospital where he ended up due to a severe illness that developed after contracting syphilis.
Fear of tomorrow
A year later, everything that happened in the composer’s life was clearly reflected in his recordings and clearly showed all the signs of depression, which was consuming him more and more. Schubert. 
Broken hopes (especially related to his operas), hopeless poverty, poor health, loneliness, pain and disappointment in love - all this led to despair.
But the most surprising thing was that this depression did not affect his performance at all. He never stops writing music, creating masterpiece after masterpiece.
In 1826 Schubert received a letter of gratitude with a hundred florins attached from the committee of the Society of Music Lovers for his tireless admiration for the composer’s works. In response to this a year later Schubert sent his Ninth Symphony, which is generally considered one of his best works. However, the Society's executors considered the work too difficult for them, and rejected it as "unsuitable for execution." It is noteworthy that the same definition was often given to later works Beethoven. And in both cases, only subsequent generations were able to appreciate the “complexities” of these works.
The end of the road for Franz Schubert
Sometimes he was tormented by headaches, but they did not foretell anything serious. By September 1828 Schubert I felt constantly dizzy. Doctors advised a calm lifestyle and spending more time in the fresh air.
On November 3, he walked a long distance to listen to the Latin Requiem written by his brother, the last work he heard Schubert. Returning home after a 3-hour walk, he complained of exhaustion. Syphilis, which the composer had been infected with for 6 years, has entered its final stage. The circumstances of the infection are not known for certain. He was treated with mercury, which most likely was the cause of the dizziness and headaches.
the room where Schubert died
The composer's condition deteriorated dramatically. His consciousness began to lose touch with reality. One day he began to demand that he be allowed to leave the room where he was, because he did not understand where he was and why he was here.
died in 1828, before his 32nd birthday. He was buried near Beethoven, before whom he bowed throughout his short life.
Tragically he left this world early, leaving him an invaluable legacy. He created amazing music that touches the expression of feelings and warms the soul. None of the composer's nine symphonies were performed during his lifetime. Of the six hundred songs, about two hundred were published, and of the two dozen piano sonatas, only three.
DATA
“When I want to teach him something new, I find out that he already knows it. It turns out that I’m not teaching him anything, I’m just watching him in silent delight,” said choir teacher Mikael Holzer. Despite this remark, it is absolutely certain that under his leadership Franz improved my bass playing skills, 
piano and organ.
The delightful soprano and mastery of the violin could not be forgotten by anyone who had at least once heard Franz Schubert.
On holidays Franz loved going to the theater. Most of all he liked the operas of Weigl, Cherubini, and Gluck. As a result, the boy began to write operas himself.
Schubert felt deep respect and reverence for talent. One day, after performing one of his works, he exclaimed: “I wonder if I will ever be able to write something really worthy.” To which one of his friends noted that he had already written more than one very worthy work. In response to this, Schubert said: "Sometimes I wonder who can even hope to write anything worthwhile after Beethoven?!».
Updated: April 13, 2019 by: Elena
Schubert
The work of Franz Schubert is the dawn of the romantic movement in music.
In his magnificent works, he contrasted everyday reality with the richness of the inner world of a small person. The most important area in his music is song.
In his work, darkness and light always come into contact, I would like to show this using the example of two of his song cycles: “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” and “Winter Retreat”.
"Etc. chalk." 1823 - the cycle was written based on poems by Müller, which attracted the composer with its naivety and purity. Much of them coincided with the experiences and fate of Schubert himself. A simple story about the life, love and suffering of a young apprentice miller.
The cycle is framed by 2 songs - “On the Way” and “Lullaby of the Stream”, which represent the introduction and conclusion.
Between the extreme points of the cycle is the story of the young man himself about his wanderings, about his love for the daughter of the miller.
The cycle seems to split into 2 phases:
1) out of 10 songs (up to “Pause” No. 12) – these are days of bright hopes
2) already other motives: doubt, jealousy, sadness
Development of the dramaturgy of the cycle:
1 exposition of images No. 1-3
2 premise No. 4 “gratitude to the stream”
3 development of feelings No. 5-10
4 climax #11
5 dramatic turning point, appearance of opponent No. 14
6 junction No. 20
"Let's hit the road"- reveals the structure of thoughts and feelings of a young miller who has just set foot on the path of life. However, the hero in “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” is not alone. Next to him there is another, no less important hero - a stream. He lives a turbulent, intensely changing life. The hero’s feelings change, and the stream also changes, for his soul is merged with the soul of the miller, and the song expresses everything that he experiences.
The musical means of 1 song are extremely simple and are closest to the techniques of folk songwriting.
Climax number "My"- the concentration of all joyful feelings. This song closes the 1st section of the cycle. With its rich texture and cheerful mobility, elasticity of rhythm and sweeping pattern of melody, it is similar to the opening song “On the Road.”
In the songs of section 2, Schubert shows how pain and bitterness grows in the soul of the young miller, how it breaks out in violent outbursts of jealousy and grief. The miller sees a rival - a hunter.
No. 14 "Hunter", in depicting this character, the composer uses techniques familiar to the so-called. “hunting music”: size 6/8, “empty” 4 and 5 - “golden horn move”, depicting a hunting horn, also characteristic moves 63//63.
3 songs “Jealousy and Pride”, “Favorite Color”, “Miller and Stream” - form the dramatic core of section 2. Growing anxiety results in confusion of all feelings and thoughts.
"Lullaby of the Brook"- conveying the very moods with which he ends his life’s journey. Filled with a feeling of quiet sadness and melancholy. The monotonous rhythmic swaying and tonicity of the harmony, the major scale, and the calm pattern of the song melody create the impression of peace and orderliness.
At the conclusion of the cycle, Schubert returns us to the major key, giving it a light coloring - this is a story about eternal peace, humility, but not death.
"Winter Path" 1827 - also based on Müller’s poems, the cycle is contrasting in that now the main hero from a joyful and cheerful young man has turned into a suffering, disappointed lonely person (now he is a wanderer abandoned by everyone)
He is forced to leave his beloved because... poor Unnecessarily, he sets off on his journey.
The theme of loneliness in the cycle is presented in many shades: from lyrical changes to philosophical reflections.
The difference from “Pr Mel” is also that there is no plot here. The songs are united by a tragic theme.
The complexity of the images - the emphasis on the internal psychological side of life, caused the muses to become more complex. Language :
1) The 3-part form is dramatized (i.e., variational changes in each part appear in it, the expanded middle part and the reprise change compared to the 1st part.
2) The melody is enriched with declamatory and speech patterns (text for chant)
3) Harmony (sudden modulations, non-tertian chord structure, complex chord combinations)
There are 24 songs in the cycle: 2 parts of 12 songs each.
In section 2 (13-24) the tragic theme is presented more clearly, and the theme of loneliness is replaced by the theme of death.
First song of the cycle "Sleep well", just like “On the Road” serves as an introduction - this is a sad story about past hopes and love. Her tune is simple and sad. The melody is inactive. And only the rhythm and piano accompaniment convey the measured, monotonous movement of a lonely man wandering. His non-stop pace. The melody represents movement from the top of the source (katabasis - downward movement) - sorrow, suffering. 4 verses are separated from each other by passages with arresting intonations - exacerbation of drama.
In the subsequent songs of section 1, Schubert is increasingly inclined to minor, to the use of dissonant and altered chords. The conclusion of all this: Beautiful is just an illusion of dreams - a typical mood of the composer in the last years of his life.
In section 2, the theme of loneliness is replaced by the theme of death. The tragic mood is growing more and more.
Schubert even introduces the image of a harbinger of death No. 15 "Raven", with a prevailing gloomy mood. The sad introduction, full of aching melancholy, depicts non-stop movement and measured flapping of wings. A black raven in the snowy heights pursues its future victim - a traveler. Raven is patient and unhurried. He is waiting for prey. And he will wait for her.
Last song #24 "Organ grinder." She completes the cycle. And it’s completely different from the other twenty-three. They painted the world as it seemed to the hero. This one depicts life as it is. In "The Organ Grinder" there is neither the excited tragedy, nor the romantic excitement, nor the bitter irony inherent in the other songs. This is a realistic picture of life, sad and touching, instantly captured and aptly captured. Everything about it is simple and unpretentious.
The composer here personifies himself with the disadvantaged poor musician presented in the song, the cat is built on the alternation of vocal phrases and instrumental passages. The tonic organ point depicts the sound of a barrel organ or bagpipes; monotonous repetitions create a mood of melancholy and loneliness.
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 “Beloved. In all these works one can see remarkable melodic talent and a wide variety of moods; greater importance of accompaniment, high artistic meaning. Having discovered Müller's lyrics, which tell of the wanderings, sufferings, hopes and disappointments of a lonely romantic soul, Schubert created vocal cycles - essentially the first large series of monologue songs in history, connected by a single plot.
A wonderful star in the famous galaxy that the Austrian land, fertile in musical geniuses, gave birth to - Franz Schubert. An eternally young romantic who suffered a lot on his short journey in life, who managed to express all his deep feelings in music and taught listeners to love such “not ideal”, “not exemplary” (classical) music, full of mental torment. One of the brightest founders of musical romanticism.
Read a short biography of Franz Schubert and many interesting facts about the composer on our page.
Brief biography of Schubert
The biography of Franz Schubert is one of the shortest in world musical culture. Having lived only 31 years, he left behind a bright trail, similar to what remains after a comet. Born to become another Viennese classic, Schubert, due to the suffering and hardship he endured, brought deep personal experiences to his music. This is how romanticism was born. Strict classical rules, recognizing only exemplary restraint, symmetry and calm consonances, were replaced by protest, explosive rhythms, expressive melodies full of genuine feelings, and intense harmonies.
He was born in 1797 into a poor family of a schoolteacher. His fate was predetermined - to continue his father’s craft; neither fame nor success was expected here. However, at an early age he showed high abilities for music. Having received his first music lessons in his home, he continued his studies at a parish school, and then at the Vienna Konvikt - a closed boarding school for singers at the church.The order in the educational institution was similar to that in the army - students had to rehearse for hours and then perform concerts. Later, Franz recalled with horror the years he spent there; he became disillusioned with church dogma for a long time, although he turned to the spiritual genre in his work (he wrote 6 masses). Famous " Ave Maria", without which not a single Christmas is complete, and which is most often associated with the beautiful image of the Virgin Mary, was actually conceived by Schubert as a romantic ballad based on the poems of Walter Scott (translated into German).
He was a very talented student, teachers refused him with the words: “God taught him, I have nothing to do with him.” From Schubert's biography we learn that his first compositional experiments began at the age of 13, and from the age of 15 maestro Antonio Salieri himself began to study counterpoint and composition with him.
He was expelled from the choir of the Court Chapel (“Hofsengecnabe”) after his voice began to break . During this period, it was time to decide on the choice of profession. My father insisted on entering a teachers' seminary. The prospects for working as a musician were very vague, and working as a teacher one could at least be confident in the future. Franz gave in, studied and even managed to work at school for 4 years.
But all the activities and structure of life then did not correspond to the spiritual impulses of the young man - all his thoughts were only about music. He composed in his free time and played a lot of music with a small circle of friends. And one day I decided to leave my regular job and devote myself to music. It was a serious step - to refuse a guaranteed, albeit modest, income and doom yourself to hunger.
The first love coincided with this same moment. The feeling was reciprocal - young Teresa Grob was clearly expecting a marriage proposal, but it never came. Franz's income was not enough for his own existence, not to mention the maintenance of his family. He remained alone, his musical career never developed. Unlike virtuoso pianists Liszt And Chopin, Schubert did not have bright performing skills, and could not gain fame as a performer. The position of bandmaster in Laibach, which he was counting on, was denied to him, and he never received any other serious offers.
Publishing his works brought him virtually no money. Publishers were very reluctant to publish works by a little-known composer. As they would say now, it was not “promoted” for the masses. Sometimes he was invited to perform in small salons, whose members felt more bohemian than truly interested in his music. Schubert's small circle of friends supported the young composer financially.
But by and large, Schubert almost never performed for large audiences. He never heard applause after any successful ending to a work; he did not feel which of his compositional “techniques” the audience most often responded to. He did not consolidate his success in subsequent works - after all, he did not need to think about how to reassemble a large concert hall, so that tickets would be bought, so that he himself would be remembered, etc.
In fact, all his music is an endless monologue with the subtlest reflection of a man mature beyond his years. There is no dialogue with the public, no attempt to please and impress. It's all very intimate, even intimate in a sense. And filled with endless sincerity of feelings. Deep experiences of his earthly loneliness, deprivation, and the bitterness of defeat filled his thoughts every day. And, finding no other way out, they poured out into creativity.
After meeting the opera and chamber singer Johann Michael Vogl, things went a little better. The artist performed Schubert's songs and ballads in Viennese salons, and Franz himself acted as an accompanist. Performed by Vogl, Schubert's songs and romances quickly gained popularity. In 1825, they undertook a joint tour of upper Austria. In provincial cities they were greeted willingly and with delight, but they were unable to earn money again. How to become famous.
Already in the early 1820s, Franz began to worry about his health. It is reliably known that he contracted the disease after a visit to a woman, and this added disappointment to this side of his life. After minor improvements, the disease progressed and the immune system weakened. Even common colds were difficult for him to bear. And in the fall of 1828, he fell ill with typhoid fever, from which he died on November 19, 1828.
Unlike Mozart, Schubert was buried in a separate grave. True, such a magnificent funeral had to be paid for with money from the sale of his piano, bought after his only big concert. Recognition came to him posthumously, and much later - several decades later. The fact is that the bulk of the works in musical form were kept by friends, relatives, or in some closets as unnecessary. Known for his forgetfulness, Schubert never kept a catalog of his works (like Mozart), nor did he try to somehow systematize them or at least keep them in one place.
Most of the handwritten music material was found by George Grove and Arthur Sullivan in 1867. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Schubert's music was performed by important musicians, and composers such as Berlioz, Bruckner, Dvorak, Britten, Strauss recognized the absolute influence of Schubert on their work. Under the direction of Brahms in 1897 the first scientifically verified edition of all of Schubert's works was published.
Interesting facts about Franz Schubert
- It is known for certain that almost all existing portraits of the composer greatly flattered him. For example, he never wore white collars. And a direct, purposeful look was not at all characteristic of him - even his close, adoring friends called Schubert Schwamal (“schwam” - in German “sponge”), meaning his gentle character.
- Many contemporaries have preserved memories of the composer’s unique absent-mindedness and forgetfulness. Scraps of music paper with sketches of compositions could be found anywhere. They even say that one day, having seen the notes of a piece, he immediately sat down and played it. “What a lovely little thing! – exclaimed Franz, “whose is she?” It turned out that the play was written by him himself. And the manuscript of the famous Great C Major Symphony was accidentally discovered 10 years after his death.
- Schubert wrote about 600 vocal works, two thirds of which were written before he was 19 years old, and in total the number of his works exceeds 1000; it is impossible to establish this with certainty, since some of them remained unfinished sketches, and some were probably lost forever.
- Schubert wrote many orchestral works, but he never heard any of them performed publicly in his entire life. Some researchers ironically believe that perhaps this is why they immediately recognize that the author is an orchestral violist. According to Schubert's biography, in the court choir the composer studied not only singing, but also playing the viola, and performed the same part in the student orchestra. It is precisely this that is written most clearly and expressively in his symphonies, masses and other instrumental works, with a large number of technically and rhythmically complex figures.
- Few people know that for most of his life, Schubert didn’t even have a piano at home! He composed on guitar! And in some works this can also be clearly heard in the accompaniment. For example, in the same “Ave Maria” or “Serenade”.
- His shyness was legendary. He didn't just live at the same time as Beethoven, whom he idolized, not just in the same city - they lived literally on neighboring streets, but never met! The two greatest pillars of European musical culture, brought together by fate itself into one geographical and historical marker, missed each other by irony of fate or because of the timidity of one of them.
- However, after death, people united the memory of them: Schubert was buried next to Beethoven’s grave at the Wehring cemetery, and later both burials were moved to the Central Vienna Cemetery.
- But even here an insidious grimace of fate appeared. In 1828, on the anniversary of Beethoven's death, Schubert organized an evening in memory of the great composer. That was the only time in his life when he went into a huge hall and performed his music dedicated to his idol for listeners. For the first time he heard applause - the audience rejoiced, shouting “a new Beethoven is born!” For the first time, he earned a lot of money - it was enough to buy (the first in his life) a piano. He was already imagining future success and fame, popular love... But just a few months later he fell ill and died... And the piano had to be sold to provide him with a separate grave.
The works of Franz Schubert
Schubert's biography says that for his contemporaries he remained in memory as the author of songs and lyrical piano pieces. Even those closest to him had no idea of the scale of his creative work. And in the search for genres and artistic images, Schubert’s work is comparable to the heritage Mozart. He mastered vocal music superbly - he wrote 10 operas, 6 masses, several cantata-oratorio works. Some researchers, including the famous Soviet musicologist Boris Asafiev, believed that Schubert’s contribution to the development of song was as significant as Beethoven’s contribution to the development symphonies.
Many researchers consider vocal cycles to be the heart of his work “ Beautiful miller's wife"(1823), " Swan song " And " winter journey"(1827). Consisting of different song numbers, both cycles are united by a common semantic content. The hopes and sufferings of a lonely person, which became the lyrical center of the romances, are largely autobiographical. In particular, songs from the “Winter Reise” cycle, written a year before his death, when Schubert was already seriously ill, and felt his earthly existence through the prism of the cold and the hardships he had endured. The image of the organ grinder from the final number, “The Organ Grinder,” allegorizes the monotony and futility of the efforts of a traveling musician.
In instrumental music, he also covered all the genres existing at that time - he wrote 9 symphonies, 16 piano sonatas, and many works for ensemble performance. But in instrumental music there is a clearly audible connection with the beginning of the song - most themes have a pronounced melody and lyrical character. In his lyrical themes he is similar to Mozart. Melodic emphasis also predominates in the design and development of musical material. Taking from the Viennese classics the best understanding of musical form, Schubert filled it with new content.
If Beethoven, who lived at the same time, literally on the next street, had a heroic, pathetic style of music that reflected social phenomena and the mood of an entire people, then for Schubert music is a personal experience of the gap between the ideal and the real.
His works were almost never performed; most often he wrote “on the table” - for himself and those very faithful friends who surrounded him. They gathered in the evenings at the so-called “Schubertiads” and enjoyed music and communication. This had a noticeable effect on all of Schubert’s work - he did not know his audience, he did not strive to please a certain majority, he did not think about how to amaze the listeners who came to the concert.
He wrote for friends who loved and understood his inner world. They treated him with great respect and respect. And this whole intimate, spiritual atmosphere is characteristic of his lyrical compositions. It is all the more surprising to realize that most of the works were written without the hope of being heard. It was as if he was completely devoid of ambition and ambition. Some incomprehensible force forced him to create without creating positive reinforcement, without offering anything in return except the friendly participation of loved ones.
Franz Schubert was born in 1797, on the outskirts of Vienna, in the family of a school teacher.
The boy's musical abilities proved too early, and already in early childhood, with the help of his father and older brother, he learned to play the piano and violin.
Thanks to the kind voice of eleven-year-old Franz, he was able to get accepted into a closed music school that served the court church. A five-year stay there gave Schubert the basics of general and musical education. Already at school, Schubert created a lot, and his abilities were noticed by outstanding musicians.
But life in this school was a burden for Schubert due to a half-starved existence and the inability to devote himself entirely to writing music. In 1813, he left school and returned home, but it was impossible to live on his father’s means, and soon Schubert took the position of teacher, his father’s assistant at the school.
With difficulties, after working at the school for three years, he left it, and this led Schubert to break with his father. The father was against his son leaving the service and taking up music, because the profession of a musician at that time did not provide either a proper position in society or material well-being. But until then, Schubert’s talent turned out to be so bright that he could not do anything other than musical creativity.
When he was 16-17 years old, he wrote his first symphony, and then such wonderful songs as “Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel” and “The Forest King” based on Goethe’s text. During his years as a teacher (1814-1817), he wrote a lot of chamber and instrumental music and about three hundred songs.
After breaking up with his father, Schubert moved to Vienna. He lived there in great need, did not have his own corner, but took turns staying with his friends - Viennese poets, artists, musicians, often poor people like himself. His need sometimes reached the point that he could not afford to buy music paper, and he was forced to write down his works on scraps of newspapers, on table menus, etc. But such an existence had little effect on his mood, which was usually cheerful and cheerful.
In Schubert's work, “romance” combines fun, cheerfulness with melancholic-sad moods that sometimes occur. to darkly tragic hopelessness.
It was a time of political reaction, the inhabitants of Vienna tried to forget themselves and turn away from the gloomy mood caused by heavy political oppression, they had a lot of fun, had fun and danced.
A circle of young artists, writers, and musicians grouped around Schubert. During parties and out-of-town walks, he wrote a lot of waltzes, landlers and eco-sesuses. But these “schubertiadies” were not limited to just entertainment. In this circle, issues of socio-political life were passionately discussed, disappointment with the surrounding reality was expressed, protests and discontent against the then reactionary regime were heard, and feelings of anxiety and disappointment were brewing. Along with this, there were also strong optimistic views, a cheerful mood, and faith in the future. Schubert's entire life and creative path was filled with contradictions, which were so characteristic of romantic artists of that era.
With the exception of a minor period when Schubert reconciled with his father and lived with his family, the composer's life was very difficult. In addition to material needs, Schubert was suppressed by his position in society as a musician. His music was not known, it was not understood, and creativity was not encouraged.
Schubert created very quickly and a lot, but during his life almost nothing was published or performed.
Most of his works remained in manuscript and were discovered many years after his death. For example, one of the most popular and beloved symphonic works now - the "unfinished symphony" - was never performed during his lifetime and was first revealed 37 years after Schubert's death, as were many other works. However, his need to hear his own works was so great that he specially wrote male quartets based on spiritual texts, which his brother could perform with his singers in the church where he served as regent.