Franz Schubert

Romanticism

He stands at the transition from Viennese Classicism to Romanticism.

💡 Did you know? Schubert stands at the transition from Classicism to Romanticism: in only 31 years he created a vast body of work fully recognised only after his death.

Vienna

Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms all moved to Vienna later in life: Schubert was the genuine Viennese.

💡 Did you know? Alone among the great „Viennese classics“, Schubert was actually a native of Vienna: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven all came from elsewhere.

prince of song

He brought the art song for voice and piano to its highest flowering.

💡 Did you know? As the „prince of song“, Schubert raised the simple song to high art: piano and voice merging into an inseparable whole.

more than 600

Including 'Der Erlkönig', 'The Trout' and 'Ave Maria'.

💡 Did you know? Schubert wrote over 600 songs: in 1815 alone, at just 18, he composed around 140 of them.

Der Erlkönig

The galloping piano depicts the father riding through the night: one of the most famous songs ever written.

💡 Did you know? The dramatic „Erlkönig“ after Goethe was reputedly written by the 18-year-old Schubert in a single afternoon of feverish inspiration.

Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise

Both set poems by Wilhelm Müller; the bleak 'Winterreise' was written in the year before his death.

💡 Did you know? His two great song cycles „Die schöne Müllerin“ and the bleak „Winterreise“ are considered the pinnacle of the art song.

the Unfinished

Why he never completed it is unexplained: it was first performed only in 1865, decades after his death.

💡 Did you know? Only two movements of the „Unfinished“ exist: why Schubert left the symphony is still a mystery; it was premiered only decades after his death.

Trout Quintet

Its fourth movement is a set of variations on his song 'Die Forelle' ('The Trout').

💡 Did you know? The cheerful „Trout Quintet“ works Schubert's own song „Die Forelle“ into one of its movements: still a chamber-music favourite.

Schubertiades

Schubert at the piano, plus singing, readings and dancing: music festivals still carry the name today.

💡 Did you know? At the convivial „Schubertiades“, friends gathered over wine and music to play and sing Schubert's works exclusively.

Beethoven

He idolised Beethoven and, at his own wish, was buried near him.

💡 Did you know? Schubert deeply revered Beethoven and carried a torch at his funeral in 1827: only a year later he died himself and, at his own wish, was buried near Beethoven.

31

He died in Vienna in 1828, just one year after Beethoven.

💡 Did you know? His epitaph reads: 'The art of music here entombed a rich possession, but even far fairer hopes.'

Robert Schumann

Schumann found the score at Schubert's brother's home in 1839; Mendelssohn conducted the premiere in Leipzig.

💡 Did you know? Schubert's Great C major Symphony fell into oblivion after his death, until Robert Schumann rediscovered it in Vienna in 1839 and praised its „heavenly length“.

Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert was an Austrian composer at the threshold of Romanticism who perfected the art song as the „prince of song“: in only 31 years.

💡 Did you know? He created over 600 songs, revered Beethoven and, at his own wish, was buried near him.