His mind was so fertile that he paid no attention whatever to marketing a finished composition, always moving immediately on to another project. He earned little income and was so poor that he never even owned a piano until his final year. He rarely lived in the same place for more than a few months at a time when domestic stability was required to establish a local reputation. He loved drinking and carousing and had no interest in leading a respectable life. He shunned nobility in an age when royal patronage was still the key to exposure. While others of far less talent achieved far greater and immediate fame, Schubert's lifetime obscurity was a product of his lifestyle and personality. Schubert himself would have been astounded to learn that he now is often mentioned in the same breath as his idol Beethoven (near whose grave Schubert was buried, in accordance with his death-bed wish. While those wonderful songs had begun to attract attention (largely through handwritten copies), and while a circle of friends enjoyed reading through his chamber music in private gatherings, nearly his entire output was ignored and unknown. There had been only a single public concert of his works, and only a few songs had been published. Yet, Schubert never tasted even a hint of his current fame and died an abject failure. Nowadays, a very substantial number are revered as masterworks. In his incredibly short life, Schubert produced nearly a thousand works, ranging from songs to operas, with lots of sonatas, chamber music, religious works and symphonies in between. No ∾roica, Fifth, Pastorale or ∼horal symphonies, no ∺ppassionata or Hammerklavier piano sonatas, no ∺rchduke trio, no Kreutzer violin sonata, no ∾mperor piano concerto, no violin concerto, no late quartets, no Fidelio opera, no Missa Solemnis – none of the works that revolutionized their genres and changed the course of Western music. Had he died at Schubert's tender age, he would have written only his first symphony, his first two piano concertos and his earliest solo and chamber music – all pleasant enough, but barely distinguishable from the works of contemporaries. With the possible exception of Mozart, had any other of the great composers lived so briefly he would barely be remembered, and then only as little more than a sadly unfulfilled promise. Schubert was born in 1797 and died in 1828. Who was the greatest classical composer of all? Beethoven? Bach? Perhaps the best case can be made for Franz Schubert.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |