Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras.
Background
Franz Schubert was born on January 31, 1797, in Himmelpfortgrund (now a part of Alsergrund), Vienna, Archduchy of Austria (present-day Austria), the fourth son of Franz Theodor Schubert, a schoolmaster, and Elizabeth Vietz, in domestic service in Vienna.
Education
Franz received instruction in the violin from his father, his older brother Ignaz, and Michael Holzer, the organist at the Liechtenthal parish church. In 1808, through a competitive examination, Franz was accepted into the choir of the Imperial Court Chapel as well as the Stadtkonvikt (Royal Seminary), where he received a fine education and his talents were encouraged by the principal. A 20-year-old law student, Joseph Spaun, who founded an orchestra among these students, formed a lifelong friendship with Schubert.
Career
In 1814, under pressure from his family, Schubert enrolled at a teacher's training college in Vienna and took a job as an assistant at his father's school.
He worked as a schoolmaster for the next four years. But he also continued to compose music. In fact, between 1813 and 1815, Schubert proved to be a prolific songwriter. By 1814, the young composer had written a number of piano pieces, and had produced string quartets, a symphony, and a three-act opera.
Over the next year, his output included two additional symphonies and two of his first Lieds, "Gretchen am Spinnrade" and "Erlkönig." Schubert is, in fact, largely credited with creating the German Lied. Boosted by a wealth of late 18th-century lyric poetry and the development of the piano, Schubert tapped the poetry of giants like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, showing the world the possibility of representing their works in musical form.
In 1818, Schubert, who had not only found a welcome audience for his music but had grown tired of teaching, left education to pursue music full-time. His decision was sparked in part by the first public performance of one of his works, the "Italian Overture in C Major," on March 1, 1818, in Vienna.
The decision to leave school teaching seems to have ushered in a new wave of creativity in the young composer. That summer he completed a string of material, including piano duets "Variations on a French Song in E minor" and the "Sonata in B Flat Major," as well as several dances and songs.
That same year, Schubert returned to Vienna and composed the operetta "Die Zwillingsbrüder (The Twin Brothers), which was performed in June 1820 and met with some success. Schubert's musical output also included the score for the play "Die Zauberharfe" (The Magic Harp), which debuted in August 1820.
The resulting performances, as well as Schubert's other pieces, greatly expanded his popularity and appeal. He also showed himself to be a visionary. His composition "Quartettsatz in C minor," helped spark a wave of string quartets that would dominate the music scene later in the decade.
But Schubert had his struggles as well. In 1820, he was hired by two opera houses, the Karthnerthof Theatre and Theatre-an-der-Wein, to compose a pair of operas, neither of which fared very well. Music publishers, meanwhile, were afraid to take a chance on a young composer like Schubert, whose music was not considered traditional.
His fortunes began to change in 1821, when, with the help of some friends, he began offering his songs on a subscription basis. Money started coming his way. In Vienna especially, Schubert's harmonious songs and dances were popular. Across the city, concert parties called Schubertiaden sprung up in the homes of wealthy residents.
By late 1822, however, Schubert encountered another difficult period. His financial needs going unmet, and his friendships increasingly strained, Schubert's life was further darkened when he became severely sick - historians believe he almost certainly contracted syphilis.
And yet, Schubert continued to produce at a prolific rate. His output during this time included the renowned "Wanderer Fantasy" for piano, his masterful, two-movement "Eighth Symphony," the "Die Schöne Müllerin" song cycle, "Die Verschworenen" and the opera "Fierrabras."
None of the finished pieces, however, brought him the fortune he deserved or so greatly needed. Battling health problems, Schubert again turned to music for escape. In 1824, he turned out three chamber works, the "String Quartet in A Minor," a second string quartet in D minor and "Octet in F Major."
For a time, Schubert, almost constantly penniless, returned to teaching. He also continued to write, producing piano duets such as "Piano Sonata in C Major" (Grand Duo), and the "Divertissmement à la Hongroise."
In 1826, Schubert applied for the job of deputy musical director at the Stadtkonvikt. While certainly a top candidate, he failed to land the job. Still, his fortunes during this period began to improve. His impressive musical output continued, and his popularity in Vienna increased. He was even in negotiations with four different publishers.
His work during this time included the "String Quartet in G Major" and the "Piano Sonata in G Major." In 1827, no doubt influenced by the passing of Ludwig van Beethoven and his impressive musical legacy, Schubert channeled a bit of the late composer and created a string of pieces. This work included the first 12 songs of the "Winterreise," as well as the "Piano Sonata in C Minor" and two piano solos, "Impromptus" and "Moments Musicaux."
In 1828, the last year of his life, Schubert, though obviously ill, stayed committed to his craft. It was during this time that he produced what is quite possibly his greatest piano duet, "Fantasy in F Minor." His other work from this time included the "Great Symphony," the cantata "Mirjam's Siegesgesang," and his last three piano sonatas, in C Minor, A Major, and B-flat Major. In addition, Schubert finished "String Quintet in C Major," considered by musical historians to be the classical era's final piece.
Oddly enough, Schubert's first and final public concert took place on March 26, 1828, and it proved successful enough that it allowed the great composer to finally buy himself a piano. Exhausted, and with his health continuing to deteriorate, Schubert moved in with his brother, Ferdinand. He died on November 19, 1828, in Vienna, Austria.
Quotations:
"Anyone who loves music can never be quite unhappy."
"Happy is the man who finds a true friend, and far happier is he who finds that true friend in his wife."
"When I wished to sing of love, it turned to sorrow. And when I wished to sing of sorrow, it was transformed for me into love."
"You believe happiness to be derived from the place in which once you have been happy, but in truth it is centered in ourselves."
"No one feels another's grief, no one understands another's joy. People imagine they can reach one another. In reality they only pass each other by."
Membership
In early 1818, Franz Schubert was rejected for membership in the prestigious Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, something that might have furthered his musical career.
Personality
Franz Schubert was an introvert personality.
Physical Characteristics:
Standing at barely five feet tall, Franz Schubert was a shy, stumpy person, whose facial features included a round nose, a long oval face and a deeply cleft chin, topped off by very severe short-sightedness.
Quotes from others about the person
George Grove said: "Another equally true saying of Schumann is that, compared with Beethoven, Schubert is as a woman to a man. For it must be confessed that one's attitudes towards him is almost always that of sympathy, attraction, and love, rarely that of embarrassment or fear. Here and there only, as in the Rosamund B minor Entr'acte, or the Finale of the 10th symphony, does he compel his listeners with an irresistible power; and yet how different is this compulsion from the strong, fierce, merciless coercion, with which Beethoven forces you along, and bows and bends you to his will."
Robert Schumann wrote: "Where other people keep diaries in which they record their momentary feelings, etc, Schubert simply kept sheets of music by him and confided his changing moods to them; and his soul being steeped in music, he put down notes when another man would resort to words."
Connections
In 1814, Franz Peter Schubert fell in love with a soprano soloist named Therese Groband wanted to marry her but could not because of the harsh marriage law which required proof that heearned enough to support a family.