Franz Schubert
(1797-1828)

Above: Portrait of Wilhelm August Rieder based on a watercolor from 1825

Below: Schubertiade, Moritz v. Schwind 1868.

Franz Schubert's position in the musical life of his time cannot easily be determined in retrospect. Too many myths have taken precedence over historical reality, and the romantic cliché of the poorly misunderstood genius is too cheap. In fact, Schubert was by no means an unknown composer, but was able to record steady and growing success and certainly live from his work. Its true meaning, however, was not remotely recognized during his lifetime. This only happened posthumously after Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy had enabled the world premiere of the great C major symphony D 944.

Schubert was born on January 31, 1797 in a small town near Vienna as the son of the local headmaster. His musical talent came to the fore early on and was encouraged. At the age of eleven he was awarded a position as a boy choir at the Vienna Court Orchestra, which was connected with a scholarship for the Vienna City Convict and the grammar school. In addition to school lessons, Schubert received a comprehensive and thorough musical education, for which the court conductor Antonio Salieri was primarily responsible. Salieri laid out Schubert's lessons broadly, but aimed overall at opera, and so Schubert composed a whole series of singspiels and dramatic scenes in his youth.

At the age of seventeen Schubert initially took the path laid out by his father and from 1814 worked as an assistant teacher at his school, where he also continued his musical studies for about two years. The year 1817 marked a turning point in Schubert's life. He received the tempting offer from Count Esterházy to give his two daughters music lessons, and so he spent the summer holidays at his summer residence. This stay must have opened new horizons for Schubert. He did not return to school, which led to a break with his father for a while, and decided to live in Vienna as a musician and composer. For financial reasons he shared an apartment with his poet friend Johann Mayrhofer. With this, Schubert had found the way of life that suited him, and until his untimely death in November 1828 he lived in various communities of convenience. Exchanging ideas with friends was important for Schubert. He met regularly with a group of like-minded people who changed over the years, including musicians, but who were dominated by writers and painters.

After moving to Vienna, Schubert looked for a way into the musical public and found it quickly. As early as November 1818, he was commissioned to write the music for a play, and in the years that followed, Schubert, with varying degrees of luck, occupied himself with various opera and stage projects. In 1820 he began to publish his songs - with resounding success. Although he earned very well from the self-published song books, he soon preferred to seek cooperation with commercial publishers in order to be relieved of the work of sales. At the turn of the year 1822/23 Schubert was evidently infected with syphilis. The disease broke out in the middle of the year, and it can be assumed that from then on Schubert repeatedly underwent mercury therapy, which was associated with severe side effects.

At the end of the 1820s, publishers outside Vienna also began to show an interest in Schubert's work, especially in his instrumental works. The composer had entered serious negotiations when he suddenly fell seriously ill in early November 1828. Apparently weakened by the mercury treatments anyway, he was unable to recover. Schubert died on November 19, 1828.

Source: www.berlinerfestspiele.de (2019)