Franz Schubert, Term Paper Example

Franz Schubert: His Life and Music

Franz Peter Schubert was born on January 31, 1797 in the city of Vienna, Austria, and as a young boy studied under Antonio Salieri who also had a rather disruptive relationship with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. At the age of ten, Schubert excelled as a soprano in a local Viennese church choir which resulted in becoming a student at the Imperial Choristers School in 1808 where he “soon gave evidence of extraordinary musical genius as a composer” via composing a work for pianoforte in 1810 (Knight, “Franz Schubert”). Two years later, Schubert left the school and found work as a schoolmaster in order to avoid conscription into the Viennese army (Knight, “Franz Schubert”).

At the age of seventeen, Schubert wrote his first true musical composition “First Mass in F” which was performed at the Lichtenthal church where Schubert had sung in the choir some four years earlier. Many musical scholars consider this “First Mass in F” as being “the most wonderful first work by any composer save the case of Beethoven’s “Mass in C” (Knight, “Franz Schubert”). The second performance of this mass was given at the Augustinian church on October 26, 1810 with his brother Ferdinand playing the organ as an accompaniment (Knight, “Franz Schubert”).

Between 1810 and 1826, Schubert composed a very long list of musical works,

ranging from “Erl King” and “Mass in G” which he wrote at the age of eighteen, several symphonies, and a number of songs, such as “Wanderer.” During the time, Schubert also conducted his own music at the Alterehenfelder church in Vienna and wrote an Easter cantata and even a complete opera. Between 1821 and 1824, Schubert produced some of his most famous musical compositions, such as “Rosamunde” and “Mass in A flat” which today are treasured additions to the middle years of the Classical period. This also includes “Ave Maria” which Schubert once admitted was written due to an “overpowering devotion to the Blessed Virgin” (Knight, “Franz Schubert”).

In 1827, Schubert paid a visit to his musical mentor Ludwig Van Beethoven who at the time was near death. When Beethoven died, Schubert was given the great honor of helping to carry the body of Beethoven to his final resting place as a torchbearer. During this year, Schubert also composed another opera, several songs, and the second part of his famous “Winterreise.” Also during this time, Schubert became a member of the prestigious Musical Society of Vienna, and in 1828, “produced his marvelous “Symphony in C”, “Mass in E flat”, an oratorio, a string quartet, “Tantum Ergo” in E flat” and several other important works (Knight, “Franz Schubert”). At the young age of thirty-one, Franz Schubert succumbed to the ravages of syphilis, dying on November 18, 1828.

Much like other composers of the Classical Period, Schubert’s extraordinary music was under-appreciated and it was not until some thirty years after his death that critics and the public came to understand his amazing musical genius. As so many musical scholars have pointed out, Schubert’s life symbolizes “the quintessential example of the Romantic notion of the neglected genius who dies in obscurity,” and compared to Mozart who experienced “a harsher life and greater obstacles” and to a great extent realized “a modicum of recognition in his own lifetime,” Schubert’s musical accomplishments went unrecognized until the latter part of the 19th century (“Franz Schubert, 1797-1828”).

Although Schubert composed a large number of musical works during his short life, there are several that stand out as true masterpieces of the Classical Period. When Schubert died in 1828, he left behind seven complete symphonies; six of these were composed between 1813 and 1818. For example, Schubert’s “First Symphony in D major” of 1813 was heavily influenced by Beethoven’s Second and Third Symphonies and exhibits within its orchestration a sort of rustic quality that is “genuinely Mozartian via the doubling of the violin part in the lower octave by the bassoon” which often appeared in Schubert’s later symphonic works (“Franz Peter Schubert”). There is also Schubert’s “Second Symphony in B flat major,” composed in 1814, and like the First Symphony exhibits the standard “Schubertian breadth of melodic development, extensive modulations,” and some rather astonishing harmonic shifts (“Franz Peter Schubert”).

Schubert’s exuberance for symphonic works came to a head with his “Third Symphony in D major” which was written two months after his Second Symphony. This work is truly the first example of Schubert’s “inimitable intonation” and as a musical composition exhibits the “customary slow movement which is replaced by a joyful allegretto. The “Trio” section is “unmistakably reminiscent of the so-called “Deutscher” or dance music of Germany and like the First Symphony displays “rustic melodies that could be heard in the wine taverns” of the local Viennese villages (“Franz Peter Schubert”).

Although Schubert was not considered during his lifetime as a piano virtuoso, he nevertheless composed a number of exquisite pieces for solo piano and duets. For example, his “Sonata in C minor” is undoubtedly the most “dramatic, intense, poignant and frightening” of his earliest piano pieces, due to displaying the vigorous spirit of his mentor, Ludwig Van Beethoven. In contrast, “Sonata in A” is much more gentle and lyrical and as a musical composition for solo piano exhibits intense beauty on a scale that is even unmatched by piano giants like Robert Schumann and Frederic Chopin. Among classical piano musicians performing today, Schubert’s “Sonata in B flat” is certainly the most popular, due to its “striking individuality” which demonstrates Schubert’s ability to inject his own personality into his music (“Franz Peter Schubert”).

Schubert’s greatest piano masterpiece in known as the “Wanderer” Fantasie in C major which was composed in November of 1822 when Schubert was twenty-five years old. Many musical scholars believe that this musical composition for solo piano reflects Schubert’s growing confidence as a composer of piano music and that it expresses his success as a composer in the early 1820’s. Some argue quite successfully that this piece of piano music exemplifies Schubert’s “maturity and individuality” and symbolizes his talent for musical structure and “the use of the cyclic form” (“Schubert, Franz”).

Technically, the “Wanderer” Fantasie in C major is composed of four major movements without any breaks and begins with a “dactylic rhythmic figure” which is typical of Schubert’s musical style. This leads into a “subsidiary thematic element in the unexpected key of E major, with a further derivative in B flat” which then leads into an adagio which exhibits “furious eruptions and tremolando figures” via both the left and right hand.

Lastly, there is a “Trio” section and a finale which restates the main theme or motif via the style of the Baroque fugue in C major (“Franz Peter Schubert”). What is most amazing about this piece of piano music is that Schubert himself found it difficult to play and today, due to its technicality, even challenges the best professional concert pianists.

Schubert’s greatest chamber music masterpiece is undoubtedly his “String Quintet in C” which was written shortly before his death. Many music scholars agree that this piece of music surpasses Schubert’s “C major Symphony,” due in part to its sonorous atmosphere, derived from  the traditional chamber instruments of two violins, two violas, and a single cello (“Franz Peter Schubert”). One of the most important aspects of Schubert’s “String Quintet in C” is its emotional impact which is accomplished through the power of the five instruments. For instance, some listeners hear “desolating loneliness in the slow movements” while others experience “defiant anger via the scherzo.” Taken as a whole, the “String Quintet in C” is one of Schubert’s best-loved musical pieces, due to its “emotional range, quality of material, and perfection of form” (“Franz Peter Schubert”).

As a musical artist, Franz Schubert was gifted with the ability to interject lyrical poetry into all of his compositions, whether a symphony, music for strings, piano sonatas, traditional songs, and especially his operas. Part of the reason for this is because Schubert was a great lover of literature, ranging from the poetry of the Romantic poets like Shelley and Wordsworth to Sir Walter Scott whose epic poem “The Lady of the Lake” served as the inspiration for “Ave Maria” or “Hail Mary.”

As noted by the British Library, although Schubert as a composer “wrote firmly in the Viennese style of the time” which included Classical Period traits, he was to a great extent far ahead of his time, due to his willingness to “experiment with harmonic shifts,” a musical approach that would not become popular with composers until the advent of the Romantic Period (“Franz Schubert, 1797-1828”).

In essence then, Franz Schubert could be viewed as a radical experimentalist who wished to move beyond traditional musical forms and styles and experiment with new tonal and melodic techniques. Most of his music can be comfortably placed in a category all by itself, especially considering Schubert’s tendency for free form expression which in later years would result in free form improvisation. But unfortunately, Schubert did not live long enough to see how his magnificent music would influence future generations of European as well as American composers.

Works Cited

“Franz Peter Schubert.” 2014. Web. 2 May 2014.

“Franz Schubert, 1797-1828.” 2014. Web. 2 May 2014.

“Franz Schubert, 1797-1828.” The British Library. 2009. Web. 2 May 2014.

Knight, Kevin. “Franz Schubert.” Catholic Encyclopedia. 2009. Web. 2 May 2014.

“Schubert, Franz.” Composer Biographies. 2014. Web. 2 May 2014.