Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was born in Vienna, Austria, on January 31, 1797. He was extraordinarily precocious in music and was early trained to play the violin, viola and organ. From 1808 to 1813 he attended the Imperial Chapel School where he received a thorough musical background while preparing to be a chorister in the Chapel Choir. He showed such remarkable and natural gifts for music that one of his teachers, the renowned Antonio Salieri, did not hesitate to call him a “genius.” When the breaking of his voice compelled him to leave the school in 1813, Schubert was encouraged by his father, a schoolmaster, to enter the field of education. For two years, from 1814 on, Schubert taught in the school owned and directed by his father. During this period he demonstrated phenomenal fertility as a composer by producing operas, symphonies, masses, sonatas, string quartets, piano pieces, and almost 150 songs including his first masterpiece, The Erlking (Der Erlkoenig). After 1817, Schubert devoted himself completely to composition. He remained singularly productive even though recognition failed to come. Few of his works were either published or performed—and those that were heard proved dismal failures. He managed to survive these difficult years only through the kindness and generosity of his intimate friends who loved him and were in awe of his genius. Combined with the frustration in failing to attract public notice with his music—and the humiliation of living on the bounty of friends—was the further tragedy of sickness brought on by a venereal disease. A concert of his works in Vienna on March 26, 1828 seemed to promise a turn in his fortunes. But it came too late. He died in Vienna on November 19, 1828—still an unrecognized composer. So completely obscure was his reputation that for many years some of his crowning master works lay forgotten and neglected in closets of friends and associates, none of whom seemed to realize that they were in the possession of treasures.
Schubert was undoubtedly one of the greatest creators of song the world has known. His almost five hundred art songs (Lieder) is an inexhaustible source of some of the most beautiful, most expressive, most poetic melodies ever put down on paper. He created beauty as easily as he breathed. The most inspired musical thoughts came to him so spontaneously that he was always reaching for quill and paper to get them down—whether at his home, or at the houses of his friends, in restaurants, café-houses, and even while walking through the country. “The striking characteristics of Schubert’s best songs,” wrote Philip Hale, “are spontaneous, haunting melody, a natural birthright mastery over modulation, a singular good fortune in finding the one inevitable phrase for the prevailing sentiment of the poem, and in finding the fitting descriptive figure for salient detail. His best songs have an atmosphere which cannot be passed unnoticed, which cannot be misunderstood.” But far and beyond his natural gift at lyricism was his genius in translating the slightest nuances and suggestions of a line of poetry into tones. It is for this very reason that he is often described as the father of the Lied, or art song.
Because Schubert’s melodies come from the heart and go to the heart they have been staples in semi-classical literature by way of orchestral transcription. Thus though they are as lofty and as noble a musical expression as can be found anywhere, Schubert’s songs have such universality that they are as popular as they are inspired. These are a few of the Schubert songs that have profited from instrumental adaptations:
“Am Meer” (“By the Sea”), poem by Heinrich Heine. This stately melody seems to catch some of the vastness and mystery of the sea. This is the twelfth song from the song cycle Schwanengesang (1828).
“An die Musik” (“To Music”), poem by Franz von Schober (1817). The glowing melody has caught the composer’s wonder and awe at the magic of music.
“Auf dem Wasser zu singen” (“To Be Sung on the Water”) poem by Stolberg. This gay, heartfelt tune expresses the composer’s delight in floating on the water.
“Ave Maria,” based on a poem by Sir Walter Scott (1825). This is a melody of exalted spiritual character touched with serenity and radiance. August Wilhelmj’s transcription for violin and piano is a staple in the violin repertory.
“Du bist die Ruh’” (“You are Peace”), poem by Rueckert. An atmosphere of serenity is magically created by a melody of wondrous beauty.
“Der Erlkoenig” (“The Erlking”), poem by Goethe (1815). This is one of Schubert’s most dramatic songs, describing the death of a child at the hands of the Erlking, symbol of death.
“Die Forelle” (“The Trout”), poem by Schubert (1817). This gay tune gives a lively picture of a trout leaping happily in and out of the water. Schubert used this melody for a set of variations in his piano quintet in A major, op. 114 (1819).
“Gretchen am Spinnrade” (“Marguerite at the Spinning Wheel”), poem by Goethe (1814). Against an accompaniment suggesting the whirr of the spinning wheel, comes Marguerite’s haunting song as she thinks of her loved one.
“Hark, Hark, the Lark” (“Horch, Horch, die Lerch”), poem by Shakespeare (1826). The melody reflects the light-hearted mood of the famous Shakespeare verse from Cymbeline.
“Der Lindenbaum” (“The Linden Tree”), poem by Mueller is a poignant poem of unhappy love. It is the fifth song in the cycle Die Winterreise (1827).
“Staendchen” (“Serenade”), poem by Rellstab. This is probably one of the most famous love songs ever written. It is the fourth song in the cycle Schwanengesang (1828).
“Der Tod und das Maedchen” (“Death and the Maiden”), poem by Claudius (1817). This dramatic song consists of a dialogue between a young girl and Death, the words of death appearing in a solemn melody while that of the girl in a breathless entreaty. Schubert used this melody for a set of variations in his string quartet in D minor (1824).
Like Beethoven and Mozart Schubert wrote a considerable amount of popular dance music for solo piano, and also for orchestra: German Dances, Laendler, and Waltzes. All have a vigorous peasant rhythm and with melodies reminiscent of Austrian folk music. Schubert’s waltzes are of particular interest since he was one of the first composers to unite several different waltz tunes into a single integrated composition. The Schubert waltzes, each a delight, are found in Valses sentimentales, op. 50 (1825) and Valses nobles, op. 77 (1827). Liszt adapted nine of the more popular of these waltz melodies in Soirées de Vienne for solo piano. The 20th-century French Impressionist composer, Maurice Ravel, was inspired by these Schubert waltzes to write in 1910 the Valses nobles et sentimentales in two versions, for solo piano, and for orchestra.
Marche militaire (Militaermarsch) is a popular little march in D major originally for piano four hands, the first of a set of three marches gathered in op. 41. This is one of Schubert’s most popular instrumental numbers. Karl Tausig transcribed it for solo piano, and it has received many other adaptations including several for orchestra, in which form it is undoubtedly best known.
Moment Musical is a brief composition for the piano. It is in song form and of an improvisational character, and is a genre of instrumental composition created and made famous by Schubert. He wrote many such pieces, but the one always considered when this form is designated is No. 3 in F minor, a graceful and lovable melody, the very essence of Viennese Gemuetlichkeit, although it is subtitled “Russian Air” (Air Russe). Fritz Kreisler transcribed it for violin and piano and it is, to be sure, familiar in orchestral adaptations including one by Stokowski, as well as versions for cello and piano, string quartet, clarinet quartet, four pianos, and so forth.
The incidental music to Rosamunde (1823) includes an often played overture and another of Schubert’s universally loved instrumental numbers, the Ballet Music. When Rosamunde was introduced in Vienna on December 20, 1823 it was a failure, but this was due more to the insipid play of Helmina von Chézy than to Schubert’s music. The overture heard upon that occasion is not the overture now known as Rosamunde. The latter is one which Schubert had written for an earlier operetta, Die Zauberharfe. A dignified introduction is dominated by a soaring melody for oboe and clarinet. The tempo changes, and a brisk little melody is given by the violins; a contrast is offered by a lyric subject for the woodwind.
The Entr’acte No. 2 in B-flat major from Rosamunde is one of Schubert’s most inspired melodies, whose beauty tempted H. L. Mencken once to point to it as the proof that God existed. Schubert himself was fond of the melody for he used it twice more, in his String Quartet in A minor (1824) and for a piano Impromptu in B-flat major (1827).
There are two musical episodes in Rosamunde designated as Ballet Music. The famous one is the second in G major, a melody so sparkling, infectious and graceful—and so full of the joy of life—that once again like the Moment Musical in F minor it embodies the best of what today we characterize as Viennese. Fritz Kreisler’s transcription for violin and piano is famous.