Franz Peter Schubert - Essay Example

Franz Schubert Introduction: Franz Schubert is primarily known for founding the 19th century German lied and for being one of the most prolific composers there had been. Schubert was born in Vienna, Austria in January 31, 1797 and also died there in November 19, 1928 (Hurd 294). His Life: Schubert acquired his great passion and inclination to music as he was born and raised into a very musical family. His father, a schoolmaster was his first violin teacher during his childhood. A few years later, Schubert was handed to an elder brother for piano lessons. The musician grew up surrounded by music as his family and friends had established a habit of playing together (Hurd 294). Reaching the age of nine, he began studying harmony and counterpoint with Michael Holzer, a local organist. Two years later, Schubert was able to get in the Court Chapel of Vienna as a chorister. This greatly helped in his development as a musician and as his new school allowed him to conduct, play and write music to be performed. This served as a perfect training ground for him to become a composer (Hurd 294). By 1811, Schubert has already written numerous musical compositions. His skill in composition was regarded to as “natural and spontaneous” which did not necessitate him to be under his teacher Saliere’s supervision. The death of his mother in 1813 ended his school life. He felt obliged to train as a teacher and help his father. He became an assistant in his father’s school the following year. However, he had still longed to devote himself solely to his compositions that he had produced a remarkable number of musical pieces during the period. He worked at his father’s office until the spring of 1986 and pursued his application for a higher position. From that year onwards, he failed to get a regular job. He became a freelance musician, earning money only where and when opportunity allowed him. The popularity of his music won him a lot of friends who supported him when he was financially incapable. He was not really concerned on generating income to feed and clothe himself. All he wanted to do was to focus on his musical career by writing compositions (Hurd 294). Schubert’s works have gained wide popularity and they began to appear in print in 1821. At first, his musical compositions were paid for by private subscribers. However, his musical genius was highly regarded as he was later paid by regular publishers. Entering a new a more assured phase, he wrote more piano sonatas and was elected to the Vienna Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Franz Schubert). Schubert became famous in Viennese musical circles. Schubert-Evenings or Schubertiads were frequently conducted where he played his latest works to his friends who were artists, poets, and wealthy bourgeoisie. His circle of friends includes Josef von Spaun, Johann Mayrhofer and Franz von Schober. This elite circle gave him access to influential contacts like the Sonnleithners and the baritone J.M. Volg (Franz Schubert). The death of Schubert in 1828 was due to typhus. After a few days’ illness, he died and was buried in a grave near Beethoven’s (Hurd 294). His Music: Schubert is known as one o the most prolific composers of melodies in his period, with his capacity to write almost eight compositions in a day. Schubert wrote over 600 songs. The two most famous are Die Schune Mullerin and Die Winterreise. His most well known chamber music includes Piano Quintet in A major—The Trout, Piano Quartet in D minor—‘The Death of the Maiden,’ Octet in F major and String Quintet in C major. He was able to writ 15 string quartets, 14 piano sonatas, and sets of dances and variations for piano, as well as the remarkable ‘Wanderer Fantasy.’ Schubert has composed 10 symphonies, the most important ones are No. 4 in C minor—‘The Tragic,’ No. 5 in B flat major, No. 6 in C major, No. 8 in B minor--‘The Unfinished,’ and No. 9 in C major—‘The Great C major.” His choral music includes Mass in A flat, Mass in E flat, and many short choral songs with piano accompaniment. Schubert also ventured in writing opera which includes Alfonso and Estrella and Fierrabras (Hurd 295). His Musical Style Franz Schubert and his music thrived during the transition of classic and romantic period. His compositions constitute the features of a ‘programmed music’, i.e., music that deliberately sets out to ‘tell a story, or ‘paint a picture’, which made him as a complete romantic composer. The outburst of lyric poetry during the period has become an important factor in his musical compositions. His songs fall into four main structural groups classified as simple, strophic, modified strophic, through-composed, and the ‘scena type.’ He utilized the lyric of the poems from Goethe, Schiller and Heine (Franz Schubert). The main reasons for the popularity of Schubert’s work lies in the “direct appeal of their melody but also and the general attractiveness of his idiom but also in his unfailing ability to capture musically both the spirit of a poem and much of its external detail.” The musician is known to have used harmony in representing emotional change and “accompaniment figuration to illustrate poetic images.” Accompaniment figurations include moving water, shimmering star, and church bell (Franz Schubert). Schubert’s music is widely known for their unique quality which can be described as “friendliness.” Though his music was very profound in nature, the listeners would get a feeling that his music was composed for his friends rather than for a “public.” For this reason, his music was deeply and easily appreciated by listeners. However, the “easiness” in his composition makes one overlook the profoundness of the composer (Hurd 294). Schubert and His Compositions for Dance As a prolific composer, Schubert was able to write compositions for dances which were used in public performances. His Sonata In A Major, Opus 162, D. 574 for Violin and Piano was choreographed by Richard Tanner and was performed by Wendy Whelan, Nikolaj Hübbe, Yvonne Borrée, Ethan Stiefel, Benjamin Bowman, Monique Meunier, and Jock Soto at the New York State Theater in 1994 (A Schubert Sonata). Another world famous performance which utilized Schubert’s Music was Winterreise which was choreographed by Trisha Brown. This made use of Schubert’s song cycles and was performed at the Theater Royal New Castle in 2003 (Winterreise). Recent performances include Impromptus which was shown last August 15 and 16 for the Edinburgh International Festival. The performance was choreographed by Sasha Waltz (Festival Dance 2005). Works Cited “A Schubert Sonata.” New York City Ballet. 11 Oct 2005. New York City Ballet. 12 Oct 2005. “Festival Dance 2005.” Edinburgh International Festival. 2005. Ballet.co. 11 Oct. 2005. “Franz Schubert.” Classical Music Pages. 1 February 1996. Mat Boynick. 11 Oct. 2005. < http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/schubert.html> Hurd, Michael. The Oxford Junior Companion to Music. Chancellor Press: 1990 “Winterreise.” GOPERA.com. 2005. Gopera.com. 12 Oct 2005. < http://www.gopera.com/> Read More