Franz Schubert (1797-1828) was an Austrian composer. He was a representative of early romantic music and is also considered the last composer of classical music. Giant. He was born on January 31, 1797 in Richtental, a suburb of Vienna.

Although Schubert was only 31 years old when he died, he composed more than 600 songs, nine symphonies, sonatas, chamber music, operas, etc. The most famous songs are: "Death and the Maiden", "Lullaby", "Serenade", "Ave Maria", "The Devil", "Wild Rose", "Trout", as well as the vocal suites "The Beautiful Mill Girl", " "Winter Journey", "Swan Song", etc. Schubert is famous for his lyrical melodies, which always come out naturally and naturally.

When Schubert was alive, the public’s understanding and appreciation of him was only average, but before his death, one hundred works had been published. In his early years, he served as a teacher in his father's school. After resigning from his position, he had no fixed job and often relied on friends for financial support.

After his death, Schubert was buried next to the tomb of Beethoven, whom he had always admired but only met a few times during his lifetime.

Schubert (1797～1828) Schubert, Franz Peter, Austrian composer. Born in Vienna on January 31, 1797, died in the same place on November 19, 1828. As a child, he learned violin from his father and piano from his brother. At the age of 11, he entered a theological boarding school and began to show his talent for music creation. The song "Hagar's Lament" was composed at this time. In 1814, he worked as an assistant teacher in his father's school and engaged in creative writing at the same time. He specialized in composing music since 1816, but his remuneration was meager and his life was poor. For a song as world-famous as "Wanderer", Schubert received only two guldens, while the publisher earned 27,000 guldens over 40 years. He admired Ludwig van Beethoven very much. He once dedicated four piano variations on French song themes to Beethoven. He visited Beethoven twice when he was critically ill and personally held a torch to attend Beethoven's funeral. The day before his death, he fell into a coma due to illness and murmured: "Didn't Beethoven sleep here?" His tomb is adjacent to Beethoven's. In 1888, they were moved to the Vienna Central Cemetery and the original cemetery became Schubert Park. .

In his short life of 31 years, Schubert composed more than 600 songs, 18 operas, operas and drama scores, 10 symphonies, 19 string quartets, 22 Piano Sonatas, 4 Violin Sonatas and many other works. He wrote a large number of songs for the works of many poets such as Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, Heinrich Heine, Wilhelm Müller, etc., combining music and poetry. tightly together. His songs include ballads, ballads, combative patriotic songs, and songs originating from folk music. The important ones include "The Devil", "Trout", "The Linden Tree", and "The Beautiful Mill Girl". ", "Wild Rose", "The Wanderer" (2 songs), "Prometheus", "To Music", "Song of Mignon", "Gresham at the Spinning Wheel", "The Shepherd's Lament", " "Prayer in Battle", "Song of the Sword", "Song of the Warrior", etc. The main song collection includes 3 song collections: "The Beautiful Mill Girl", "Winter Journey" and "Swan Song". Among the more important symphonies of his are the Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Ninth Symphonies. The Eighth Symphony is a romantic lyric symphony. It is called "Unfinished" because it only has two movements. "Symphony", the Ninth Symphony is majestic and full of heroic spirit, and is called "The Great Symphony". His works include the string quartet "Death and the Maiden" in D minor, the piano quintet "Trout", the string quintet in C major, the piano piece "Wanderer's Fantasia", "The Moment of Music", E flat major Impromptu in key, Sonata in A major and drama music "Rosamund" etc.

Early life and education

Schubert was born in Himmelpfortgrund, a suburb of Vienna.

His father, Franz, was the son of a Moravian farmer, the principal of a small town school, and an amateur musician. His mother, Elizabeth Vietz, worked as a cook before marrying. Schubert, including himself, had 15 brothers and sisters, including an illegitimate son who was born as early as 1783. However, 10 of these 15 people died of illness soon after birth. The remaining five, except Schubert, are: Ignaz (b. 1785), Ferdinand (b. 1794), Karl (b. 1796), Franz, and daughter Theresia (b. 1801). Their father, a An upright and noble man, he showed considerable educational talent; his school in Himmelpfortgrund had a rich student population. He was also an amateur musician and passed on his knowledge of musical technique to his two eldest sons, Ignaz and Fredinand.

At the age of five, Schubert began to study music formally with his father. At the age of six, he began attending classes at Himmelpfortgrund School, and spent a relatively happy time in his life. His father taught him the violin, and his brother Ignaz taught him the piano. By the time he was seven, he had surpassed his father and brother and studied music with Michael Holzer, the bandmaster of the Lichtenthal church. But Holzer couldn't teach him at all. He already knew what he wanted to teach. So the content of the class became chatting, or more often than not, Holzer stared at Schubert, stunned and speechless. Young Schubert learned even more from an apprentice worker. The apprentice had taken him to a nearby piano warehouse, giving him better opportunities to practice the instrument than his poor family could have given him. Another reason why his early education was even more inadequate was that in that era, if a composer was not an outstanding performer in public, his chances of becoming famous were almost slim. From this point of view, his childhood musical education was not enough for him to embark on the road of becoming a musician.

In August 1808, he was admitted to the Royal Theological Boarding School and sang in the Royal Church Children's Choir. There Schubert came into contact with Mozart's overtures and symphonies. It was through constant exposure to various musical scores and frequent visits to the opera house to listen to operas that Schubert began to lay a solid foundation for his later musical attainments.

At the same time, his talent attracted the attention of Antonio Salieri, the top composer of the time (legend has it that he murdered Mozart out of jealousy), and Salieri decided to teach him composition and music theory. Schubert's early chamber music was distinctive, and later it was known that his family often performed string quartets on Sundays and holidays, with his two brothers playing violin, his father cello, and Schubert himself playing viola. This was the prototype of the amateur chorus for which he later composed music. During his later years at boarding school, he wrote a lot of chamber music, several songs, some piano pieces, a Kyrie (D.31) and Salve Regina (D.27), an organ octet (D. 72/72a) - Said to be a tribute to his mother who died in 1812. a cantata (D.110), words and music, for his father's name-day in 1813, and his graduation piece - life, his first symphony (D.82).

Teaching career

At the end of 1813 he left boarding school and, to avoid military service, went to his father's school as a junior teacher. At this time his father also remarried Anna Kleyenboeck, the daughter of a silk merchant from the nearby Gumpendorf. In the next two years, young Schubert endured a lot of complicated work, but he was able to handle it with ease.

In particular, Salieri always taught him composition alone. It can be said that Salieri was the teacher who taught him the longest and had the most influence on him. Because Salieri was the first composer to incorporate the Biedermeier (1815-1848) style into Viennese church music, it is not surprising that Schubert's early works have the characteristics of his teacher's church music. In addition, Salieri wrote a large number of songs in multiple languages, which also explains Schubert's early production of songs. His first opera - Des Teufels Lustschloss (D.84) - and his first Missa - in F major (D.105) - were both composed in 1814. In the same year he also wrote three more String Quartet, First Symphony no.2 in B-flat major (D.125) and 17 songs, including the classics Der Taucher (D.77/111) and Gretchen am Spinnrade (D.118, published as Op.2). But compared with the number of works in 1815, these are inferior. In 1815, despite having a teaching job, taking lessons from Salieri, and many other chores in life, his output was incredibly high. The second symphony in B-flat (D.125) is completed, followed by the third in D major (D.200). He wrote two more masses, the first of which took only six days. Three operas, Der vierj?hrige Posten (D.190), Fernando (D.220) and Claudine von Villabella (D.239) - two more, Adrast (D.137) and Die Freunde von Salamanka (D.326) ), not completed. There is also a string quartet, four sonatas, scattered piano pieces, and 146 songs. Some of the songs are quite long. He wrote 8 songs on October 15th alone and 7 on October 19th.

In December 1814, Schubert met the poet Johann Mayrhofer: Due to Schubert's character, their friendship soon developed into an intimate one. They have different temperaments. Schubert is straightforward, open and sunny, while Mayrhofer is melancholy, taciturn and sees life as a test of one's endurance. Their friendship, as we shall see later, helped Schubert later in many ways.

Support from friends

If 1815 was a year of rich creation for Schubert, then 1816 was a turning point in his destiny. He composed music for Goethe's poem "The Devil" and marveled at his friend Spaun. A few weeks later, Franz von Schober, a well-off student, came to visit because he had heard Schubert's songs at Spaun's house. He offered to let Schubert resign from school and help him to create music in peace. This suggestion is a timely help. Because Schubert had just applied unsuccessfully to become a court musician in Ljubljana, he was unhappy with the depressing teaching position. His father quickly agreed with his decision, and at the end of April he moved in with the Schober family. Schubert once tried to teach music to support his family, but soon gave up and devoted himself to music creation. He later said, "I write all day long, and every time I finish one, I immediately start the next."

At the same time, Schubert's circle of friends also continued to expand. Mayrhofer introduced him to Johann Michael Vogl, a famous baritone who often sang his songs in Vienna salons to expand Schubert's influence: Anselm Hüttenbrenner and his brother Joseph were loyal fans of Schubert. The brilliant pianist Joseph von Gahy often performed his sonatas and fantasias.

The Sonnleithner family, a musical family, allowed Schubert to come and go freely because his eldest son and Schubert were classmates at the Royal Academy, and held music gatherings for him. Such gatherings soon became known as the "Schubertiaden". Subsistence was no problem for Schubert either. There is no doubt that Schubert had nothing at the time. He resigned from his teaching position, but he had no income from performances. And no publisher was interested in his work at that time. But his loyal friends often helped him without asking for anything. One provided him with a place to live, and another provided him with musical instruments. They go out to eat together and pay for whoever brings money. Schubert was the life of the party but was penniless. It is said that he had more than a dozen nicknames. The most distinctive one is "What ability?", more commonly known as "Does he pay for it?" Schubert often asked this when a new person was introduced to him. Another nickname of Schubert was "Little Mushroom". I thought he was only 1.57 meters tall and a little fat guy.

Death

Schubert's grave, in the Vienna Central Cemetery During the height of his creative life, his health deteriorated. Schubert had been battling syphilis since 1822. Although other causes have been suggested, the final illness was likely typhoid; his late symptoms were similar to those caused by mercury poisoning, which was poisoned by mercury in the early 19th century. A drug used to treat syphilis; however, there is insufficient evidence to make a firm diagnosis. He died in Vienna on November 19, 1828, at the age of 31, in his brother Ferdinand's apartment. According to his request, he was buried next to the grave of Beethoven, his idol whom he had worshiped all his life. In 1888, the tombs of Schubert and Beethoven were moved to the Vienna Central Cemetery, next to the tombs of Johann Strauss Jr. and Johannes Brahms.

In 1872, a monument to Frank Schubert was erected in Vienna's Central Park.

Reference materials: http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/