Schubert belongs to the first romantics (the dawn of romanticism). His music does not yet contain such condensed psychologism as more late romantics. This is a composer - lyricist. The basis of his music is inner experiences. Conveys love and many other feelings in music. In the last work the main theme is loneliness. He covered all genres of the time. He brought in a lot of new things. The lyrical nature of his music predetermined him main genre creativity - a song. He has over 600 songs. Songfulness influenced instrumental genre in two ways:
The use of song themes in instrumental music (the song “Wanderer” became the basis of a piano fantasy, the song “The Girl and Death” became the basis of the quartet).
Penetration of songfulness into other genres.
Schubert is the creator of a lyric-dramatic symphony (unfinished). The theme is song, the presentation is song (unfinished symphony: Part I - p.p., p.p.. Part II - p.p.), the principle of development is the form, like the verse, complete. This is especially noticeable in symphonies and sonatas. In addition to the lyrical song symphony, he also created an epic symphony (C major). He is the creator of a new genre - the vocal ballad. Creator of romantic miniatures (impromptu and musical moments). Created vocal cycles (Beethoven had an approach to this).
The creativity is enormous: 16 operas, 22 piano sonatas, 22 quartets, other ensembles, 9 symphonies, 9 overtures, 8 impromptu, 6 musical moments; music related to everyday music playing - waltzes, lenglers, marches, more than 600 songs.
Life path.
Born in 1797 on the outskirts of Vienna - in the city of Lichtenthal. Father is a school teacher. The large family, they were all musicians, they played music. Franz's father taught him to play the violin, and his brother taught him the piano. A familiar regent for singing and theory.
1808-1813
Years of study in Konvikt. This is a boarding school that trained court singers. There, Schubert played the violin, played in the orchestra, sang in the choir, and participated in chamber ensembles. There he learned a lot of music - the symphonies of Haydn, Mozart, the 1st and 2nd symphonies of Beethoven. Favorite work is Mozart's 40th Symphony. In Konvikt he became interested in creativity, so he abandoned other subjects. In Konvikta he took lessons from Salieri from 1812, but their views were different. In 1816 their paths diverged. In 1813, he left Konvikt because his studies interfered with his creativity. During this period, he wrote songs, a fantasy for 4 hands, the 1st symphony, wind works, quartets, operas, and piano works.
1813-1817
He wrote his first song masterpieces (“Margarita at the Spinning Wheel,” “The Forest Tsar,” “Trout,” “Wanderer”), 4 symphonies, 5 operas, and a lot of instrumental and chamber music. After Konvikt, Schubert, at the insistence of his father, completed teaching courses and taught arithmetic and the alphabet at his father’s school.
In 1816 he left school and tried to get a position as a music teacher, but failed. The connection with my father was severed. A period of disaster began: I lived in a damp room, etc.
In 1815 he wrote 144 songs, 2 symphonies, 2 masses, 4 operas, 2 piano sonatas, string quartets and other works.
Fell in love with Teresa Grob. She sang in the choir at the Lichtenthal Church. Her father married her to a baker. Schubert had a lot of friends - poets, writers, artists, etc. His friend Spout wrote about Schubert Goethe. Goethe did not answer. He had a very bad character. He didn't like Beethoven. In 1817, Schubert met the famous singer Johann Vogl, who became a fan of Schubert. In 1819 he made a concert tour of upper Austria. In 1818, Schubert lived with his friends. For several months he served as a home teacher for Prince Esterhazy. There he wrote a Hungarian divertimento for piano 4 hands. Among his friends were: Spaun (who wrote memoirs about Schubert), the poet Mayrhofer, the poet Schober (Schubert wrote the opera “Alphonse and Estrella” based on his text).
There were often meetings of Schubert's friends - the Schubertiades. Vogl was often present at these Schubertiades. Thanks to the Schubertiades, his songs began to spread. Sometimes his individual songs were performed at concerts, but operas were never staged and symphonies were never played. Schubert was published very little. The first edition of the songs was published in 1821, funded by admirers and friends.
Early 20s.
The dawn of creativity - 22-23. At this time he wrote the cycle “The Beautiful Miller's Wife”, a cycle of piano miniatures, musical moments, and the fantasy “The Wanderer”. Household side Schubert continued to be difficult, but he did not lose hope. In the mid-20s, his circle broke up.
1826-1828
Last years. His hard life reflected in his music. This music has a dark, heavy character, the style changes. IN
songs appear more declamatory. Less roundness. The harmonic basis (dissonances) becomes more complex. Songs based on Heine's poems. Quartet in D minor. At this time, a symphony in C major was written. During these years, Schubert once again applied for the position of court conductor. In 1828, recognition of Schubert's talent finally began. His author's concert took place. He died in November. He was buried in the same cemetery as Beethoven.
Schubert's songwriting
600 songs, collection of late songs, collection of late songs. The choice of poets is important. I started with the work of Goethe. He ended with a tragic song on Heine. Wrote for Schiller “Relshtab”.
Genre – vocal ballad: “The Forest King”, “Grave Fantasy”, “To the Father of the Murderer”, “Agaria’s Complaint”. The genre of the monologue is “Margarita at the Spinning Wheel.” Genre of the folk song “Rose” by Goethe. Song-aria – “Ave Maria”. The genre of the serenade is “Serenade” (Relshtab serenade).
In his melodies he relied on the intonation of an Austrian folk song. The music is clear and sincere.
The connection between music and text. Schubert conveys the general content of the verse. The melodies are broad, generalized, and flexible. Some of the music notes the details of the text, then more recitativeness appears in the performance, which later becomes the basis of Schubert’s melodic style.
For the first time in music, the piano part acquired such a meaning: not an accompaniment, but a carrier of a musical image. Expresses an emotional state. Musical moments arise. “Margarita at the Spinning Wheel”, “The Forest King”, “The Beautiful Miller’s Wife”.
Goethe's ballad “The Forest King” is structured as a dramatic refrain. Pursues several goals: dramatic action, expression of feelings, narration, author's voice (narration).
Vocal cycle “The Beautiful Miller's Wife”
1823. 20 songs based on poems by W. Müller. Cycle with sonata development. The main theme is love. In the cycle there is a hero (miller), episodic hero(hunter), main role (stream). Depending on the state of the hero, the stream gurgles either joyfully, lively, or violently, expressing the pain of the miller. The 1st and 20th songs sound on behalf of the stream. This unifies the cycle. The last songs reflect peace, enlightenment in death. The overall mood of the cycle is still bright. The intonation structure is close to everyday Austrian songs. Wide in intonation of chants and sounds of chords. In the vocal cycle there is a lot of songfulness, chanting and little recitativeness. The melodies are broad and generalized. Mostly the song forms are verses or simple 2 and 3 parts.
1st song - "Let's hit the road". B-dur, cheerful. This song is on behalf of the stream. He is always depicted in the piano part. Exact couplet form. The music is close to Austrian folk songs.
2nd song - "Where". The miller sings, G major. The piano has the gentle murmur of a stream. The intonations are wide, sing-song, close to Austrian melodies.
6th song - “Curiosity.” This song features quieter, more subtle lyrics. More detailed. H-dur. The form is more complex - a non-repudiated 2-part form.
Part 1 – “Neither stars nor flowers.”
The 2nd part is larger than the 1st. Simple 3-part form. Appeal to the stream - 1st section of the 2nd part. The murmur of the stream appears again. This is where major-minor comes into play. This is typical of Schubert. In the middle of the 2nd movement the melody becomes recitative. An unexpected twist in G major. In the reprise of the 2nd section, major-minor appears again.
Song form diagram
A - C
CBC
11 song - "My". There is a gradual increase in lyrical joyful feeling in it. It is close to Austrian folk songs.
12-14 songs express complete happiness. A turning point in development occurs in song No. 14 (Hunter) – c-moll. The fold is reminiscent of hunting music (6\8, parallel sixth chords). Further (in the following songs) there is an increase in sadness. This is reflected in the piano part.
15 song - “Jealousy and pride.” Reflects despair, confusion (g-moll). 3-part form. The vocal part becomes more declamatory.
16 song - "Favorite color". h-moll. This is the mournful culmination of the entire cycle. The music has rigidity (astinate rhythm), constant repetition of F#, sharp arrests. The comparison between h-moll and H-dur is typical. Words: “Into the green coolness...”. For the first time in the cycle, the text contains a memory of death. Further it will permeate the entire cycle. Verse form.
Gradually, towards the end of the cycle, a sad enlightenment occurs.
19 song - “The Miller and the Stream.” g-moll. 3-part form. It's like a conversation between a miller and a stream. The middle is in G major. The babbling stream near the piano appears again. Reprise - the miller sings again, again in G-moll, but the murmur of the stream remains. At the end, enlightenment is G-major.
20 song - “Lullaby of the stream.” The stream calms the miller at the bottom of the stream. E-dur. This is one of Schubert’s favorite keys (“Lip’s Song” in “Winter Reise”, 2nd movement of the unfinished symphony). Verse form. The words: “Sleep, sleep” from the face of the stream.
Vocal cycle “Winter Way”
Written in 1827. 24 songs. Just like “The Beautiful Miller's Wife”, to the words of W. Müller. Despite being 4 years apart, they are strikingly different from each other. The 1st cycle is light in music, but this one is tragic, reflecting the despair that gripped Schubert.
The theme is similar to the 1st cycle (also the theme of love). The action in the 1st song is much less. The hero leaves the city where his girlfriend lives. His parents leave him and he (in winter) leaves the city. The rest of the songs are lyrical confessions. Predominance of minor key. The songs are tragic. The style is completely different. If we compare the vocal parts, the melodies of the 1st cycle are more generalized, reveal the general content of the poems, are broad, close to Austrian folk songs, and in “Winter Reise” the vocal part is more declamatory, there is no songfulness, much less close to folk songs, and becomes more individualized.
The piano part is complicated by sharp dissonances, transitions to distant keys, and enharmonic modulations.
The forms are also becoming more complex. The forms are saturated with end-to-end development. For example, if it is a verse form, then the verse varies; if it is a 3-part form, then the reprises are greatly changed and dynamized (“By the Stream”).
There are few songs in major keys, and even minor keys penetrate into them. These bright islands: “Linden Tree”, “Spring Dream” (the culmination of the cycle, No. 11) - romantic content and harsh reality are concentrated here. Section 3 – laughing at yourself and your feelings.
1 song – “Sleep well” d-moll. The measured rhythm of July. “I came by someone else’s path, I will leave by someone else’s.” The song begins with a high climax. Verse-variation. These couplets vary. 2nd verse – d-moll – “I can’t hesitate any longer.” Verse 3-1 – “No more waiting here.” 4th verse – D-dur – “Why disturb peace.” Major, as a memory of a beloved. Already inside the verse the minor returns. The end is in a minor key.
3rd song – “Frozen Tears” (f-moll). Depressing, heavy mood - “Tears stream from the eyes and freeze on the cheeks.” The melody has a very noticeable increase in recitativeness - “Oh, these tears.” Tonal deviations, complicated harmonic composition. 2-part form of end-to-end development. There is no reprise as such.
4th song – “Daze”, c-moll. A very broadly developed song. Dramatic, desperate character. “I am looking for her traces.” Complex 3-part form. The extreme parts consist of 2 topics. 2nd topic in g-moll. “I want to fall to the ground.” Interrupted cadences prolong development. Middle part. Enlightened As-dur. “Oh, where are the flowers of old?” Reprise – 1st and 2nd theme.
5th song - "Linden". E-dur. E-moll creeps into the song. Verse-variation form. The piano part depicts the rustling of leaves. Verse 1 – “There is a linden tree at the entrance to the city.” Calm, peaceful melody. There are very important piano parts in this song. They are figurative and expressive in nature. The 2nd verse is already in e-moll. “And hasten on a long journey.” A new theme appears in the piano part, the theme of wanderings with triplets. In the 2nd half of the 2nd verse a major key appears. “The branches began to rustle.” The piano fragment depicts gusts of wind. Against this background, a dramatic recitative sounds between the 2nd and 3rd verses. “Wall, cold wind.” 3rd verse. “Now I am already wandering far away in a foreign country.” The features of the 1st and 2nd verses are combined. The piano part contains the theme of wanderings from the 2nd verse.
7th song - “By the stream.” An example of end-to-end dramatic development of form. It is based on a 3-part form with strong dynamization. E-moll. The music is frozen and sad. “Oh my stormy stream.” The composer strictly follows the text, modulations occur in cis-minor on the word “now”. Middle part. “On ice I’m like a sharp stone.” E-dur (talking about the beloved). There is a rhythmic revival. Acceleration of pulsation. Sixteenth note triplets appear. “I will leave the happiness of the first meeting here on the ice.” The reprise has been greatly modified. Strongly expanded - in 2 hands. The theme goes into the piano part. And in the vocal part there is a recitative “In a frozen stream I recognize myself.” Rhythmic changes appear further. 32nd durations appear. The dramatic climax towards the end of the play. Many deviations – e-moll, G-dur, dis-moll, gis-moll – fis-moll – g-moll.
11 song - “Spring Dream”. Semantic culmination. A major. Light. It seems to have 3 spheres:
memories, dream
sudden awakening
mockery of your dreams.
1st section. Waltz. Words: “I dreamed of a cheerful meadow.”
2nd section. Sharp contrast (e-moll). Words: “The rooster crowed suddenly.” The rooster and raven are a symbol of death. This song features a rooster and song #15 features a raven. A characteristic comparison of tonalities is e-moll – d-moll – g-moll – a-moll. The harmony of the second low stage sounds sharply at the tonic organ point. Sharp intonations (there are nones).
3rd section. Words: “But who decorated all my windows with flowers?” A minor dominant appears.
Verse form. 2 verses, each consisting of these 3 contrasting sections.
14 song - “Gray hairs.” Tragic character. C minor. A wave of hidden drama. Dissonant harmonies. There are similarities with the 1st song (“Sleep well”), but in a distorted, aggravated version. Words: “I decorated my forehead with frost...”.
15 song - "Crow". C minor. Tragic enlightenment due to
for figurations in triplets. Words: “The black raven set off on a long journey after me.” 3-part form. Middle part. Words: “Raven, strange black friend.” The melody is declamatory. Reprise. After it comes a piano conclusion in a low register.
20 song - “Waypost”. The rhythm of the step appears. Words: “Why did it become difficult for me to walk along the main roads?” Distant modulations – g-moll – b-moll – f-moll. Verse-variation form. Comparison of major and minor. 2nd verse – G major. 3rd verse – g minor. The code is important. The song conveys frozenness, numbness, the spirit of death. This manifests itself in the vocal line (constant repetition of one sound). Words: “I see a pillar - one of many...”. Distant modulations – g-moll – b-moll – cis-moll – g-moll.
24 song - “Organ grinder.” Very simple and deeply tragic. A minor. The hero meets the unfortunate organ grinder and invites him to endure grief together. The entire song is on the fifth tonic organ point. The quints represent a barrel organ. Words: “Here the organ grinder stands sadly outside the village.” Constant repetition of phrases. Verse form. 2 verses. There is a dramatic climax at the end. Dramatic recitative. It ends with the question: “Do you want us to endure grief together, do you want us to sing together with a barrel organ?” There are diminished seventh chords on the tonic organ point.
Symphonic creativity
Schubert wrote 9 symphonies. During his lifetime, not one of them was fulfilled. He is the founder of the lyric-romantic symphony (unfinished symphony) and the lyric-epic symphony (No. 9 - C major).
Unfinished Symphony
Written in 1822 h minor. Written at the time of creative dawn. Lyrical-dramatic. First time personal lyrical theme became the basis for the symphony. Songliness pervades it. It permeates the entire symphony. It manifests itself in the character and presentation of themes - melody and accompaniment (as in a song), in form - a complete form (like a verse), in development - it is variational, the proximity of the sound of the melody to the voice. The symphony has 2 movements – H minor and E major. Schubert started writing the 3rd part, but gave up. It is characteristic that before this he had already written 2 piano 2-movement sonatas - Fis-dur and e-moll. In the era of romanticism, as a result of free lyrical expression, the structure of the symphony changes (a different number of parts). Liszt tends to compress the symphonic cycle (Faust Symphony in 3 movements, Dont's Symphony in 2 movements). Liszt created a one-movement symphonic poem. Berlioz has an expansion of the symphonic cycle (Symphony Fantastique - 5 parts, Symphony “Romeo and Juliet” - 7 parts). This happens under the influence of software.
Romantic features are manifested not only in song and 2 parts, but also in tonal relationships. This is not a classic ratio. Schubert takes care of the colorful tonal relationship (G.P. - h-moll, P.P. - G-dur, and in the reprise of P.P. - in D-dur). The tertian ratio of tonalities is typical for romantics. In Part II of G.P. – E-dur, P.P. – cis-moll, and in the reprise P.P. – a-moll. Here, too, there is a tertiary tonal ratio. A romantic feature is also the variation of themes - not the fragmentation of themes into motives, but the variation of the whole theme. The symphony ends in E major, and it itself ends in B minor (this is also typical for romantics).
Part I – h-moll. The theme of the introduction is like a romantic question. It's in lower case.
G.P. – h-moll. A typical song with melody and accompaniment. Clarinet and oboe perform as soloists, and strings accompany. The form, like that of the verse, is complete.
P.P. – not contrasting. She is also a song, but she is also a dance. The theme goes to the cello. Dotted rhythm, syncopation. Rhythm is, as it were, a connection between the parts (because it is also in P.P. in the second part). In it there is a dramatic change in the middle, it is sharp in the fall (transition to c-moll). At this turning point, the GP theme intrudes. This is a classic feature.
Z.P. – built on the theme of P.P.. G-major. Canonical implementation of the theme in different instruments.
The exposition is repeated - like the classics.
Development. On the verge of exposition and development, the theme of the introduction arises. Here it is in e-mall. The development involves the introduction theme (but dramatized) and the syncopated rhythm from P.P.’s accompaniment. The role of polyphonic techniques is enormous here. There are 2 sections in development:
1st section. Introduction topic to e-moll. The ending has been changed. The theme comes to a climax. Enharmonic modulation from h-moll to cis-moll. Next comes the syncopated rhythm from P.P.. Tonal plan: cis-moll – d-moll – e-moll.
2nd section. This is a converted intro theme. It sounds menacing and commanding. E-moll, then h-moll. The theme is first in the brass, and then runs through the canon in all voices. A dramatic climax, built on the theme of the opening canon and on the syncopated rhythm of P.P.. Next to it is a major climax - D-dur. Before the reprise there is a roll call of woodwinds.
Reprise. G.P. – h-moll. P.P. – D-dur. In P.P. again there is a turning point in development. Z.P. – H-dur. Cross calls between different instruments. Canonical performance of P.P.. On the verge of reprise and coda, the introduction theme sounds in the same key as at the beginning - in B minor. All code is built on it. The theme sounds canonical and very mournful.
Part II. E-dur. Sonata form without development. There is landscape poetry here. In general, she is bright, but there are flashes of drama in her.
G.P.. Song. The theme is for the violins, and the bass is pizzicato (for the double basses). Colorful harmonic combinations – E-dur – e-moll – C-dur – G-dur. The theme has lullaby intonations. 3-part form. It (the form) is finished. The middle is dramatic. Reprise of G.P. abbreviated.
P.P.. The lyrics here are more personal. The theme is also a song. In it, just like in P.P. Part II, syncopated accompaniment. It connects these themes. Solo too romantic trait. Here the solo is first for the clarinet, then for the oboe. The tonalities are chosen very colorfully – cis-moll – fis-moll – D-dur – F-dur – d-moll – Cis-dur. 3-part form. The middle is variable. There is a reprise.
Reprise. E-dur. G.P. – 3-part. P.P. – a-moll.
Code. Here, all the topics in turn seem to dissolve. Elements of G.P. are heard.
Creative path. The role of everyday and folk music in the artistic formation of Schubert
Franz Schubert was born on January 31, 1797 in Lichtenthal, a suburb of Vienna, into a family school teacher. The democratic environment that surrounded him from childhood had a great influence on the future composer.
Schubert's introduction to art began with playing music at home, so characteristic of Austrian urban life. Apparently, from a young age, Schubert began to master the multinational musical folklore of Vienna.
In this city, on the border of east and west, north and south, the capital of a “patchwork” empire, many national cultures, including musical ones, mixed. Austrian, German, Italian, Slavic in several varieties (Ukrainian, Czech, Ruthenian, Croatian), Gypsy, Hungarian folklore sounded everywhere.
In Schubert's works, right up to the very last, there is a palpable kinship with the diverse national sources of everyday music in Vienna. Undoubtedly, the dominant current in his work is Austro-German. Being an Austrian composer, Schubert also took a lot from German musical culture. But against this background, the features of Slavic and Hungarian folklore appear especially steadily and clearly.
There was nothing professional in Schubert’s diverse musical education (he had already learned at home the basics of composition, choral art, playing the organ, clavier, and violin). In the era of emerging pop-virtuoso art, it remained patriarchal and somewhat old-fashioned. Indeed, the lack of virtuoso training on the piano was one of the reasons for Schubert’s alienation from the concert stage, which in the 19th century became the most powerful means of promoting new music, especially piano music. Subsequently, he had to overcome his shyness before large public appearances. However, the lack of concert experience also had its positive side: it was compensated by the purity and seriousness of the composer’s musical tastes.
Schubert's works are free from deliberate showiness, from the desire to please the tastes of the bourgeois public, who seek entertainment in art above all. It is characteristic that out of a total number of approximately one and a half thousand works, he created only two actual pop works (“Concertstück” for violin and orchestra and “Polonaise” for violin and orchestra).
Schumann, one of the first connoisseurs of the Viennese romantic, wrote that the latter “did not need to first overcome the virtuoso within himself.”
Schubert’s constant creative connection with the folk genres that were cultivated in his home environment is also significant. Schubert's main artistic genre is song - an art that exists among the people. Schubert draws his most innovative features from traditional folk music. Songs, a four-handed piano piece, arrangements of folk dances (waltzes, ländlers, minuets and others) - all this was of paramount importance in determining the creative image of the Viennese romantic. Throughout his life, the composer maintained a connection not just with the everyday music of Vienna, but with characteristic style Vienna suburbs
Five-year training in Konvikt *,
* Closed general educational institution, which was also a school for court singers.
from 1808 to 1813, significantly expanded the young man’s musical horizons and determined the nature of his ideological and artistic interests for many years.
At school, while playing in a student orchestra and conducting it, Schubert became acquainted with a number of outstanding works by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, which had a profound impact on the formation of his artistic tastes. Direct participation in the choir gave him excellent knowledge and feeling vocal culture, so important for his future work. In Konvikta, the composer’s intense creative activity began in 1810. And, besides, it was there, among the students, that Schubert found an environment close to him. Unlike Salieri, the official head of composition, who sought to educate his student in the traditions of the Italian opera seria, young people sympathized with Schubert’s quest and welcomed the tendency towards national democratic art in his works. In his songs and ballads, she felt the spirit of national poetry, the embodiment of the artistic ideals of the new generation.
In 1813, Schubert left Konvikt. Under strong family pressure, he agreed to become a teacher and, until the end of 1817, taught the alphabet and other elementary subjects at his father's school. This was the first and last service in the composer's life.
During the years associated with his pedagogical activity, creative talent Schubert turned around with amazing brilliance. Despite the complete lack of connections with the professional musical world, he composed songs, symphonies, quartets, sacred choral music, piano sonatas, operas and other works. Already during this period, the leading role of the song in his work was clearly identified. In 1815 alone, Schubert composed more than one hundred and forty romances. He wrote greedily, using every free minute, barely managing to put down on paper the thoughts that overwhelmed him. Almost without blemishes or changes, he created one finished work after another. The unique originality of each miniature, the poetic subtlety of their moods, the novelty and integrity of the style elevate these works above everything that was created in the song genre by Schubert's predecessors. In “Margarita at the Spinning Wheel”, “The Forest Tsar”, “The Wanderer”, “Trout”, “To Music” and many other songs of these years, the characteristic images and expressive techniques of romantic vocal lyrics have already been fully defined.
The position of a provincial teacher became unbearable for the composer. In 1818, there was a painful break with his father due to the fact that Schubert refused to serve. He began a new life, completely devoting himself to creativity.
These years were marked by severe, ongoing need. Schubert had no source of material income. His music, which gradually gained recognition among the democratic intelligentsia, was performed almost exclusively in private homes and mainly in the provinces, without attracting the attention of influential persons in the musical world of Vienna. This went on for ten years. Only on the eve of Schubert's death did publishers begin to buy small plays from him, and even then for a paltry fee. Without the funds to rent an apartment, the composer lived most of the time with his friends. The property left behind was valued at 63 florins.
Twice - in 1818 and 1824 - under the pressure of extreme need, Schubert briefly left for Hungary, as a music teacher in the family of Count Esterhazy. The relative prosperity and even the novelty of impressions that attracted the composer, especially musical ones, which left a tangible mark on his work, still did not atone for the gravity of the position of a “court servant” and spiritual loneliness.
And, however, nothing could paralyze his mental strength: neither the miserable level of existence, nor the illness that gradually destroyed his health. His path was a continuous creative ascent. In the 1920s, Schubert lived a particularly intense spiritual life. He moved among the advanced democratic intelligentsia*.
* The Schubert circle included J. von Spaun, F. Schober, the outstanding artist M. von Schwind, brothers A. and J. Hüttenbrevner, poet E. Meyerhofer, revolutionary poet I. Zenn, artists L. Kupelwieser in I. Telcher, student E. von Bauernfeld, famous singer I. Vogl and others. In recent years, the outstanding Austrian playwright and poet Franz Grillparzer joined him.
Public interests and issues of political struggle, the latest works of literature and art, and modern philosophical problems were the focus of attention of Schubert and his friends.
The composer was acutely aware of the oppressive atmosphere of Metternich's reaction, which especially thickened in the last years of his life. In 1820, Schubert's entire circle received official condemnation for revolutionary sentiments. Protest against the existing order is openly expressed in letters and other statements of the great musician.
“It’s just unfortunate how everything now ossifies in vulgar prose, and many people look at it indifferently and even feel quite good, calmly rolling through the mud into the abyss,” he wrote to a friend in 1825.
“...The wise and beneficent state structure made sure that the artist always remained a slave to every miserable tradesman,” says another letter.
Schubert's poem “Complaint to the People” (1824) has survived, according to the author, composed “in one of those dark moments when I especially acutely and painfully felt the futility and insignificance of life, characteristic of our time.” Here are the lines from this outpouring:
O youth of our days, you have rushed by!
The power of the people has been wasted,
And everything is bright less than a year from year,
And life goes along the path of futility.
It’s getting harder to live in suffering,
Although I still have some strength left.
Lost days that I hate,
Could serve a great purpose...
And only you, Art, are destined
Capture both action and time,
To moderate the sorrowful burden...** Translation by L. Ozerov
And in fact, Schubert gave all his unspent spiritual energy to art.
The high intellectual and spiritual maturity he achieved during these years was reflected in the new content of his music. Great philosophical depth and drama, a tendency towards large scales, towards generalizing instrumental thinking distinguish Schubert's work of the 20s from the music of the early period. Beethoven, who only a few years ago, during the period of Schubert's boundless admiration for Mozart, sometimes frightened young composer with its gigantic passions and harsh, unvarnished truthfulness, has now become for him the highest artistic standard. Beethovenian - in the sense of scale, great intellectual depth, dramatic interpretation of images and heroic tendencies - enriched the direct and emotional-lyrical character of Schubert's early music.
Already in the first half of the 20s, Schubert created instrumental masterpieces, which subsequently took their place among the most outstanding examples of world musical classics. In 1822, the “Unfinished Symphony” was written - the first symphonic work in which romantic images received their finished artistic expression.
IN early period new romantic themes - love lyrics, pictures of nature, folk fantasy, lyrical mood - were embodied by Schubert in his songwriting. His instrumental works of those years were still very dependent on classicist models. Now sonata genres became his spokesmen for a new world of ideas. Not only the “Unfinished Symphony”, but also three wonderful quartets, composed in the first half of the 20s (unfinished, 1820; A minor, 1824; D minor, 1824-1826), compete with his song in novelty, beauty and completeness style. The courage of the young composer, who, infinitely admiring Beethoven, followed his own path and created a new direction of romantic symphony, seems amazing. Equally independent during this period is his interpretation of chamber instrumental music, which no longer follows either the path of Haydn’s quartets, which previously served as his models, or the path of Beethoven, whose quartet in these same years turned into philosophical genre, significantly different in style from his democratic dramatized symphonies.
And in piano music during these years, Schubert created high artistic values. The fantasy “The Wanderer” (the same age as the “Unfinished Symphony”), German dances, waltzes, landlers, “Musical Moments” (1823-1827), “Impromptu” (1827), many piano sonatas can be assessed without exaggeration as a new stage in the history of musical literature . Free from schematic imitation of the classicist sonata, this piano music was distinguished by unprecedented lyrical and psychological expressiveness. Growing out of intimate improvisation, from everyday dance, it was based on new romantic artistic means. None of these creations were performed on the concert stage during Schubert's lifetime. Schubert's deep, restrained piano music, imbued with a subtle poetic mood, diverged too sharply from the pianistic style that was developing in those years - virtuoso-bravura, spectacular. Even the fantasy "The Wanderer" - Schubert's only virtuoso piano work - was so alien to these requirements that only Liszt's arrangement helped it achieve popularity on the concert stage.
In the choral sphere, the Mass As-dur (1822) appears - one of the most original and powerful works created in this ancient genre composers of the 19th century century. With the four-voice vocal ensemble “Song of the Spirits over the Waters” to the text by Goethe (1821), Schubert reveals completely unexpected colorful and expressive resources of choral music.
He even makes changes to the song - an area in which Schubert found a complete romantic form almost from the first steps. IN song cycle“The Beautiful Miller's Wife” (1823), based on texts by the poet Müller, conveys a more dramatic and in-depth perception of the world. In music based on poems by Rückert, Pirker, from Goethe's Wilhelm Meister and others, greater freedom of expression and a more perfect development of thought are noticeable.
“Words are constrained, but sounds, fortunately, are still free!” - Beethoven said about Metternich's Vienna. And in the work of recent years, Schubert expressed his attitude to the darkness of the life around him. In the D minor quartet (1824-1826), in the song cycle “Winterreise” (1827), in songs based on texts by Heine (1828), the tragic theme is embodied with striking force and novelty. Filled with passionate protest, Schubert's music of these years is at the same time distinguished by unprecedented psychological depth. And yet, not once in any of his later works did the composer’s tragic worldview turn into brokenness, unbelief, or neurasthenia. The tragic in Schubert's art reflects not powerlessness, but grief for man and faith in his high purpose. Speaking about spiritual loneliness, it also expresses an irreconcilable attitude towards gloomy modernity.
But along with the tragic theme, heroic-epic tendencies are clearly evident in Schubert’s art of recent years. It was then that he created his most life-affirming and bright music, imbued with the pathos of the people. The Ninth Symphony (1828), the string quartet (1828), the cantata “Miriam’s Victory Song” (1828) - these and other works speak of Schubert’s desire to capture in his art images of heroism, images of “the time of power and deeds.”
The composer's latest works revealed a new unexpected side of him. creative individuality. The lyricist and miniaturist began to become interested in monumental-epic paintings. Captivated by the new artistic horizons opening up to him, he thought of devoting himself entirely to large, generalizing genres.
“I don’t want to hear anything more about songs, I have now finally taken up operas and symphonies,” said Schubert at the end of his last, C major symphony, six months before the end of his life.
His enriched creative thought is reflected in new quests. Now Schubert turns not only to Viennese everyday folklore, but also to folk themes in a broader, Beethovenian sense. His interest in choral music, and to polyphony. In the last year of his life he composed four major choral works, including the outstanding Mass in Es major. But he combined grandiose scales with fine detailing, and Beethovenian drama with romantic images. Never before had Schubert achieved such versatility and depth of content as in his most recent creations. The composer, who had already composed more than a thousand works, stood in the year of his death on the threshold of new grandiose discoveries.
The end of Schubert's life was marked by two outstanding events, which occurred, however, with a fatal delay. In 1827, Beethoven highly appreciated several of Schubert's songs and expressed a desire to become acquainted with the works of the young author. But when Schubert, overcoming his shyness, came to the great musician, Beethoven was already lying on his deathbed.
Another event was Schubert's first author's evening in Vienna (in March 1828), which was a huge success. But a few months after this concert, which first attracted the attention of the wide musical community of the capital to the composer, he passed away. Schubert's death, which occurred on November 19, 1828, was hastened by prolonged nervous and physical exhaustion.
Franz Schubert is a famous Austrian composer. His life was quite short, he lived only 31 years, from 1797 to 1828. But during this short period he made a huge contribution to the development of world musical culture. You can verify this by studying the biography and work of Schubert. This outstanding composer is considered one of the most prominent founders of the romantic movement in musical art. Having familiarized yourself with the most important events in Schubert's biography, you can better understand his work.
Family
The biography of Franz Schubert begins on January 31, 1797. He was born into a poor family in Lichtenthal, a suburb of Vienna. His father, who came from a peasant family, was a school teacher. He was distinguished by his hard work and integrity. He raised his children, instilling in them that work is the basis of existence. Mother was the daughter of a mechanic. There were fourteen children in the family, but nine of them died in infancy.
Schubert's biography, in a very brief summary, demonstrates the important role of family in the development of a little musician. She was very musical. His father played the cello, and little Franz's brothers played other musical instruments. Often musical evenings were held in their house, and sometimes all the amateur musicians they knew would gather at them.
First music lessons
From the short biography of Franz Schubert it is known that the unique musical abilities appeared in him very early. Having discovered them, his father and older brother Ignatz began classes with him. Ignatz taught him to play the piano, and his father taught him the violin. After some time, the boy became a full-fledged member of the family string quartet, in which he confidently performed the viola part. It soon became clear that Franz needed more professional music studies. Therefore, musical lessons with the gifted boy were entrusted to the regent of the Lichtenthal Church, Michael Holzer. The teacher admired the extraordinary musical abilities of his student. In addition, Franz had a wonderful voice. By the age of eleven, he performed difficult solo parts in the church choir, and also played the violin part, including solo, in the church orchestra. The father was very pleased with his son's success.
Konvikt
When Franz was eleven years old, he took part in a competition to select singers for the imperial royal court singing chapel. Having successfully passed all the tests, Franz Schubert becomes a singer. He is enrolled in Konvikt, a free boarding school for gifted children from low-income families. Younger Schubert now has the opportunity to receive general and musical education for free, which becomes a benefit for his family. The boy lives in a boarding school and comes home only for the holidays.
Studying the short biography of Schubert, one can understand that the environment that developed in this educational institution contributed to the development of the musical abilities of the gifted boy. Here Franz daily practices singing, playing the violin and piano, and theoretical disciplines. The school organized a student orchestra, in which Schubert played first violin. The orchestra's conductor, Wenzel Ruzicka, noticing his student's extraordinary talent, often assigned him to perform the duties of conductor. The orchestra performed a wide variety of music. Thus, the future composer met orchestral music various genres. He was particularly impressed by the music of the Viennese classics: Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, as well as musical masterpieces Beethoven.
First compositions
While studying in convict, Franz began to compose. Schubert's biography states that he was thirteen years old at the time. He writes music with great passion, often to the detriment of school activities. Among his first compositions are a number of songs and a fantasy for piano. Demonstrating outstanding musical abilities, the boy attracted the attention of the famous court composer Antonio Salieri. He begins classes with Schubert, during which he teaches him counterpoint and composition. Teacher and student are connected not only by musical lessons, but also by warm relationships. These classes continued after Schubert left the convict.
Observing the rapid development of his son's musical talent, his father began to worry about his future. Understanding the hardship of existence for musicians, even the most famous and recognized ones, his father tries to protect Franz from such a fate. He dreamed of seeing his son become a school teacher. As a punishment for his excessive passion for music, he forbids his son to be at home on weekends and holidays. However, the bans did not help. Schubert Jr. could not give up music.
Leaving the convict
Having not completed his training in convict, Schubert, at the age of thirteen, decides to leave it. This was facilitated by a number of circumstances, which are described in the biography of F. Schubert. First, a voice mutation that no longer allowed Franz to sing in the choir. Secondly, his excessive passion for music left his interest in other sciences far behind. He was scheduled for a re-examination, but Schubert did not take advantage of this opportunity and left his training in convict.
Franz still had to return to school. In 1813 he entered the regular school of St. Anne, graduated from it and received a certificate of education.
Start of independent life
Schubert's biography tells that for the next four years he works as an assistant school teacher at the school where his father also works. Franz teaches children literacy and other subjects. The wages were extremely low, which forced the young Schubert to constantly seek additional income in the form of private lessons. Thus, he has practically no time left to compose music. But the passion for music does not go away. It's only getting stronger. Franz received enormous help and support from his friends, who organized concerts and useful contacts for him, and supplied him with music paper, which he always lacked.
During this period (1814-1816) his famous songs“The Forest King” and “Margarita at the Spinning Wheel” to the words of Goethe, over 250 songs, singspiels, 3 symphonies and many other works.
The composer's imaginative world
Franz Schubert is a romantic in spirit. He placed the life of the soul and heart at the basis of all existence. His heroes are simple people with a rich inner world. The theme of social inequality appears in his work. The composer often draws attention to how unfair society is to an ordinary modest person who does not have material wealth, but is spiritually rich.
Nature in its various states becomes a favorite theme of Schubert’s chamber vocal work.
Meet Vogl
After getting acquainted (briefly) with Schubert’s biography, the most important event seems to be his acquaintance with the outstanding Viennese opera singer Johann Michael Vogl. It happened in 1817 through the efforts of the composer’s friends. This acquaintance was of great importance in the life of Franz. In him he acquired a devoted friend and performer of his songs. Subsequently, Vogl played a huge role in promoting the chamber and vocal creativity of the young composer.
"Schubertiades"
Over time, a circle of creative youth formed around Franz, consisting of poets, playwrights, artists, and composers. Schubert's biography mentions that meetings were often dedicated to his work. In such cases they were called "Schubertiads". Meetings were held in the home of one of the circle members or in the Vienna Crown coffee shop. All members of the circle were united by an interest in art, passion for music and poetry.
Trip to Hungary
The composer lived in Vienna, rarely leaving it. All the trips he made were related to concerts or teaching activities. Schubert's biography briefly mentions that during the summers of 1818 and 1824, Schubert lived on the estate of Count Esterhazy Zeliz. The composer was invited there to teach music to the young countesses.
Joint concerts
In 1819, 1823 and 1825, Schubert and Vogl traveled around Upper Austria and toured at the same time. Such joint concerts are a huge success among the public. Vogl strives to introduce listeners to the work of his composer friend, to make his works known and loved outside of Vienna. Gradually, Schubert's fame is growing; people talk about him more and more often not only in professional circles, but also among ordinary listeners.
First editions
Schubert's biography contains facts about the beginning of publications of the young composer's works. In 1921, thanks to the care of F. Schubert’s friends, “The Forest King” was published. After the first edition, other Schubert works began to be published. His music becomes famous not only in Austria, but also far beyond its borders. In 1825, songs, piano works and chamber opuses began to be performed in Russia.
Success or illusion?
Schubert's songs and piano works are gaining great popularity. His works were highly appreciated by Beethoven, the composer's idol. But, along with the fame that Schubert gains thanks to Vogl’s propaganda activities, disappointments remain. The composer's symphonies were never performed, operas and singspiels are practically never staged. To this day, 5 operas and 11 singspiels by Schubert are in oblivion. A similar fate befell many other works that are rarely performed in concerts.
Creative flourishing
In the 20s, Schubert appeared in the song cycles “The Beautiful Miller’s Wife” and “Winter Reise” to the words of W. Müller, chamber ensembles, sonatas for piano, fantasy “The Wanderer” for piano, as well as symphonies - “Unfinished” No. 8 and “ Big" No. 9.
In the spring of 1828, the composer's friends organized a concert of Schubert's works, which took place in the hall of the Society of Music Lovers. The composer used the money received from the concert to purchase the first piano of his life.
Death of the composer
In the autumn of 1828, Schubert unexpectedly became seriously ill. His torment lasted three weeks. On November 19, 18128, Franz Schubert passed away.
Only a year and a half has passed since Schubert took part in the funeral of his idol - the last Viennese classic L. Beethoven. Now he too was buried in this cemetery.
Having familiarized yourself with the summary of Schubert's biography, you can understand the meaning of the inscription that was carved on his tombstone. It tells that a rich treasure is buried in the grave, but even more wonderful hopes.
Songs are the basis of Schubert's creative heritage
When talking about the creative heritage of this wonderful composer, we usually always highlight his song genre. Schubert wrote a huge number of songs - about 600. This is no coincidence, since vocal miniature is becoming one of the most popular genres of romantic composers. It was here that Schubert was able to fully reveal the main theme of the romantic movement in art - the rich inner world of the hero with his feelings and experiences. The first song masterpieces were created by the young composer at the age of seventeen. Each of Schubert's songs is an inimitable artistic image, born from the fusion of music and poetry. The content of the songs is conveyed not only by the text, but also by the music, which exactly follows it, emphasizing the originality of the artistic image and creating a special emotional background.
In his chamber vocal work, Schubert used both texts famous poets Schiller and Goethe, as well as the poetry of his contemporaries, the names of many of whom became known thanks to the composer’s songs. In their poetry they reflected spiritual world, inherent in representatives of the romantic movement in art, which was close and understandable to the young Schubert. During the composer's lifetime, only a few of his songs were published.
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 greatest popularity.
Illness and death
1823 was marked by the election of Schubert as an honorary member of the musical unions in Linz and Styria. IN summary The musician's biography 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
- For a long time after the death of the musician, no one could put together all his manuscripts. Some of them were lost forever.
- One of the interesting facts is that most of his works began to be published only at the end of the 20th century. In terms of the number of works created, Schubert is often compared with
Beautiful star in famous galaxy that gave birth to the fertile musical geniuses Austrian land - Franz Schubert. An eternally young romantic, who suffered a lot in his short life, 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 the first music lessons in his native home, he continued his studies at the 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 sure of tomorrow. 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 the 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 music 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 Mikael 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 vividly 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 the immediate surroundings could not imagine the scale of it creative works. And in search of genres, artistic images Schubert's work is comparable to his 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. In development musical material the melodic accent also predominates. 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, the music had a heroic, pathetic cast, 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.
Schubert's music in cinema
Today there are a huge number of various arrangements of Schubert's music. This has been done by both academic composers and modern musicians using electronic instruments. Thanks to its refined and at the same time simple melody, this music quickly “falls on the ear” and is remembered. Most people have known it since childhood, and it causes a “recognition effect” that advertisers love to use.
It can be heard everywhere - at ceremonies, philharmonic concerts, at student tests, as well as in “light” genres - in cinema and on television as background accompaniment.
As a soundtrack to feature films, documentaries and television series:
- “Mozart in the Jungle” (t/s 2014-2016);
- “Secret Agent” (film 2016);
- “The Illusion of Love” (film 2016);
- “Hitman” (film 2016);
- “Legend” (film 2015);
- “Moon Scam” (film 2015);
- “Hannibal” (film 2014);
- “Supernatural” (t/s 2013);
- “Paganini: The Devil’s Violinist” (film 2013);
- “12 Years a Slave” (film 2013);
- “Minority Report” (t/s 2002);
- “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” (film 2011); "Trout"
- "Doctor House" (t/s 2011);
- “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (film 2009);
- “The Dark Knight” (film 2008);
- “Smallville” (t/s 2004);
- "Spider-Man" (film 2004);
- “Good Will Hunting” (film 1997);
- "Doctor Who" (t/s 1981);
- "Jane Eyre" (film 1934).
And countless others, it is not possible to list them all. Biographical films about Schubert's life have also been made. The most famous films are “Schubert. Song of Love and Despair" (1958), 1968 teleplay "Unfinished Symphony", "Schubert" / Schubert. Das Dreimäderlhaus/ Biographical feature film, 1958.
Schubert's music is understandable and close to the vast majority of people; the joys and sorrows expressed in it form the basis of human life. Even centuries after his life, this music is as relevant as ever and will probably never be forgotten.
Video: watch a film about Franz Schubert