Franz Peter Schubert is a musical genius of the 19th century. Biography of Franz Schubert Schubert main works list

Name: Franz Schubert

Age: 31 year

Height: 156

Activity: composer, one of the founders of romanticism in music

Family status: wasn't married

Franz Schubert: biography

Woland from the novel said: “Never ask for anything! Never and nothing, and especially among those who are stronger than you. They will offer and give everything themselves!”

This quote from the immortal work “The Master and Margarita” characterizes the life of the Austrian composer Franz Schubert, familiar to most from the song “Ave Maria” (“Ellen’s Third Song”).

During his life, he did not strive for fame. Although the Austrian’s works were distributed from all salons in Vienna, Schubert lived extremely meagerly. Once the writer hung his coat on the balcony with the pockets turned inside out. This gesture was addressed to creditors and meant that there was nothing more to take from Schubert. Having known the sweetness of fame only fleetingly, Franz died at the age of 31. But centuries later this musical genius became recognized not only in his homeland, but throughout the world: creative heritage Schubert is immense; he composed about a thousand works: songs, waltzes, sonatas, serenades and other compositions.

Childhood and adolescence

Franz Peter Schubert was born in Austria, near the picturesque city of Vienna. The gifted boy grew up in an ordinary poor family: his father, schoolteacher Franz Theodor, came from a peasant family, and his mother, cook Elisabeth (née Fitz), was the daughter of a repairman from Silesia. In addition to Franz, the couple raised four more children (out of 14 children born, 9 died in infancy).

It is not surprising that the future maestro showed an early love for sheet music, because music was constantly flowing in his house: Schubert the elder loved to play the violin and cello as an amateur, and Franz’s brother was fond of the piano and clavier. Franz Jr. was surrounded by a delightful world of melodies, as the hospitable Schubert family often received guests and organized musical evenings.

Noticing the talent of their son, who at the age of seven played music on the keys without studying notes, the parents sent Franz to the Lichtenthal parochial school, where the boy tried to master playing the organ, and M. Holzer taught young Schubert the vocal art, which he mastered brilliantly.

When the future composer turned 11 years old, he was accepted as a chorister into the court chapel located in Vienna, and was also enrolled in the Konvikt boarding school, where he acquired best friends. At the educational institution, Schubert zealously learned the basics of music, but mathematics and Latin language were bad for the boy.

It is worth saying that no one doubted the talent of the young Austrian. Wenzel Ruzicka, who taught Franz the bass voice of polyphonic musical composition, once stated:

“I have nothing to teach him! He already knows everything from the Lord God.”

And in 1808, to the delight of his parents, Schubert was accepted into the imperial choir. When the boy was 13 years old, he independently wrote his first serious musical composition, and after 2 years the recognized composer Antonio Salieri began working with the young man, who did not even take any monetary compensation from the young Franz.

Music

When Schubert's sonorous, boyish voice began to break, the young composer was understandably forced to leave Konvikt. Franz's father dreamed that he would enter a teacher's seminary and follow in his footsteps. Schubert could not resist the will of his parent, so after graduation he began working at a school where he taught the alphabet junior classes.

In 1814 he wrote the opera Satan's Pleasure Castle and a mass in F major. And by the age of 20, Schubert had become the author of at least five symphonies, seven sonatas and three hundred songs. Music did not leave Schubert’s thoughts for a minute: the talented composer woke up even in the middle of the night in order to have time to record the melody that sounded in his sleep.

In his free time from work, the Austrian organized musical evenings: acquaintances and close friends appeared in the house of Schubert, who did not leave the piano and often improvised.

In the spring of 1816, Franz tried to get a job as a manager choir chapel, however, his plans were not destined to come true. Soon, thanks to friends, Schubert met the famous Austrian baritone Johann Fogal.

It was this singer of romances who helped Schubert establish himself in life: he performed songs to the accompaniment of Franz in the music salons of Vienna.

But it cannot be said that the Austrian owned keyboard instrument as masterly as, for example, Beethoven. He did not always make the right impression on the listening public, so Fogal received the attention of the audience at his performances.

In 1817, Franz became the author of the music for the song “Trout” based on the words of his namesake Christian Schubert. The composer also became famous thanks to the music for the famous ballad German writer“The Forest King”, and in the winter of 1818 Franz’s work “Erlafsee” was published by the publishing house, although before Schubert’s fame, the editors constantly found an excuse to refuse the young performer.

It is worth noting that during the years of peak popularity, Franz acquired profitable acquaintances. So, his comrades (writer Bauernfeld, composer Hüttenbrenner, artist Schwind and other friends) helped the musician with money.

When Schubert was finally convinced of his calling, he left his job at the school in 1818. But his father did not like his son’s spontaneous decision, so he deprived his now adult child of financial assistance. Because of this, Franz had to ask friends for a place to sleep.

Fortune in the composer's life was very changeable. The opera Alfonso and Estrella, composed by Schober, which Franz considered his success, was rejected. In this regard, Schubert's financial situation worsened. Also in 1822, the composer contracted an illness that undermined his health. In mid-summer, Franz moved to Zeliz, where he settled on the estate of Count Johann Esterhazy. There Schubert taught music lessons to his children.

In 1823, Schubert became an honorary member of the Styrian and Linz Musical Unions. In the same year, the musician composed the song cycle “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” based on the words of the romantic poet Wilhelm Müller. These songs tell about a young man who went in search of happiness.

But happiness young man was love: when he saw the miller's daughter, Cupid's arrow rushed into his heart. But the beloved drew attention to his rival, a young hunter, so the joyful and sublime feeling of the traveler soon grew into desperate grief.

After the tremendous success of “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” in the winter and autumn of 1827, Schubert worked on another cycle called “ winter journey" The music written to Müller's words is characterized by pessimism. Franz himself called his brainchild “a wreath of creepy songs.” It is noteworthy that Schubert wrote such gloomy compositions about unrequited love shortly before own death.

Franz's biography indicates that at times he had to live in dilapidated attics, where, with the light of a burning torch, he composed great works on scraps of greasy paper. The composer was extremely poor, but he did not want to exist on the financial help of friends.

“What will happen to me...” wrote Schubert, “in my old age, perhaps, like Goethe’s harpist, I will have to go from door to door and beg for bread.”

But Franz could not even imagine that he would not grow old. When the musician was on the verge of despair, the goddess of fate smiled at him again: in 1828, Schubert was elected a member of the Vienna Society of Friends of Music, and on March 26, the composer gave his first concert. The performance was triumphant, and the hall was bursting with loud applause. On this day Franz first and last time in my life I learned what real success is.

Personal life

In life great composer was very timid and shy. Therefore, many of the writer’s circle profited from his gullibility. Franz's financial situation became a stumbling block on the path to happiness, because his beloved chose a rich groom.

Schubert's love was called Teresa Gorb. Franz met this person while in the church choir. It is worth noting that the fair-haired girl was not known as a beauty, but, on the contrary, had an ordinary appearance: her pale face was “decorated” by smallpox marks, and her eyelids “flaunted” sparse and white eyelashes.

But it was not Schubert’s appearance that attracted him in choosing a lady of his heart. He was flattered that Teresa listened to music with awe and inspiration, and at these moments her face took on a ruddy appearance and happiness shone in her eyes.

But, since the girl was raised without a father, her mother insisted that she choose the latter between love and money. Therefore, Gorb married a wealthy pastry chef.

Other information about Schubert's personal life is very scarce. According to rumors, the composer was infected with syphilis in 1822, an incurable disease at that time. Based on this, it can be assumed that Franz did not disdain visiting brothels.

Death

In the autumn of 1828, Franz Schubert was tormented by a two-week fever caused by an infectious intestinal disease - typhoid fever. On November 19, at the age of 32, the great composer died.

The Austrian (in accordance with his last wish) was buried at the Wehring cemetery next to the grave of his idol, Beethoven.

• With the proceeds from the triumphal concert, which took place in 1828, Franz Schubert purchased a piano.
• In the fall of 1822, the composer wrote “Symphony No. 8,” which went down in history as the “Unfinished Symphony.” The fact is that Franz first created this work in the form of a sketch, and then in the score. But for some unknown reason, Schubert never finished working on his brainchild. According to rumors, the remaining parts of the manuscript were lost and were kept by friends of the Austrian.

• Some people mistakenly attribute to Schubert the authorship of the title of the impromptu play. But the phrase “Musical Moment” was invented by the publisher Leydesdorff.
• Schubert adored Goethe. The musician dreamed of getting to know this better famous writer, however, his dream was not destined to come true.
• Schubert's major C major symphony was found 10 years after his death.

• The asteroid, which was discovered in 1904, was named after Franz's play Rosamund.
• After the composer's death, a mass of unpublished manuscripts remained. For a long time people did not know what was composed by Schubert.

Discography

Songs (over 600 in total)

• Cycle “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” (1823)
• Cycle "Winter Reise" (1827)
• Collection "Swan Song" (1827-1828, posthumous)
• About 70 songs based on Goethe's texts
• About 50 songs based on Schiller's texts

Symphonies

• First D major (1813)
• Second B major (1815)
• Third D major (1815)
• Fourth C minor “Tragic” (1816)
• Fifth B major (1816)
• Sixth C major (1818)

Quartets (22 in total)

• Quartet B major op. 168 (1814)
• Quartet g minor (1815)
• Quartet a minor op. 29 (1824)
• Quartet in d minor (1824-1826)
• Quartet G major op. 161 (1826)

Encyclopedic YouTube

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  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 in 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 regent 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 Konvict (boarding school). There his friends became Joseph von Spaun, Albert Stadler and Anton Holzapfel. Wenzel Ružička taught Schubert general bass; later Antonio Salieri took Schubert to study for free and 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 a meeting for Schubert with famous baritone Johann Michael Vogle. Schubert's songs performed by Vogl began to enjoy great popularity in the 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 I. 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 fans of Schubert's work and periodically supported him financial assistance.

  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

  In 1897, the publishers Breitkopf and Hertel released a scientifically verified edition of the composer's works, the editor-in-chief of which 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 works 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 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, options by English musicologist Brian Newbould and 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 (1827-28), 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 men, women's voices and mixed trains, accompanied and unaccompanied;
  • Songs for voice and piano (more than 600), including the cycles “The Beautiful Millwoman” (1823) and “Winter Road” (1827), the collection “Swan Song” (1828), “The Third Song of Ellen” (“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

  In honor of musical piece Franz Schubert "Rosamund" named the asteroid (540) Rosamund, discovered in 1904 [ ] .

  see also

  Notes

  1. , With. 609.
  2. Schubert Franz Peter / Yu. N. Khokhlov // Great Soviet encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
  3. Schubert Franz (undefined) . Collier's Encyclopedia. - Open society. 2000. Retrieved March 24, 2012. Archived May 31, 2012.
  4. // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
  5. Walther Dürr, Andreas Krause (Hrsg.): Schubert Handbuch, Bärenreiter/Metzler, Kassel u.a. bzw. Stuttgart u.a., 2. Aufl. 2007, S. 68, ISBN 978-3-7618-2041-4
  6. Dietmar Grieser: Der Onkel aus Preßburg. Auf österreichischen Spuren durch die Slowakei, Amalthea-Verlag, Wien 2009, ISBN 978-3-85002-684-0, S. 184
  7. Andreas Otte, Konrad Wink. Kerners Krankheiten großer Musiker. - Schattauer, Stuttgart/New York, 6. Aufl. 2008, S. 169,

  Franz Schubert(31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828), Austrian composer, one of the founders musical romanticism, author of nine symphonies, about 600 vocal compositions, a large amount of chamber and solo piano music.

  Everyone's creativity great artist is a mystery with many unknowns. The greatness of Schubert - and it is beyond any doubt - also raises big questions for art historians. The amazing productivity alone, which allowed Schubert to create as many works in just 18 years as other composers could not create in a much longer period, generates interest in the composer’s living conditions and in the sources from which the genius drew his inspiration. For, despite the fact that the composer’s pen quickly slid across the music paper, it would be deeply mistaken to consider Schubert’s work as some kind of spontaneous phenomenon.

  The artist’s creativity, no matter how much it impresses us with its fertility alone, does not flow outside of human society and independently of it. Constantly confronted with social reality, the artist draws from it more and more strength, and no matter how rich Schubert’s specific musical data was, no matter how uncontrollable his creative impulse was, the path of its development was determined by Schubert’s attitude as a person to the social conditions that reigned at that time. era in his country.

  The music of his people constituted for Schubert not only the soil that nourished all his work. By asserting it in his works, Schubert thereby defends the interests of the common man of the people, in defense of his natural and vital democratic rights. The voice of the “common” man, sounding in Schubert’s music, was a true reflection of the composer’s realistic attitude towards the working people.

  Schubert lived only thirty-one years. He died, physically and mentally exhausted, exhausted by failures in life. 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. In your dissatisfaction surrounding life Schubert was not alone. This dissatisfaction and protest of the best people of society were reflected in a new direction in art - romanticism. Schubert was one of the first Romantic composers.

  Franz Schubert was born in 1797 in the Vienna suburb of Lichtenthal. His father, a school teacher, came from a peasant family. Mother was the daughter of a mechanic. The family loved music very much and constantly organized musical evenings. His father played the cello, and his brothers played various instruments.

  Having discovered musical abilities in little Franz, his father and older brother Ignatz began to teach him to play the violin and piano. Soon the boy was able to take part in home performances of string quartets, playing the viola part. Franz had a wonderful voice. He sang in the church choir, performing difficult solo parts. The father was pleased with his son's success. When Franz was eleven years old, he was assigned to a convict school for training church singers.

  Situation educational institution favored the development of the boy's musical abilities. In the school student orchestra, he played in the first violin group, and sometimes even served as conductor. The orchestra's repertoire was varied. Schubert met symphonic works various genres (symphonies, overtures), quartets, vocal compositions. He confided to his friends that Mozart's Symphony in G Minor shocked him. High example Beethoven's music became for him.

  Already in those years, Schubert began to compose. His first works are Fantasia for piano, a number of songs. The young composer writes a lot, with great passion, often to the detriment of other school activities. The boy's outstanding abilities attracted the attention of the famous court composer Salieri, with whom Schubert studied for a year.

  Over time, rapid development musical talent Franz began to cause concern in his father. Knowing well how difficult the path of musicians was, even world famous ones, the father wanted to protect his son from a similar fate. As punishment for his excessive passion for music, he even forbade him to holidays be at home. But no prohibitions could delay the development of the boy’s talent. Schubert decided to break with the convict. Throw away boring and unnecessary textbooks, forget about worthless cramming that drains your heart and mind, and go free. Give yourself entirely to music, live only by it and for its sake.

  On October 28, 1813, he completed his first symphony in D major. On last sheet Schubert wrote "The End and the End" for the score. The end of the symphony and the end of the convict.

  For three years he served as a teacher's assistant, teaching children literacy and other elementary subjects. But his attraction to music and his desire to compose is becoming stronger. One can only be amazed at the resilience of his creative nature. It was during these years of school hard labor, from 1814 to 1817, when it seemed that everything was against him, that he created an amazing number of works. In 1815 alone, Schubert wrote 144 songs, 4 operas, 2 symphonies, 2 masses, 2 piano sonatas, string Quartet.

  Among the creations of this period there are many that are illuminated by the unfading flame of genius. These are the Tragic and Fifth B-flat major symphonies, as well as the songs “Rosochka”, “Margarita at the Spinning Wheel”, “The Forest Tsar”. “Margarita at the Spinning Wheel” is a monodrama, a confession of the soul.

  "The Forest King" - a drama with several actors. They have their own characters, sharply different from each other, their own actions, completely dissimilar, their own aspirations, opposing and hostile, their own feelings, incompatible and polar. The story behind the creation of this masterpiece is amazing. It arose in a fit of inspiration. “One day,” recalls Shpaun, a friend of the composer, “we went to see Schubert, who was then living with his father. We found our friend in the greatest excitement. With a book in his hand, he walked back and forth around the room, reading aloud “The King of the Forest.” Suddenly he sat down at the table and began to write. When he stood up, the magnificent ballad was ready."

  The father's desire to make his son a teacher with a small but reliable income failed. The young composer firmly decided to devote himself to music and left teaching at school. He was not afraid of a quarrel with his father. The entire subsequent short life of Schubert represents a creative feat. Experiencing great material need and deprivation, he worked tirelessly, creating one work after another.

  Financial adversity, unfortunately, prevented him from marrying his beloved girl. Teresa Grob sang in the church choir. From the very first rehearsals, Schubert noticed her. Blonde-haired, with whitish eyebrows, as if faded in the sun, and a freckled face, like most dull blondes, she did not sparkle with beauty at all. Rather, on the contrary - at first glance she seemed ugly. On round face traces of smallpox were clearly visible. But as soon as the music sounded, the colorless face was transformed. It had just been extinguished and therefore lifeless. Now, illuminated inner light, it lived and radiated.

  No matter how accustomed Schubert was to the callousness of fate, he did not imagine that she would treat him so cruelly. “Happy is he who finds a true friend. The one who finds it in his wife is even happier,” he wrote in his diary.

  However, the dreams went to waste. Teresa's mother, who raised her without a father, intervened. Her father owned a small silk spinning factory. Having died, he left the family a small fortune, and the widow turned all her worries to ensuring that the already meager capital did not decrease. Naturally, she pinned hopes for a better future on her daughter’s marriage. And it is even more natural that Schubert did not suit her.

  In addition to the penny salary of an assistant schoolteacher, he had music, which, as we know, is not capital. You can live by music, but you can’t live by it. A submissive girl from the suburbs, brought up in subordination to her elders, did not even allow disobedience in her thoughts. The only thing she allowed herself was tears. Having cried quietly until the wedding, Teresa walked down the aisle with swollen eyes. She became the wife of a pastry chef and lived a long, monotonously prosperous, gray life, dying at the age of seventy-eight. By the time she was taken to the cemetery, Schubert’s ashes had long since decayed in the grave.

  For several years (from 1817 to 1822) Schubert lived alternately with one or the other of his comrades. Some of them (Spaun and Stadler) were friends of the composer from the convict days. Later they were joined by the multi-talented artist Schober, the artist Schwind, the poet Mayrhofer, the singer Vogl and others. The soul of this circle was Schubert. Vertically challenged, dense, stocky, very short-sighted, Schubert had enormous charm. His radiant eyes were especially beautiful, in which, as in a mirror, kindness, shyness and gentleness of character were reflected. And his delicate, changeable complexion and curly brown hair gave his appearance a special attractiveness.

  During meetings, friends got acquainted with fiction, poetry of the past and present. They argued heatedly, discussing issues that arose, and criticized the existing social order. But sometimes such meetings were devoted exclusively to Schubert’s music; they even received the name “Schubertiad”. On such evenings, the composer did not leave the piano, immediately composing ecosaises, waltzes, landlers and other dances. Many of them remained unrecorded. Schubert's songs, which he often performed himself, evoked no less admiration.

  Often these friendly gatherings turned into country walks. Saturated with bold, lively thought, poetry, and beautiful music, these meetings represented a rare contrast with the empty and meaningless entertainment of secular youth.

  The unsettled life and cheerful entertainment could not distract Schubert from his creative, stormy, continuous, inspired work. He worked systematically, day after day. “I compose every morning, when I finish one piece, I start another,” the composer admitted. Schubert composed music unusually quickly. IN individual days he created up to a dozen songs! Musical thoughts were born continuously, the composer barely had time to write them down on paper. And if she wasn’t at hand, he wrote to back side menu, on scraps and scraps. Needing money, he especially suffered from a lack of music paper. Caring friends supplied the composer with it.

  Music also visited him in his dreams. When he woke up, he tried to write it down as soon as possible, so he did not part with his glasses even at night. And if the work did not immediately develop into a perfect and complete form, the composer continued to work on it until he was completely satisfied. Thus, for some poetic texts, Schubert wrote up to seven versions of songs!

  During this period, Schubert wrote two of his wonderful works - “The Unfinished Symphony” and the song cycle “The Beautiful Miller's Wife”.

  “The Unfinished Symphony” does not consist of four movements, as is customary, but of two. And the point is not at all that Schubert did not have time to finish the remaining two parts. He started on the third - a minuet, as demanded classical symphony, but abandoned his idea. The symphony, as it sounded, was completely completed. Everything else would be superfluous and unnecessary. And if the classical form requires two more parts, you have to give up the form. Which is what he did.

  Schubert's element was song. In it he achieved unprecedented heights. He elevated the genre, previously considered insignificant, to the level of artistic perfection. And having done this, he went further - saturated with songfulness chamber music- quartets, quintets, - and then symphonic. The combination of what seemed incompatible - miniature with large-scale, small with large, song with symphony - gave a new, qualitatively different from everything that came before - a lyric-romantic symphony.

  Her world is a world of simple and intimate human feelings, subtle and deep. psychological experiences. This is a confession of the soul, expressed not with a pen or a word, but with sound. The song cycle “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” is a clear confirmation of this. Schubert wrote it based on poems by the German poet Wilhelm Müller. “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” is an inspired creation, illuminated by gentle poetry, joy, and the romance of pure and high feelings. The cycle consists of twenty separate songs. And all together they form a single dramatic play with a beginning, twists and turns, and a denouement, with one lyrical hero - a wandering mill apprentice. However, the hero in “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” is not alone. Next to him there is another, no less important hero - a stream. He lives his stormy, intensely changing life.

  Works last decade Schubert's life is very varied. He writes symphonies, piano sonatas, quartets, quintets, trios, masses, operas, a lot of songs and much other music. But during the composer’s lifetime his works were rarely performed, and most of they remained in manuscripts. Having neither funds nor influential patrons, Schubert had almost no opportunity to publish his works.

  Songs, the main thing in Schubert's work, were then considered more suitable for home music playing than for open concerts. Compared to the symphony and opera, songs were not considered important musical genres. Not a single Schubert opera was accepted for production, and not a single one of his symphonies was performed by an orchestra. Moreover, the notes of his best Eighth and Ninth Symphonies were found only many years after the composer's death. And the songs based on Goethe’s words, sent to him by Schubert, never received the poet’s attention.

  Shyness, inability to manage his affairs, reluctance to ask, to humiliate himself in front of influential people were also an important reason for the composer’s constant financial difficulties. But, despite the constant lack of money, and often hunger, the composer did not want to go either into the service of Prince Esterhazy or as a court organist, where he was invited.

  At times, Schubert did not even have a piano and composed without an instrument, but neither this nor financial difficulties prevented him from composing music. And yet the Viennese recognized and fell in love with his music, which itself made its way to their hearts. Like the old ones folk songs, passed from singer to singer, his works gradually gained admirers. These were not regulars of brilliant court salons, representatives of the upper class.

  Like a forest stream, Schubert's music found its way to the hearts of ordinary residents of Vienna and its suburbs. A major role was played here by the outstanding singer of that time, Johann Michael Vogl, who performed Schubert's songs to the accompaniment of the composer himself.

  Insecurity and continuous failures in life had a serious impact on Schubert's health. His body was exhausted. Reconciliation with father in the last years of life, calmer, balanced home life they couldn't change anything anymore.

  Schubert could not stop composing music; this was the meaning of his life. But creativity required a huge expenditure of effort and energy, which became less and less every day.

  At twenty-seven years old, the composer wrote to his friend Schober: “...I feel unhappy, the most insignificant person in the world..." This mood was reflected in the music last period. If earlier Schubert created mainly light, joyful works, then a year before his death he wrote songs, combining them common name"Winter Way".

  This has never happened to him before. He wrote about suffering and suffered. He wrote about hopeless melancholy and was hopelessly melancholy. He wrote about the excruciating pain of the soul and experienced mental anguish. "Winter Way" is a journey through torment, and lyrical hero, and the author.

  The cycle, written in the blood of the heart, excites the blood and stirs the hearts. A thin thread woven by the artist connected the soul of one person with the souls of millions of people with an invisible but indissoluble connection. She opened their hearts to the flow of feelings rushing from his heart.

  This is not the first time the composer has addressed the theme of romantic wanderings, but its embodiment has never been so dramatic. The cycle is based on the image of a lonely wanderer, wandering aimlessly along a dull road in deep melancholy. All the best things in his life are in the past. The traveler torments himself with memories, poisoning his soul.

  In addition to the “Winter Reise” cycle, other works of 1827 include popular piano impromptu and musical moments. They are the founders of new genres of piano music, later so beloved by composers (Liszt, Chopin, Rachmaninov).

  So, Schubert creates more and more new, uniquely wonderful works, and no difficult circumstances can stop this wonderful inexhaustible flow.

  The last year of Schubert's life - 1828 - surpasses all previous ones in the intensity of his creativity. Schubert's talent reached full bloom. The composer felt a surge of strength and energy. An event that happened at the beginning of the year played a huge role in this. Through the efforts of friends, the only concert of his works during Schubert’s lifetime was organized. The concert was a huge success and brought great joy to the composer. His plans for the future became more rosy. Despite his failing health, he continues to compose.

  The end came unexpectedly. Schubert fell ill with typhus. But, despite his progressive illness, he still composed a lot. In addition, he studies the work of Handel, deeply admiring his music and skill. Not heeding the formidable symptoms of the disease, he decides to start studying again, considering his work not technically advanced enough.

  But the weakened body could not stand it serious illness, and on November 19, 1828, Schubert died. The composer's body was buried in Bering, not far from Beethoven's grave.

  The remaining property went for pennies. Friends organized a fundraiser for tombstone. Famous poet of that time Grillparzer, who composed a year earlier funeral eulogy Beethoven, wrote on a modest monument to Schubert in a Vienna cemetery: “Here music buried not only a rich treasure, but also countless hopes.”

  In Vienna, in the family of a school teacher.

  Schubert's exceptional musical abilities were evident in early childhood. From the age of seven he studied playing several instruments, singing, and theoretical disciplines.

  At the age of 11, Schubert attended a boarding school for soloists of the court chapel, where, in addition to singing, he studied playing many instruments and music theory under the guidance of Antonio Salieri.

  While studying at the chapel in 1810-1813, he wrote many works: an opera, a symphony, piano pieces and songs.

  In 1813 he entered the teachers' seminary, and in 1814 he began teaching at the school where his father served. In his spare time, Schubert composed his first mass and set Johann Goethe's poem "Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel" to music.

  His numerous songs date back to 1815, including “The Forest King” to words by Johann Goethe, the 2nd and 3rd symphonies, three masses and four singspiels (a comic opera with spoken dialogue).

  In 1816, the composer completed the 4th and 5th symphonies and wrote more than 100 songs.

  Wanting to devote himself entirely to music, Schubert left his job at school (this led to a break in relations with his father).

  In Želiz, the summer residence of Count Johann Esterházy, he served as a music teacher.

  At the same time, the young composer became close to the famous Viennese singer Johann Vogl (1768-1840), who became a propagandist vocal creativity Schubert. During the second half of the 1810s, numerous new songs came from Schubert's pen, including the popular "The Wanderer", "Ganymede", "Forellen", and the 6th Symphony. His singspiel "The Twin Brothers", written in 1820 for Vogl and staged at the Kärntnertor Theater in Vienna, was not particularly successful, but brought Schubert fame. A more serious achievement was the melodrama "The Magic Harp", staged a few months later at the Theater an der Wien.

  He enjoyed the patronage of aristocratic families. Schubert's friends published 20 of his songs by private subscription, but the opera Alfonso and Estrella with a libretto by Franz von Schober, which Schubert considered his great success, was rejected.

  In the 1820s, the composer created instrumental works: the lyrical-dramatic “Unfinished” symphony (1822) and the epic, life-affirming C major (the last, ninth in a row).

  In 1823 he wrote vocal cycle"The Beautiful Miller's Wife" to the words of the German poet Wilhelm Müller, the opera "Fiebras", the singspiel "The Conspirators".

  In 1824, Schubert created string quartets A-moll and D-moll (its second part is variations on a theme of more early song Schubert's "Death and the Maiden") and the six-movement Octet for winds and strings.

  In the summer of 1825, in Gmunden near Vienna, Schubert made sketches of his last symphony, the so-called “Bolshoi”.

  In the second half of the 1820s, Schubert enjoyed a very high reputation in Vienna - his concerts with Vogl attracted large audiences, and publishers willingly published the composer's new songs, as well as plays and sonatas for piano. Among Schubert's works of 1825-1826, the piano sonatas, the last string quartet and some songs, including "The Young Nun" and Ave Maria, stand out.

  Schubert's work was actively covered in the press, he was elected a member of the Vienna Society of Friends of Music. March 26, 1828 composer with great success gave an author's concert in the society hall.

  This period includes the vocal cycle "Winterreise" (24 songs with words by Müller), two notebooks of impromptu piano, two piano trios and masterpieces of the last months of Schubert's life - the Es-dur Mass, the last three piano sonatas, the String Quintet and 14 songs, published after Schubert's death in the form of a collection entitled "Swan Song".

  On November 19, 1828, Franz Schubert died in Vienna of typhus at the age of 31. He was buried in Waring Cemetery (now Schubert Park) in north-west Vienna next to the composer Ludwig van Beethoven, who had died a year earlier. On January 22, 1888, Schubert's ashes were reburied in the Vienna Central Cemetery.

  Before late XIX century, a significant part of the composer's extensive legacy remained unpublished. The manuscript of the "Grand" symphony was discovered by composer Robert Schumann in the late 1830s - it was first performed in 1839 in Leipzig under the baton of German composer and conductor Felix Mendelssohn. The first performance of the String Quintet took place in 1850, and the first performance of the Unfinished Symphony in 1865. The catalog of Schubert's works includes about one thousand items - six masses, eight symphonies, about 160 vocal ensembles, over 20 completed and unfinished piano sonatas and over 600 songs for voice and piano.

  The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

  K. Vasilyeva
  Franz Schubert
  1797 - 1828
  short essay life and creativity
  book for young people
  "Music", 1969
  (pdf, 3 MB)

  The fate of wonderful people is amazing! They have two lives: one ends with their death; the other continues after the death of the author in his creations and, perhaps, will never fade away, preserved by subsequent generations, grateful to the creator for the joy that the fruits of his labor bring to people. Sometimes the life of these creatures (be it works of art, inventions, discoveries) begins only after death of the creator, no matter how sad it is.
  This is exactly how the fate of Schubert and his works unfolded. Most of it best essays, especially large genres, were not heard by the author. Much of his music might have disappeared without a trace if not for the vigorous search and enormous work of some ardent connoisseurs of Schubert (including such musicians as Schumann and Brahms).
  And so, when the great musician’s warm heart stopped beating, his best works began to be “born again”, they started talking about the composer, captivating listeners with their beauty, deep content and skill.

  His music gradually began to sound everywhere where true art was appreciated.
  Speaking about the peculiarities of Schubert’s work, academician B.V. Asafiev notes in him “the rare ability to be a lyricist, but not to withdraw into one’s personal world, but to feel and convey the joys and sorrows of life in the way that most people feel and would like to convey them.” Perhaps it is impossible to more accurately and deeply express the main thing in Schubert’s music, what its historical role is. Schubert created a huge number of works of all genres that existed in his time without exception - from vocal and piano miniatures to symphonies.
  In every area except theater music, he said a unique and new word, left wonderful works that are still alive today. Given their abundance, one is struck by the extraordinary variety of melody, rhythm, and harmony.
  “What an inexhaustible wealth of melodic invention there was in this untimely ended
  his career as a composer,” Tchaikovsky wrote with admiration. “What a luxury of fantasy and sharply defined originality!”
  Schubert's song wealth is especially great. His songs are valuable and dear to us not only as independent works of art. They helped the composer find his musical language in other genres. The connection with the songs was not only in the general intonations and rhythms, but also in the peculiarities of presentation, development of themes, expressiveness and colorfulness of harmonic means. Schubert opened the way for many new musical genres - impromptu, musical moments, song cycles, lyric-dramatic symphony. But no matter what genre Schubert wrote - traditional or created by him - everywhere he acts as a composer new era, romantic era, although his work is firmly based on classical musical art.
  Many features of the new romantic style were then developed in the works of Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, and Russian composers of the second half of the 19th century century.

  Schubert's music is dear to us not only as a magnificent artistic monument. It deeply moves listeners. Whether it splashes with fun, plunges you into deep thoughts, or causes suffering - it is close, understandable to everyone, it reveals so clearly and truthfully human feelings and thoughts expressed by the great Schubert in his boundless simplicity.
  

  MAIN WORKS OF SCHUBERT

  For symphony orchestra
  Eight symphonies, including:
  Symphony No. 4, C minor (Tragic), 1816
  Symphony No. 5, B flat major, 1816
  Symphony No. 7, B minor (Unfinished), 1822
  Symphony No. 8, C major, 1828
  Seven overtures.

  Vocal works (notes)
  Over 600 songs, including:
  Cycle “The Beautiful Miller's Wife”, 1823
  Cycle "Winter Retreat", 1827
  Collection “Swan Song” (posthumous), 1828
  More than 70 songs based on Goethe's texts, among them:
  "Margarita at the Spinning Wheel", 1814
  "The Forest King", 1815
  More than 30 spiritual works, including:
  Mass in A flat major, 1822
  Mass in E flat major, 1828
  More than 70 secular works for choir and various ensembles.

  Chamber ensembles
  Fifteen quartets, including:
  Quartet in A minor, 1824
  Quartet in D minor, 1826
  Quintet "Trout", 1819
  String Quintet, 1828
  Two piano trios, 1826 and 1827.
  Octet, 1824

  
  Piano works
  Eight impromptu songs, 1827-1828.
  Six musical moments, 1827
  Fantasy "The Wanderer", 1822
  Fifteen sonatas, including:
  Sonata in A minor, 1823
  Sonata in A major, 1825
  Sonata in B flat major, 1828
  56 piano duets.
  Hungarian divertissement, 1824
  Fantasia in F minor, 1828
  24 collections of dances.

  Musical and dramatic works
  Eight Singspiels, including:
  "Friends from Salamanca", 1815
  "Twins", 1819
  Operas:
  "Alfonso and Estrella", 1822
  "Fierabras", 1823
  "Home War" ("Conspirators"), 1823
  The rest are not finished.
  Melodrama “The Magic Harp”, 1820