Franz Schubert

:Schubert redirects here. For other uses, see Schubert (disambiguation).

Last years and masterworks

In 1823 appeared Schubert's first song cycle, Die schöne Müllerin, D. 795, after poems by Wilhelm Müller. This work, together with the later cycle "Winterreise" D. 911, is widely considered one of the pinnacles of Schubert's work and of the German Lied in general.

Related Topics:
1823 - Song cycle - Die schöne Müllerin - Wilhelm Müller - Winterreise - Lied

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In the spring of 1824 he wrote the magnificent Octet in F (D.803), "A Sketch for a Grand Symphony"; and in the summer went back to Zelesz, when he became attracted by Hungarian idiom, and wrote the Divertissement a l'Hongroise (D.818) and the String Quartet in A minor (D.804). He held a hopeless passion for his pupil Countess Caroline Esterhazy; but whatever may be said about this romance, its details are not presently known.

Related Topics:
1824 - Octet in F - Hungarian - String Quartet in A minor

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Despite his preoccupation with the stage and later with his official duties he found time during these years for a good deal of miscellaneous composition. The Mass in A flat (D.678) was completed and the exquisite "Unfinished Symphony" (Symphony No 8 in B minor, D.759) begun in 1822. To 1824, beside the works mentioned above, belong the variations for flute and piano on Trockne Blumen, the climactic song of "Die schöne Müllerin". There is also a sonata for piano and "Arpeggione" (D.821), an interesting attempt to encourage a cumbersome and now obsolete instrument. This wonderful music is nowadays usually played by cello and piano, although a number of other arrangements have been made.

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The mishaps of the recent years were compensated by the prosperity and happiness of 1825. Publication had been moving more rapidly; the stress of poverty was for a time lightened; in the summer there was a pleasant holiday in Upper Austria, where Schubert was welcomed with enthusiasm. It was during this tour that he produced his "Songs from Sir Walter Scott". This cycle contains his famous and beloved Ellens dritter Gesang, D.839, today more popularly known as his "Ave Maria", which was originally set to Adam Storck's German translation of Scott's original poem, not to the Latin text of the Ave Maria prayer that is commonly sung today. During this time he also wrote the Piano Sonata in A minor (D.845, op. 42).

Related Topics:
Ellens dritter Gesang - Ave Maria - Piano Sonata in A minor

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From 1826 to 1828 Schubert resided continuously in Vienna, except for a brief visit to Graz in 1827. The history of his life during these three years is little more than a record of his compositions. The only events worth notice are that in 1826 he dedicated a symphony to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and received a honorarium in return. In the spring of 1828 he gave, for the first and only time in his career, a public concert of his own works which was very well received. But the compositions themselves are a sufficient biography. The string quartet in D minor, with the variations on Death and the Maiden (D.810), was written during the winter of 1825-1826, and first played on Jan. 25. Later in the year came the string quartet in G major, the "Rondeau brilliant" for piano and violin (D.895, Op.70), and the fine Piano Sonata in G (D.894, Op.78) which, because of some pedantry of the publisher's, was originally printed without Schubert's title 'Fantasia' (although more recent editions have restored the title, at least as a subtitle). To these should be added the three Shakespearian songs, of which "Hark! Hark! the Lark" (D.889) and "Who is Sylvia?" (D.891) were allegedly written on the same day, the former at a tavern where he broke his afternoon's walk, the latter on his return to his lodging in the evening.

Related Topics:
1826 - 1828 - Graz - 1827 - Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde - Death and the Maiden

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In 1827 Schubert wrote the song cycle Winterreise (D.911), the Fantasia for piano and violin in C (D.934), and the two piano trios (B flat, D.898; and E flat, D.929): in 1828 the Song of Miriam, the C major symphony (D.944), the Mass in E-flat (D.950), and the exceedingly beautiful Tantum Ergo (D.962) in the same key, the String Quintet in C (D.956), the second Benedictus to the Mass in C, the last three piano sonatas, and the collection of songs published posthumously under the fanciful name of Schwanengesang ("Swan song", D.957). Six of these are to words by Heinrich Heine, whose Buch der Lieder appeared in the autumn.

Related Topics:
Winterreise - String Quintet in C - Heinrich Heine

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