Austrian composer, one of the founders of romanticism in music
short biography
Franz Peter Schubert(German: Franz Peter Schubert; January 31, 1797 - November 19, 1828, Vienna) - Austrian composer, one of the founders of romanticism in music, author of approximately 600 vocal compositions (based on words by Schiller, Goethe, Heine and others), nine symphonies, as well as a large number of chamber and solo piano works.
Schubert's works have still not lost their popularity and are among the most famous examples of classical music.
Childhood
Franz Peter Schubert was born in the suburbs of Vienna into the family of a Lichtenthal parish school teacher and an amateur musician. His father, Franz Theodor Schubert, came from a family of Moravian peasants; mother, Elisabeth Schubert (née Fitz), was the daughter of a Silesian mechanic. Of their fourteen children, nine died at an early age, and one of Franz's brothers, Ferdinand, also devoted himself to music.
Franz showed musical talent very early. His first mentors were members of his household: his father taught him to play the violin, and his older brother Ignatz taught him to play the piano. From the age of six he studied at the parish school of Lichtenthal. From the age of seven he took organ lessons from the bandmaster of the Lichtental church. The rector of the parish church, M. Holzer, taught him to sing.
Thanks to his beautiful voice, at the age of eleven, Franz was accepted as a “singing boy” into the Viennese court chapel and into the Konvikt (boarding school). There his friends became Joseph von Spaun, Albert Stadler and Anton Holzapfel. Wenzel Ruzicka taught Schubert general bass, later Antonio Salieri took Schubert to his place for free training, taught counterpoint and composition (until 1816). Schubert studied not only singing, but also became acquainted with the instrumental works of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as he was second violin in the Konvikt orchestra.
His talent as a composer soon emerged. From 1810 to 1813, Schubert wrote an opera, a symphony, piano pieces and songs.
Schubert struggled with mathematics and Latin in his studies, and in 1813 he was expelled from the choir because his voice was breaking. Schubert returned home and entered the teachers' seminary, from which he graduated in 1814. Then he got a job as a teacher at the school where his father worked (he worked at this school until 1818). In his spare time, he composed music. He studied mainly Gluck, Mozart and Beethoven. He wrote his first independent works - the opera "Satan's Pleasure Castle" and the Mass in F major - in 1814.
Maturity
Schubert's work did not correspond to his calling, and he made attempts to establish himself as a composer. But publishers refused to publish his works. In the spring of 1816, he was denied the post of bandmaster in Laibach (now Ljubljana). Soon Joseph von Spaun introduced Schubert to the poet Franz von Schober. Schober arranged for Schubert to meet the famous baritone Johann Michael Vogl. Schubert's songs performed by Vogl began to enjoy great popularity in Viennese salons. Schubert’s first success came with Goethe’s ballad “The Forest King” (“Erlkönig”), which he set to music in 1816. In January 1818, Schubert's first composition was published - the song Erlafsee(as a supplement to the anthology edited by F. Sartori).
Among Schubert's friends were the official J. Spaun, the amateur musician A. Holzapfel, the amateur poet F. Schober, the poet J. Mayrhofer, the poet and comedian E. Bauernfeld, the artists M. Schwind and L. Kupelwieser, the composers A. Hüttenbrenner and J . Schubert, singer A. Milder-Hauptmann. They were admirers of Schubert's work and periodically provided him with financial assistance.
At the beginning of 1818, Schubert left his job at the school. In July, he moved to Želiz (now the Slovak city of Železovce) to the summer residence of Count Johann Esterházy, where he began teaching music to his daughters. In mid-November he returned to Vienna. The second time he visited Esterhazy was in 1824.
In 1823 he was elected an honorary member of the Styrian and Linz Musical Unions.
In the 1820s, Schubert began to have health problems. In December 1822 he fell ill, but after a stay in hospital in the autumn of 1823 his health improved.
Last years
From 1826 to 1828, Schubert lived in Vienna, with the exception of a short stay in Graz. The position of vice-kapellmeister in the chapel of the imperial court, for which he applied in 1826, did not go to him, but to Joseph Weigl. On March 26, 1828, he gave his only public concert, which was a great success and brought him 800 guilders. Meanwhile, his numerous songs and piano works were published.
The composer died of typhoid fever on November 19, 1828 at the age of less than 32 years after a two-week fever. According to his last wishes, Schubert was buried in the Wehring cemetery, where the year before, Beethoven, whom he idolized, was buried. An eloquent inscription is engraved on the monument: “ Music buried here a wonderful treasure, but even more wonderful hopes. Franz Schubert lies here" On January 22, 1888, his ashes, along with Beethoven's ashes, were reburied in the Central Cemetery of Vienna. Later, the famous burial site of composers and musicians was formed around their graves.
Creation
Schubert's creative heritage covers a variety of genres. He created 9 symphonies, over 25 chamber instrumental works, 21 piano sonatas, many pieces for piano for two and four hands, 10 operas, 6 masses, a number of works for choir, for vocal ensemble, and finally, more than 600 songs. During his lifetime, and for quite a long time after the composer’s death, he was valued mainly as a songwriter. Only from the 19th century did researchers begin to gradually comprehend his achievements in other areas of creativity. Thanks to Schubert, the song for the first time became equal in importance to other genres. Her poetic images reflect almost the entire history of Austrian and German poetry, including some foreign authors.
Of great importance in vocal literature are Schubert’s collections of songs based on the poems of Wilhelm Müller - “The Beautiful Miller’s Wife” and “Winter Reise”, which are, as it were, a continuation of Beethoven’s idea expressed in the collection of songs “To a Distant Beloved”. In these works Schubert showed remarkable melodic talent and a wide variety of moods; he gave the accompaniment greater significance, greater artistic meaning. The latest collection “Swan Song” is also remarkable, many of the songs from which have gained worldwide fame.
Schubert's musical gift opened up new avenues for piano music. His Fantasies in C major and F minor, impromptu musical moments, sonatas are proof of the richest imagination and great harmonic courage. In chamber and symphonic music - string quartet in D minor, quintet in C major, piano quintet “Forellenquintett” (“Trout”), “ Great Symphony" in C major and "Unfinished Symphony" in B minor - Schubert demonstrates his unique and independent musical thinking, significantly different from the thinking of Beethoven, who was living and dominant at that time.
Of Schubert's numerous church works (masses, offertories, hymns, etc.), the Mass in E-flat major is especially distinguished by its sublime character and musical richness.
Of the operas performed at that time, Schubert most liked “The Swiss Family” by Joseph Weigl, “Medea” by Luigi Cherubini, “John of Paris” by François Adrien Boieldieu, “Cendrillon” by Izward and especially “Iphigenia in Tauris” by Gluck. Schubert had little interest in Italian opera, which was in great fashion in his time; only “The Barber of Seville” and some passages from “Othello” by Gioachino Rossini attracted him.
Posthumous recognition
Schubert left behind a mass of unpublished manuscripts (six masses, seven symphonies, fifteen operas, etc.). Some smaller works were published immediately after the composer's death, but manuscripts of larger works, little known to the public, remained in the bookcases and drawers of Schubert's relatives, friends and publishers. Even those closest to him did not know everything he wrote, and for many years he was recognized mainly only as the king of song. In 1838, Robert Schumann, while visiting Vienna, found a dusty manuscript of Schubert's "Great Symphony" and took it with him to Leipzig, where Felix Mendelssohn performed the work. The greatest contribution to the search and discovery of Schubert's works was made by George Grove and Arthur Sullivan, who visited Vienna in the fall of 1867. They managed to find seven symphonies, accompanying music from the play Rosamund, several masses and operas, some chamber music, and a large variety of fragments and songs. These discoveries led to a significant increase in interest in Schubert's work.
Franz Liszt transcribed and arranged a significant number of Schubert's works, especially songs, from 1830 to 1870. He said that Schubert was “the most poetic musician who ever lived.” For Antonin Dvořák, Schubert's symphonies were especially interesting, and Hector Berlioz and Anton Bruckner acknowledged the influence of the Great Symphony on their work.
In 1897, the publishers Breitkopf and Hertel published a scientifically verified edition of the composer's works, whose chief editor was Johannes Brahms. Twentieth-century composers such as Benjamin Britten, Richard Strauss, and George Crum were either promoters of Schubert's work or made allusions to his work in their own music. Britten, who was an excellent pianist, accompanied many of Schubert's songs and often played his solos and duets.
Unfinished Symphony
The time of creation of the symphony in B minor DV 759 (“Unfinished”) was the autumn of 1822. It was dedicated to the amateur musical society in Graz, and Schubert presented two parts of it in 1824.
The manuscript was kept for more than 40 years by Schubert's friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner, until it was discovered by the Viennese conductor Johann Herbeck and performed in a concert in 1865. (The first two movements completed by Schubert were performed, and instead of the missing 3rd and 4th movements, the final movement from Schubert’s early Third Symphony in D major was performed.) The symphony was published in 1866 in the form of the first two movements.
The reasons why Schubert did not complete the “Unfinished” Symphony are still unclear. Apparently, he intended to bring it to its logical conclusion: the first two parts were completely finished, and the 3rd part (in the nature of a scherzo) remained in sketches. There are no sketches for the ending (or they may have been lost).
For a long time there was a point of view that the “Unfinished” symphony is a completely completed work, since the circle of images and their development exhausts itself within two parts. As a comparison, they talked about Beethoven's sonatas in two movements and that later works of this kind became common among Romantic composers. However, this version is contradicted by the fact that the first two movements completed by Schubert were written in different keys, far from each other. (Such cases have not occurred either before or after him.)
There is also an opinion that the music that became one of the intermissions to Rosamund, written in sonata form, in the key of B minor and having a dramatic character, could have been conceived as a finale. But this point of view has no documentary evidence.
Currently, there are several options for completing the “Unfinished” Symphony (in particular, the options of the English musicologist Brian Newbould and the Russian composer Anton Safronov).
Essays
- Operas - Alfonso and Estrella (1822; staged 1854, Weimar), Fierrabras (1823; staged 1897, Karlsruhe), 3 unfinished, including Count von Gleichen, and others;
- Singspiel (7), including Claudina von Villa Bella (on a text by Goethe, 1815, the first of 3 acts has been preserved; staged 1978, Vienna), The Twin Brothers (1820, Vienna), The Conspirators, or Home War (1823; staged 1861 , Frankfurt am Main);
- Music for plays - The Magic Harp (1820, Vienna), Rosamund, Princess of Cyprus (1823, ibid.);
- For soloists, choir and orchestra - 7 masses (1814-1828), German Requiem (1818), Magnificat (1815), offertories and other spiritual works, oratorios, cantatas, including Miriam's Victory Song (1828);
- For orchestra - symphonies (1813; 1815; 1815; Tragic, 1816; 1816; Small C major, 1818; 1821, unfinished; Unfinished, 1822; Major C major, 1828), 8 overtures;
- Chamber instrumental ensembles - 4 sonatas (1816-1817), fantasy (1827) for violin and piano; sonata for arpeggione and piano (1824), 2 piano trios (1827, 1828?), 2 string trios (1816, 1817), 14 or 16 string quartets (1811-1826), Trout piano quintet (1819?), string quintet ( 1828), octet for strings and winds (1824), Introduction and variations on the theme of the song “Withered Flowers” (“Trockene Blumen” D 802) for flute and piano, etc.;
- For piano 2 hands - 23 sonatas (including 6 unfinished; 1815-1828), fantasy (Wanderer, 1822, etc.), 11 impromptu (1827-1828), 6 musical moments (1823-1828), rondo, variations and other pieces, over 400 dances (waltzes, ländlers, German dances, minuets, ecosaises, gallops, etc.; 1812-1827);
- For piano 4 hands - sonatas, overtures, fantasies, Hungarian divertissement (1824), rondos, variations, polonaises, marches.
- Vocal ensembles for male, female voices and mixed compositions with and without accompaniment;
- Songs for voice and piano (more than 600), including the cycles “The Beautiful Miller’s Wife” (1823) and “Winter Reise” (1827), the collection “Swan Song” (1828), “Ellen’s Third Song” (“Ellens dritter Gesang” , also known as Schubert’s “Ave Maria”), “The Forest King” (“Erlkönig”, based on poems by J. W. Goethe, 1816).
Catalog of works
Since relatively few of his works were published during the composer's lifetime, only a few of them have their own opus number, but even in such cases the number does not accurately reflect the time of creation of the work. In 1951, musicologist Otto Erich Deutsch published a catalog of Schubert's works, where all of the composer's works are arranged in chronological order according to the time they were written.
Memory
The asteroid (540) Rosamund, discovered in 1904, is named after Franz Schubert's musical play Rosamund.
The biography of Schubert is very interesting to study. He was born on January 31, 1797 in a suburb of Vienna. His father worked as a school teacher and was a very hardworking and decent person. The eldest sons chose their father's path, and the same path was prepared for Franz. However, they also loved music in their home. So, a short biography of Schubert...
Franz's father taught him to play the violin, his brother taught him the clavier, the church regent taught him theory and taught him to play the organ. It soon became clear to the household that Franz was unusually gifted, so at the age of 11 he began studying at a church singing school. There was an orchestra in which the students played. Soon Franz was performing the first violin part and even conducting.
In 1810 the guy writes his first composition, and it becomes clear that Schubert is a composer. His biography says that his passion for music intensified so much that over time it crowded out other interests. The young man dropped out of school after five years, angering his father. Schubert's biography tells that, yielding to his father, he enters a teacher's seminary, and then works as a teacher's assistant. However, all his father’s hopes of turning Franz into a man with a good and reliable income were in vain.
Schubert's biography in the period from 1814 to 1817 is one of the most active phases of his work. At the end of this time, he is already the author of 7 sonatas, 5 symphonies and approximately 300 songs that everyone knows. It would seem that a little more - and success is guaranteed. Franz quits his service. The father becomes furious, leaves him without funds and breaks off all relations.
Schubert's biography tells that he had to live with friends. Among them were poets and artists. It was during this period that the famous “Schubertiades” are held, that is, evenings dedicated to the music of Franz. He played the piano among his friends, composing music as he went. However, these were difficult years. Schubert lived in unheated rooms and gave hated lessons so as not to die of hunger. Due to poverty, Franz was unable to marry - the girl he loved preferred him to a wealthy pastry chef.
Schubert's biography shows that in 1822 he wrote one of his best creations - “The Unfinished Symphony”, and then the cycle of works “The Beautiful Miller's Wife”. For some time, Franz returned to the family, but two years later he left again. Naive and gullible, he was not fit for independent life. Schubert often became a victim of deception by his publishers, who openly profited from him. The author of a huge and wonderful collection of songs that were very popular among the burghers during his lifetime, barely
Schubert was not a virtuoso musician like Beethoven or Mozart, and could only act as an accompanist for his melodies. The symphonies were never performed during the composer's lifetime. The Schubertiad circle broke up, friends started families. He didn’t know how to ask, and he didn’t want to humiliate himself in front of influential people.
Franz was completely desperate and believed that perhaps in his old age he would have to beg, but he was wrong. The composer did not know that he would not grow old. But, despite all this, his creative activity does not weaken, and even vice versa: Schubert’s biography claims that his music is becoming deeper, more expressive and larger-scale. In 1828, friends organized a concert at which the orchestra played only his songs. It was very successful. After this, Schubert was again filled with grandiose plans and began to work on new compositions with renewed energy. However, a few months later he fell ill with typhus and died in November 1828.
Franz Schubert went down in music history as the first of the great Romantic composers. In that “era of disappointment” that followed the French Revolution, attention to the individual with his passions, sorrows and joys seemed so natural - and this “song of the human soul” was brilliantly embodied in the works of Schubert, which remained “songlike” even in large forms .
Franz Schubert's birthplace is Lichtenthal, a suburb of Vienna, the European musical capital. In a large family, the parish school teachers valued music: his father played cello and violin, and Franz’s older brother played piano, and they became the talented boy’s first mentors. From the age of seven, he studied organ playing with the church bandmaster and singing with the regent. His beautiful voice allowed him to become a student at the age of eleven at Konvict, a boarding school that trained singers for the court chapel. Here one of his mentors was Antonio Salieri. While playing in the school orchestra, where he was eventually trusted to perform the duties of a conductor, Schubert became acquainted with many symphonic masterpieces, and the symphonies especially shocked him.
In Konvikt, Schubert created his first works, including. It was dedicated to the director of Konvikt, but the young composer did not feel much sympathy for either this person or the educational institution he headed: Schubert was burdened by the strictest discipline, mind-drying cramming, and far from the best relationships with mentors - devoting all his strength to music, he did not paid special attention to other academic disciplines. Schubert was not expelled for poor academic performance only because he left Konvikt on time without permission.
Even during his studies, Schubert had conflicts with his father: dissatisfied with his son’s success, Schubert Sr. forbade him to be at home on weekends (an exception was made only on the day of his mother’s funeral). An even more serious conflict arose when the question of choosing a life path arose: for all his interest in music, Schubert’s father did not consider the profession of a musician a worthy occupation. He wanted his son to choose a more respected profession as a teacher, which would guarantee a small but reliable income, and would also exempt him from military service. The young man had to obey. He worked at school for four years, but this did not stop him from creating a lot of music - operas, symphonies, masses, sonatas, and many songs. But if Schubert’s operas are now forgotten, and in the instrumental works of those years the influence of Viennese classicism is quite strong, then in the songs the individual features of the composer’s creative appearance were revealed in all their glory. Among the works of these years are such masterpieces as "", "Rose", "".
At the same time, Schubert suffered one of the most significant disappointments of his life. His beloved Teresa Grob was forced to obey her mother, who did not want to see a teacher with a penny salary as her son-in-law. With tears in her eyes, the girl went down the aisle with someone else and lived a long, prosperous life as the wife of a wealthy burgher. One can only guess how happy she was, but Schubert never found personal happiness in marriage.
Boring school duties, which distracted him from creating music, became increasingly burdensome for Schubert, and in 1817 he dropped out of school. After that, the father did not want to hear about his son. In Vienna, the composer lives first with one friend, then with another - these artists, poets and musicians were not much richer than himself. Schubert often did not even have money for music paper; he wrote down his musical thoughts on scraps of newspaper. But poverty did not make him gloomy and gloomy - he always remained cheerful and sociable.
It was not easy for the composer to make his way in the musical world of Vienna - he was not a virtuoso performer, moreover, he was extremely modest; Schubert's sonatas and symphonies did not gain popularity during the author's lifetime, but they found a lively understanding among friends. At friendly meetings, the soul of which was Schubert (they were even called “Schubertiads”), discussions were held about art, politics and philosophy, but dancing was an integral part of such evenings. The music for the dances was improvised by Schubert, and he wrote down the most successful discoveries - this is how Schubert's waltzes, ländlers and ecosaises were born. One of the participants in the Schubertiads, Michael Vogl, often performed Schubert’s songs on the concert stage, becoming a promoter of his work.
The 1820s became the time of creative flourishing for the composer. Then he created the last two symphonies - and, sonatas, chamber ensembles, as well as musical moments and impromptu. In 1823, one of his best creations was born - the vocal cycle “”, a kind of “novel in songs”. Despite the tragic ending, the cycle does not leave a feeling of hopelessness.
But tragic motives sound more and more clearly in Schubert’s music. Their focus is the second vocal cycle “” (the composer himself called it “terrible”). He often turns to the works of Heinrich Heine - along with songs based on poems by other poets, works based on his poems were published posthumously in the form of a collection "".
In 1828, the composer's friends organized a concert of his works, which brought Schubert great joy. Unfortunately, the first concert turned out to be the last that took place during his lifetime: the composer died of illness that same year. On Schubert's tombstone are inscribed the words: "Music has buried here rich treasures, but even more wonderful hopes."
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"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, short-sighted, 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.
The end of the 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 in which 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.
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“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
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 his unique musical abilities appeared 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. The 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. A student orchestra was organized at the school, in which Schubert played first violin. The conductor of the orchestra, Wenzel Ruzicka, noticing the extraordinary talent of his student, often entrusted him with the duties of conductor. The orchestra performed a wide variety of music. Thus, the future composer became acquainted with orchestral music of various genres. He was particularly impressed by the music of the Viennese classics: Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, as well as Beethoven’s musical masterpieces.
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 his schoolwork. 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” with words by Goethe, over 250 songs, singspiels, 3 symphonies and many other works appeared.
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. 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 through 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 and 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 precisely follows it, emphasizing the originality of the artistic image and creating a special emotional background.
In his chamber vocal work, Schubert used both the texts of the famous poets Schiller and Goethe, and the poetry of his contemporaries, the names of many of whom became known thanks to the composer’s songs. In their poetry they reflected the 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.
