Schubert
Symphonies, chamber music, operas, church music, and over 600 songs outline the magnificent yet short-lived career of Franz Peter Schubert. Born to immigrant parents on January 31, 1797, in Vienna (McKay 1), this son of a schoolmaster showed an extraordinary childhood aptitude for music studying the piano, violin, organ, and voice. At the age of seven, he began a course of regular music instruction. It soon became evident that he had anticipated and mastered the principles that his instructor proposed to teach him. At eleven years of age and gifted with a fine soprano voice, Schubert became employed as a solo singer and violinist for the choir at the local parish church (Boynick). Later he was elevated to chorister-boy at the Chapel Royal and, having acquired fair proficiency as a violin-player, became a member of the school orchestra where he executed the great Symphonies of Haydn, Mozart, and subsequently Beethoven's works. In 1810, Schubert wrote a grand fantasia for four hands - the so-called 'Corpse Fantasia'. This was followed in 1811 and 1813 by two other less ambitious fantasias. By early 1814, he had already written his first symphony and a three-act opera. Although family pressure dictated he teach in his fath
His family took them as meaning that he wished to be buried near Beethoven, the great musician and composer of all times for Schubert. er's school, Schubert continued to compose prolifically during his private time at home. On the 17th and 18th of November in 1828, Schubert became delirious and at times was restrained with difficulty in his bed. He died on November 19, 1828, in Kettenbruckengasse, Vienna at three o'clock in the afternoon of typhoid fever (McKay 331). Though full of outstanding music, it was rejected by many in the profession. For the next few years, Schubert wrote constantly. Reasons for their abiding popularity rest not only in the direct appeal of Schubert's melody and the general attractiveness of his expression but also in his unfailing ability to capture musically both the spirit of a poem and much of its detail. In 1827 he received overdue recognition of his tireless and unremitting work in Vienna's schools. The publications of several of his compositions was finally giving him the public attention he so deserved. Frequently gathering for domestic evenings of Schubert's music, later called 'Schubertiads'(Boynick), this group more than represented the new phenomenon of an educated, musically aware middle class. He wrote more mature piano sonatas, some magnificent songs and his highly characteristic String Quartet in G Major, the Seventh Symphony in C Major, the Mass in E flat Major, the String Quarter in C major, his last three piano Sonatas, and his final and greatest collection of songs, Schwanengesang (Swan Song), written in 1828. Schubert's fame was long limited to that of a songwriter, since the bulk of his large output was not even published, and some not even performed, until the late 19th century. Some of the greatest works written during that period include Gretchen am Spinnrade and Erlkonig. He gave his first full-scale public concert in March 1828 and continued to work diligently to satisfy publishers composing some of his greatest music in his last year despite failing health. By 1820, aristocratic patronage, further introductions and new friendships further encouraged Schubert to compose.
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