The only object in Hungary to inspire Schubert's own composing was one of the good-looking daughters he was teaching. In the summer of 1818 he took a position as music tutor to the daughters of a Hungarian nobleman, Count Esterhazy. He had no paid work and no home of his own. Even if these were happy days for Schubert, he was anxious. They amused themselves, and together they listened to Schubert at the piano and Vogl singing Schubert's songs. Together they started the Schubertiads, a group of friends who met for the sole purpose of having fun. It was at the home of Schober where Schubert met the great singer Johann Michael Vogl. Schubert left his old job and was now a free musician, without a secure income. He persuaded Schubert to leave the teaching position, which was affecting his composing in a bad way, and come and live with him instead. In 1815 he met Franz von Schober, a law student of good family and free of economic worries. Schubert was never good at earning money. He could virtually write songs without thinking. He wrote just for fun! During a couple years he composed two symphonies and between 200 and 300 songs, including the masterpiece "Gretchen am Spinnrade", written at the age of 17. At this time he wrote a great amount of music. But he did not forget the music he loved. During the three years that followed he taught in his father's school. Schubert left the Stadtkonvikt in 1813 and studied to be a teacher for a year. Here he met Antonio Salieri who was very impressed by him: "He must be taught by God himself", he said. He was therefore sent to the Stadtkonvikt in Vienna. So when the family realized Franz's abilities they did everything they could with their little income to procure a good education for the boy. In a couple of months he had learnt more about playing the piano than his brother knew. When he was very young his father and his older brother taught him to play the violin and the piano. Today, Schubert is seen as one of the leading exponents of the early Romantic era in music and he remains one of the most frequently performed composers.įranz Schubert was born in Vienna in 1797. Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms and Felix Mendelssohn, among others, discovered and championed his works in the 19th century. Appreciation of Schubert's music during his lifetime was limited, but interest in his work increased significantly in the decades following his death at the age of 31. Because of this, music was changed forever.Franz Peter Schubert (31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828) was an Austrian composer.Īlthough he died at an early age, Schubert was a prolific composer, having written some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies (including the famous "Unfinished Symphony"), liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music. Second, the German art song became a serious genre of classical music. The effect of this little song by the kid composer was twofold: first, the Romantic era embraced emotional writing and program music. Gretchen am spinnrade was just the beginning. She slowly starts spinning again, haltingly at first before returning to the constant rhythm at 2:34. Gretche stops spinning as she sings about his kiss (“Und ach, sein Kuß!” translates to mean “And ah! His kiss!”). Listen for the dramatic moment from 2:15 to 2:24. The piano accompaniment represents the spin of the wheel as she works: the right hand imitates the continuous motion of the spinning wheel, and the left hand represents the foot lever. Yes, the music tells the story of Gretchen thinking about Faust.
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