Franz Peter Schubert (January 31, 1797 ??? November 19, 1828) was an Austrian composer. He wrote some 600 lieder, nine symphonies (including the famous "Unfinished Symphony"), liturgical music, operas, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music. He is particularly noted for his original melodic and harmonic writing. Schubert was born into a musically knowledgeable family, and received formal musical training through much of his childhood. While Schubert had a close circle of friends and associates who admired his work (including his teacher Antonio Salieri, and the prominent singer Johann Michael Vogl), wide appreciation of his music during his lifetime was limited at best. He was never able to secure adequate permanent employment, and for most of his career he relied on the support of friends and family. He made some money from published works, and occasionally gave private musical instruction. In the last year of his life he began to receive wider acclaim. He died at the age of 31, apparently of complications from syphilis. Interest in Schubert's work increased dramatically in the decades following his death. Composers like Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn discovered, collected, and championed his works in the 19th century, as did musicologist Sir George Grove. Franz Schubert is now widely considered to be one of the greatest composers in the Western tradition. Biography Early life and education Schubert was born in Vienna on January 31, 1797. His father, Franz Theodor Schubert, the son of a Moravian peasant, was a parish schoolmaster; his mother, Elizabeth Vietz was the daughter of a Silesian master locksmith, and had also been a housemaid for a Viennese family prior to her marriage. Of Franz Theodor's sixteen children (one illegitimate child was born in 1783),[1] eleven died in infancy; five survived. Their father was a well-known teacher, and his school in Lichtental, a part of Vienna's 9th district, was well attended.[2]
1 | Impromptu for piano in E flat major | Masters of Classical Music, Vol. 9 |
2 | Symphony No. 8 in B minor "Unfinished": Allegro mo | Masters of Classical Music, Vol. 9 |
3 | Ave Maria | Masters of Classical Music, Vol. 9 |
4 | Entr'acte No. 02 from "Rosamunde" | Masters of Classical Music, Vol. 9 |
5 | Ständchen | Masters of Classical Music, Vol. 9 |
6 | Entr'acte No. 01 from "Rosamunde" | Masters of Classical Music, Vol. 9 |
7 | Moment musical in A flat major | Masters of Classical Music, Vol. 9 |
8 | Ballet Music No. 02 from "Rosamunde" | Masters of Classical Music, Vol. 9 |
9 | Trout Quintet: Tema con variazioni | Masters of Classical Music, Vol. 9 |
10 | Moment musical No. 03 in F minor | Masters of Classical Music, Vol. 9 |