Biography of Schubert. Franz Peter Schubert - musical genius of the 19th century Life of Schubert

Schubert lived only thirty-one years. He died exhausted physically and mentally, exhausted by failures in life. None of the composer's nine symphonies were performed during his lifetime. Of the six hundred songs, about two hundred were published, and of the two dozen piano sonatas, only three.

***

Schubert was not alone in his dissatisfaction with the life around him. This dissatisfaction and protest of the best people of society were reflected in a new direction in art - romanticism. Schubert was one of the first Romantic composers.
Franz Schubert was born in 1797 in the Vienna suburb of Lichtenthal. His father, a school teacher, came from a peasant family. Mother was the daughter of a mechanic. The family loved music very much and constantly organized musical evenings. His father played the cello, and his brothers played various instruments.

Having discovered little Franz's musical abilities, his father and older brother Ignatz began to teach him to play the violin and piano. Soon the boy was able to take part in home performances of string quartets, playing the viola part. Franz had a wonderful voice. He sang in the church choir, performing difficult solo parts. The father was pleased with his son's success.

When Franz was eleven years old, he was assigned to a convict - a training school for church singers. The environment of the educational institution was conducive to the development of the boy’s musical abilities. In the school student orchestra, he played in the first violin group, and sometimes even served as conductor. The orchestra's repertoire was varied. Schubert became acquainted with symphonic works of various genres (symphonies, overtures), quartets, and vocal works. He confided to his friends that Mozart's Symphony in G Minor shocked him. Beethoven's music became a high example for him.

Already in those years, Schubert began to compose. His first works were fantasia for piano, a number of songs. The young composer writes a lot, with great passion, often to the detriment of other school activities. The boy's outstanding abilities attracted the attention of the famous court composer Salieri, with whom Schubert studied for a year.
Over time, the rapid development of Franz's musical talent began to cause concern in his father. Knowing well how difficult the path of musicians was, even world famous ones, the father wanted to protect his son from a similar fate. As punishment for his excessive passion for music, he even forbade him to be at home on holidays. But no prohibitions could delay the development of the boy’s talent.

Schubert decided to break with the convict. Throw away boring and unnecessary textbooks, forget about worthless cramming that drains your heart and mind, and go free. Give yourself entirely to music, live only by it and for its sake. On October 28, 1813, he completed his first symphony in D major. On the last sheet of the score, Schubert wrote: “The end and the end.” The end of the symphony and the end of the convict.

For three years he served as an assistant teacher, teaching children literacy and other elementary subjects. But his attraction to music and his desire to compose becomes stronger. One can only be amazed at the resilience of his creative nature. It was during these years of school hard labor from 1814 to 1817, when it seemed that everything was against him, that he created an amazing number of works.

In 1815 alone, Schubert wrote 144 songs, 4 operas, 2 symphonies, 2 masses, 2 piano sonatas, and a string quartet. Among the creations of this period there are many that are illuminated by the unfading flame of genius. These are the Tragic and Fifth B-flat major symphonies, as well as the songs “Rosochka”, “Margarita at the Spinning Wheel”, “The Forest King”, “Margarita at the Spinning Wheel” - a monodrama, a confession of the soul.

“The Forest King” is a drama with several characters. They have their own characters, sharply different from each other, their own actions, completely dissimilar, their own aspirations, opposing and hostile, their own feelings, incompatible and polar.

The story behind the creation of this masterpiece is amazing. It arose in a fit of inspiration.” “One day,” recalls Shpaun, a friend of the composer, “we went to see Schubert, who was then living with his father. We found our friend in the greatest excitement. With a book in his hand, he walked back and forth around the room, reading “The Forest King” aloud. Suddenly he sat down at the table and began to write. When he stood up, the magnificent ballad was ready.”

The father's desire to make his son a teacher with a small but reliable income failed. The young composer firmly decided to devote himself to music and left teaching at school. He was not afraid of a quarrel with his father. The entire subsequent short life of Schubert represents a creative feat. Experiencing great material need and deprivation, he worked tirelessly, creating one work after another.

Financial adversity, unfortunately, prevented him from marrying his beloved girl. Teresa Grob sang in the church choir. From the very first rehearsals, Schubert noticed her, although she was inconspicuous. Blonde-haired, with whitish eyebrows, as if faded in the sun, and a grainy face, like most dull blondes, she did not sparkle with beauty at all.Rather, on the contrary - at first glance she seemed ugly. Traces of smallpox clearly appeared on her round face. But as soon as the music sounded, the colorless face was transformed. It had just been extinguished and therefore lifeless. Now, illuminated by the inner light, it lived and radiated.

No matter how accustomed Schubert was to the callousness of fate, he did not imagine that fate would treat him so cruelly. “Happy is he who finds a true friend. Even happier is he who finds it in his wife.” , he wrote in his diary.

However, the dreams went to waste. Teresa's mother, who raised her without a father, intervened. Her father owned a small silk-spinning factory. Having died, he left the family a small fortune, and the widow turned all her worries to ensuring that the already meager capital did not decrease.
Naturally, she pinned hopes for a better future on her daughter’s marriage. And it is even more natural that Schubert did not suit her. In addition to the penny salary of an assistant schoolteacher, he had music, which, as we know, is not capital. You can live by music, but you can’t live by it.
A submissive girl from the suburbs, brought up in subordination to her elders, did not even allow disobedience in her thoughts. The only thing she allowed herself was tears. Having cried quietly until the wedding, Teresa walked down the aisle with swollen eyes.
She became the wife of a pastry chef and lived a long, monotonously prosperous gray life, dying at the age of seventy-eight. By the time she was taken to the cemetery, Schubert’s ashes had long since decayed in the grave.

For several years (from 1817 to 1822) Schubert lived alternately with one or the other of his comrades. Some of them (Spaun and Stadler) were friends of the composer from the convict days. Later they were joined by the multi-talented artist Schober, the artist Schwind, the poet Mayrhofer, the singer Vogl and others. The soul of this circle was Schubert.
Short, stocky, very short-sighted, Schubert had enormous charm. His radiant eyes were especially beautiful, in which, as in a mirror, kindness, shyness and gentleness of character were reflected. And his delicate, changeable complexion and curly brown hair gave his appearance a special attractiveness.

During meetings, friends got acquainted with fiction, poetry of the past and present. They argued heatedly, discussing issues that arose, and criticized the existing social order. But sometimes such meetings were devoted exclusively to Schubert’s music; they even received the name “Schubertiad”.
On such evenings, the composer did not leave the piano, immediately composing ecosaises, waltzes, landlers and other dances. Many of them remained unrecorded. Schubert's songs, which he often performed himself, evoked no less admiration. Often these friendly gatherings turned into country walks.

Saturated with bold, lively thought, poetry, and beautiful music, these meetings represented a rare contrast with the empty and meaningless entertainment of secular youth.
The unsettled life and cheerful entertainment could not distract Schubert from his stormy, continuous, inspired creativity. He worked systematically, day after day. “I compose every morning, when I finish one piece, I start another” , - admitted the composer. Schubert composed music unusually quickly.

On some days he created up to a dozen songs! Musical thoughts were born continuously, the composer barely had time to write them down on paper. And if it wasn’t at hand, he wrote the menu on the back, on scraps and scraps. Needing money, he especially suffered from a lack of music paper. Caring friends supplied the composer with it. Music also visited him in his dreams.
When he woke up, he tried to write it down as soon as possible, so he did not part with his glasses even at night. And if the work did not immediately develop into a perfect and complete form, the composer continued to work on it until he was completely satisfied.

Thus, for some poetic texts, Schubert wrote up to seven versions of songs! During this period, Schubert wrote two of his wonderful works - “The Unfinished Symphony” and the cycle of songs “The Beautiful Miller’s Wife”. “The Unfinished Symphony” consists not of four parts, as is customary, but of two. And the point is not at all that Schubert did not have time to finish the remaining two parts. He started on the third - a minuet, as the classical symphony demanded, but abandoned his idea. The symphony, as it sounded, was completely completed. Everything else would turn out to be superfluous and unnecessary.
And if the classical form requires two more parts, you have to give up the form. Which is what he did. Schubert's element was song. In it he reached unprecedented heights. He elevated the genre, previously considered insignificant, to the level of artistic perfection. And having done this, he went further - he saturated chamber music with songfulness - quartets, quintets - and then symphonic music.

The combination of what seemed incompatible - miniature with large-scale, small with large, song with symphony - gave a new, qualitatively different from everything that came before - a lyric-romantic symphony. Her world is a world of simple and intimate human feelings, the most subtle and deep psychological experiences. This is a confession of the soul, expressed not with a pen or a word, but with sound.

The song cycle “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” is a clear confirmation of this. Schubert wrote it based on poems by the German poet Wilhelm Müller. “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” is an inspired creation, illuminated by gentle poetry, joy, and the romance of pure and high feelings.
The cycle consists of twenty separate songs. And all together they form a single dramatic play with a beginning, twists and turns and a denouement, with one lyrical hero - a wandering mill apprentice.
However, the hero in “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” is not alone. Next to him there is another, no less important hero - a stream. He lives his stormy, intensely changing life.

The works of the last decade of Schubert's life are very diverse. He writes symphonies, piano sonatas, quartets, quintets, trios, masses, operas, a lot of songs and much other music. But during the composer’s lifetime, his works were rarely performed, and most of them remained in manuscripts.
Having neither funds nor influential patrons, Schubert had almost no opportunity to publish his works. Songs, the main thing in Schubert's work, were then considered more suitable for home music playing than for open concerts. Compared to the symphony and opera, songs were not considered an important musical genre.

Not a single Schubert opera was accepted for production, and not a single one of his symphonies was performed by an orchestra. Moreover, the notes of his best Eighth and Ninth Symphonies were found only many years after the composer's death. And the songs based on Goethe’s words, sent to him by Schubert, never received the poet’s attention.
Timidity, inability to manage his affairs, reluctance to ask, to humiliate himself in front of influential people were also an important reason for Schubert's constant financial difficulties. But, despite the constant lack of money, and often hunger, the composer did not want to go either into the service of Prince Esterhazy or as a court organist, where he was invited. At times, Schubert did not even have a piano and composed without an instrument. Financial difficulties did not prevent him from composing music.

And yet the Viennese came to know and love Schubert’s music, which itself made its way to their hearts. Like ancient folk songs, passed on from singer to singer, his works gradually gained admirers. These were not regulars of brilliant court salons, representatives of the upper class. Like a forest stream, Schubert's music found its way to the hearts of ordinary residents of Vienna and its suburbs.
A major role was played here by the outstanding singer of that time, Johann Michael Vogl, who performed Schubert's songs to the accompaniment of the composer himself. Insecurity and continuous failures in life had a serious impact on Schubert's health. His body was exhausted. Reconciliation with his father in the last years of his life, a calmer, more balanced home life could no longer change anything. Schubert could not stop composing music; this was the meaning of his life.

But creativity required a huge expenditure of effort and energy, which became less and less every day. At twenty-seven years old, the composer wrote to his friend Schober: “I feel like an unhappy, insignificant person in the world.”
This mood was reflected in the music of the last period. If earlier Schubert created mainly bright, joyful works, then a year before his death he wrote songs, uniting them under the common title “Winter Reise”.
This has never happened to him before. He wrote about suffering and suffered. He wrote about hopeless melancholy and was hopelessly melancholy. He wrote about the excruciating pain of the soul and experienced mental anguish. “Winter Way” is a journey through the torment of both the lyrical hero and the author.

The cycle, written in the blood of the heart, excites the blood and stirs the hearts. A thin thread woven by the artist connected the soul of one person with the souls of millions of people with an invisible but indissoluble connection. She opened their hearts to the flow of feelings rushing from his heart.

In 1828, through the efforts of friends, the only concert of his works during Schubert’s lifetime was organized. The concert was a huge success and brought great joy to the composer. His plans for the future became more rosy. Despite his failing health, he continues to compose. The end came unexpectedly. Schubert fell ill with typhus.
The weakened body could not withstand the serious illness, and on November 19, 1828, Schubert died. The remaining property was valued for pennies. Many works have disappeared.

The famous poet of the time, Grillparzer, who had composed a funeral eulogy for Beethoven a year earlier, wrote on the modest monument to Schubert in the Vienna cemetery:

A stunning, deep and, it seems to me, mysterious melody. Sadness, faith, renunciation.
F. Schubert composed his song Ave Maria in 1825. Initially, this work by F. Schubert had little to do with Ave Maria. The title of the song was "Ellen's Third Song", and the lyrics to which the music was written were taken from Adam Storck's German translation of Walter Scott's poem "The Maid of the Lake".

If the work of Beethoven, his older contemporary, was nourished by the revolutionary ideas that permeated the social consciousness of Europe, then the heyday of Schubert's talent occurred in the years of reaction, when for a person the circumstances of his own destiny became more important than the social heroism so vividly embodied by Beethoven's genius.

Schubert's life was spent in Vienna, which, even in the least favorable times for creativity, remained one of the musical capitals of the civilized world. Famous virtuosos performed here, operas by the universally recognized Rossini were staged with great success, and the orchestras of Lanner and Strauss the Father, who raised the Viennese waltz to unprecedented heights, sounded. And yet, the discrepancy between dreams and reality, so obvious for that time, gave rise to moods of melancholy and disappointment among creative people, and the very protest against the inert, complacent bourgeois life resulted in their escape from reality, into an attempt to create their own world from a narrow circle of friends, true connoisseurs of beauty...

Franz Schubert was born on January 31, 1797 on the outskirts of Vienna. His father was a school teacher - a hardworking and respectable man, who sought to raise his children in accordance with his ideas about the path of life. The eldest sons followed in their father's footsteps, and the same path was prepared for Schubert. But there was also music in the house. On holidays, a circle of amateur musicians gathered here; Franz’s father himself taught him to play the violin, and one of his brothers taught him to play the clavier. The church regent taught Franz music theory, and he also taught the boy how to play the organ.

It soon became clear to those around him that in front of them was an unusually gifted child. When Schubert was 11 years old, he was sent to a church singing school - konvikt. It had its own student orchestra, where Schubert soon began playing the first violin part, and sometimes even conducting.

In 1810, Schubert wrote his first composition. The passion for music embraced him more and more and gradually crowded out all other interests. He was oppressed by the need to study something that was far from music, and after five years, without finishing the convict, Schubert left it. This led to a deterioration in relations with his father, who was still trying to guide his son “on the right path.” Yielding to him, Franz entered the teachers' seminary, and then acted as an assistant teacher at his father's school. But the father’s intentions to make his son a teacher with a reliable income were never destined to come true. Schubert entered the most intense period of his work (1814-1817), without hearing his father's warnings. By the end of this period, he was already the author of five symphonies, seven sonatas and three hundred songs, among which there are such as “Margarita at the Spinning Wheel”, “The Forest King”, “Trout”, “The Wanderer” - they are known and sung. It seems to him that the world is about to open its friendly arms to him, and he decides to take the extreme step of quitting his service. In response, the indignant father leaves him without any means of support and essentially breaks off relations with him.

For several years, Schubert had to live with his friends - among them there are also composers, there is an artist, a poet, and a singer. A close circle of people close to each other is formed - Schubert becomes its soul. He was short, stocky, short-sighted, shy and distinguished by extraordinary charm. The famous “Schubertiads” date back to this time - evenings devoted exclusively to the music of Schubert, when he did not leave the piano, composing music right there on the go... He creates every day, hourly, without fatigue and stopping, as if he knows that He didn't have much time left... The music didn't leave him even in his sleep - and he jumped up in the middle of the night to write it down on scraps of paper. In order not to look for glasses every time, he did not part with them.

But no matter how hard his friends tried to help him, these were years of desperate struggle for existence, life in unheated rooms, hated lessons that he had to give for the sake of meager earnings... Poverty did not allow him to marry his beloved girl, who preferred a rich pastry chef to him. .

In 1822, Schubert wrote one of his best works - the seventh "Unfinished Symphony", and in the next - a masterpiece of vocal lyrics, a cycle of 20 songs "The Beautiful Miller's Wife". It was in these works that a new direction in music - romanticism - was expressed with exhaustive completeness.

Best of the day

At this time, thanks to the efforts of friends, Schubert made peace with his father and returned to his family. But the family idyll was short-lived - after two years, Schubert left again to live separately, despite his complete impracticality in everyday life. Trusting and naive, he often became a victim of his publishers, who profited from him. The author of a huge number of works, and in particular songs that became popular in burgher circles during his lifetime, he barely made ends meet. If Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin, as excellent performing musicians, greatly contributed to the growth of the popularity of their works, then Schubert was not a virtuoso and only dared to act as an accompanist for his songs. And there is nothing to say about the symphonies - not a single one of them was ever performed during the composer’s lifetime. Moreover, both the seventh and eighth symphonies were lost. The eighth score was found by Robert Schumann ten years after the composer’s death, and the famous “Unfinished” was first performed only in 1865.

More and more, Schubert plunged into despair and loneliness: the circle fell apart, his friends became family people with a position in society, and only Schubert remained naively faithful to the ideals of his youth, which had already passed. He was timid and did not know how to ask, but at the same time he did not want to humiliate himself in front of influential people - several places that he had the right to count on and that would have provided him with a comfortable existence were, as a result, given to other musicians. “What will happen to me...” he wrote, “in my old age, perhaps, like Goethe’s harpist, I will have to go from door to door and beg for bread...”. He did not know that he would not grow old. Schubert's second song cycle, Winterreise, is the pain of unfulfilled hopes and lost illusions.

In the last years of his life he was ill a lot and was in poverty, but his creative activity did not weaken. Quite the contrary - his music becomes deeper, larger and more expressive, whether we are talking about his piano sonatas, string quartets, the eighth symphony or songs.

And yet, even if only once, he learned what real success was. In 1828, his friends organized a concert of his works in Vienna, which exceeded all expectations. Schubert is again full of daring plans, he is working intensively on new works. But there are several months left before death - Schubert falls ill with typhus. The body, weakened by years of need, cannot resist, and on November 19, 1828, Franz Schubert dies. His property is valued at pennies.

Schubert was buried in the Vienna cemetery, with the inscription engraved on the modest monument:

Death buried a rich treasure here,

But even more wonderful hopes.

The teachers paid tribute to the amazing ease with which the boy mastered musical knowledge. Thanks to his success in learning and good command of his voice, Schubert in 1808 was admitted to the Imperial Chapel and to Konvikt, the best boarding school in Vienna. During 1810–1813 he wrote numerous works: opera, symphony, piano pieces and songs (including Hagars Klage, 1811). A. Salieri became interested in the young musician, and from 1812 to 1817 Schubert studied composition with him.

In 1813 he entered the teachers' seminary and a year later began teaching at the school where his father served. In his spare time, he composed his first mass and set to music Goethe's poem Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel (Gretchen am Spinnrade, October 19, 1813) - this was Schubert's first masterpiece and the first great German song.

The years 1815–1816 are notable for the phenomenal productivity of the young genius. In 1815 he composed two symphonies, two masses, four operettas, several string quartets and about 150 songs. In 1816, two more symphonies appeared - the Tragic and often heard Fifth in B flat major, as well as another mass and over 100 songs. Among the songs of these years are the Wanderer (Der Wanderer) and the famous Forest King (Erlk nig); both songs soon received universal acclaim.

Through his devoted friend J. von Spaun, Schubert met the artist M. von Schwind and the wealthy amateur poet F. von Schober, who arranged a meeting between Schubert and the famous baritone M. Vogl. Thanks to Vogl's inspired performances of Schubert's songs, they gained popularity in Viennese salons. The composer himself continued to work at the school, but eventually left the service in July 1818 and went to Zeliz, the summer residence of Count Johann Esterhazy, where he served as a music teacher. In the spring the Sixth Symphony was completed, and in Gelize Schubert composed Variations on a French Song, op. 10 for two pianos, dedicated to Beethoven.

Upon his return to Vienna, Schubert received an order for an operetta (singspiel) called The Twin Brothers (Die Zwillingsbruder). It was completed by January 1819 and performed at the Kärtnertortheater in June 1820. Schubert spent the summer holidays in 1819 with Vogl in Upper Austria, where he composed the well-known Forel piano quintet (A major).

The following years turned out to be difficult for Schubert, since his character did not know how to achieve the favor of influential Viennese musical figures. Romance The Forest King, published as op. 1 (apparently in 1821), marked the beginning of the regular publication of Schubert's works. In February 1822 he completed the opera Alfonso and Estrella (Alfonso und Estrella); in October the Unfinished Symphony (B minor) was released.

The following year was marked in Schubert's biography by the composer's illness and despondency. His opera was not staged; he composed two more - The Conspirators (Die Verschworenen) and Fierrabras (Fierrabras), but they suffered the same fate. The wonderful vocal cycle “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” (Die sch ne Mullerin) and the music for the dramatic play Rosamunde, which was well received by the audience, indicate that Schubert did not give up. At the beginning of 1824 he worked on string quartets in A minor and D minor (The Girl and Death) and on the octet in F major, but need forced him to again become a teacher in the Esterhazy family. The summer stay in Zheliz had a beneficial effect on Schubert's health. There he composed two opuses for piano four hands - the Grand Duo sonata in C major and Variations on an original theme in A flat major. In 1825, he again went with Vogl to Upper Austria, where his friends received the warmest welcome. Songs with lyrics by W. Scott (including the famous Ave Maria) and a piano sonata in D major reflect the spiritual renewal of their author.

In 1826, Schubert petitioned for the position of conductor in the court chapel, but the petition was not granted. His latest string quartet (in G major) and songs based on Shakespeare's words (among them Morning Serenade) appeared during a summer trip to Wehring, a village near Vienna. In Vienna itself, Schubert's songs were widely known and loved at that time; In private homes, musical evenings were regularly held dedicated exclusively to his music - the so-called. Schubertiades. In 1827, among other things, the vocal cycle Winterreise and cycles of piano pieces (Musical Moments and Impromptu) were written.

Best of the day

In 1828, alarming signs of an impending illness appeared; the feverish pace of Schubert's compositional activity can be interpreted both as a symptom of the illness and as a cause that accelerated the death. Masterpiece followed masterpiece: the majestic Symphony in C major, a vocal cycle posthumously published as Swan Song, a string quintet in C major and the last three piano sonatas. As before, publishers refused to take Schubert's major works or paid negligibly little; ill health prevented him from going by invitation to give a concert in Pest. Schubert died of typhus on November 19, 1828.

Schubert was buried next to Beethoven, who had died a year earlier. On January 22, 1888, Schubert's ashes were reburied in the Central Cemetery of Vienna.

CREATION

Vocal and choral genres. The song-romance genre as interpreted by Schubert represents such an original contribution to the music of the 19th century that we can talk about the emergence of a special form, which is usually denoted by the German word Lied. Schubert's songs - and there are more than 650 of them - give many variations of this form, so that classification is hardly possible here. In principle, Lied is of two types: strophic, in which all or almost all verses are sung to the same melody; “through” (durchkomponiert), in which each verse can have its own musical solution. Field rose (Haidenroslein) is an example of the first species; The Young Nun (Die junge Nonne) – the second.

Two factors contributed to the rise of the Lied: the ubiquity of the piano and the rise of German lyric poetry. Schubert managed to do what his predecessors could not: by composing on a specific poetic text, he created a context with his music that gave the word a new meaning. This could be a sound-visual context - for example, the gurgle of water in the songs from The Beautiful Miller's Woman or the whirring of the spinning wheel in Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel, or an emotional context - for example, chords conveying the reverent mood of the evening in Sunset (Im Abendroth) or the midnight horror in The Double (Der Doppelgonger). Sometimes, thanks to Schubert’s special gift, a mysterious connection is established between the landscape and the mood of the poem: for example, the imitation of the monotonous hum of an organ grinder in The Organ Grinder (Der Leiermann) wonderfully conveys both the severity of the winter landscape and the despair of a homeless wanderer.

German poetry, which was flourishing at that time, became an invaluable source of inspiration for Schubert. Those who question the composer’s literary taste on the grounds that among the more than six hundred poetic texts he has sounded there are very weak poems are wrong - for example, who would remember the poetic lines of the romances Trout or To Music (An die Musik), if not Schubert's genius? But still, the greatest masterpieces were created by the composer based on the texts of his favorite poets, luminaries of German literature - Goethe, Schiller, Heine. Schubert's songs - no matter who the author of the words are - are characterized by a direct impact on the listener: thanks to the genius of the composer, the listener immediately becomes not an observer, but an accomplice.

Schubert's polyphonic vocal works are somewhat less expressive than the romances. The vocal ensembles contain wonderful pages, but none of them, except perhaps the five-voice No, only he who knew (Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt, 1819), captures the listener as much as the romances. The unfinished spiritual opera The Raising of Lazarus (Lazarus) is more of an oratorio; the music here is beautiful, and the score contains anticipations of some of Wagner's techniques. (In our time, the opera The Raising of Lazarus was completed by the Russian composer E. Denisov and was successfully performed in several countries.)

Schubert composed six masses. They also have very bright parts, but still in Schubert this genre does not rise to the heights of perfection that were achieved in the masses of Bach, Beethoven, and later Bruckner. Only in the last mass (in E-flat major) does Schubert's musical genius overcome his detached attitude towards Latin texts.

Orchestral music. In his youth, Schubert led and conducted a student orchestra. At the same time, he mastered the skill of instrumentation, but life rarely gave him reasons to write for the orchestra; after six youth symphonies, only a symphony in B minor (Unfinished) and a symphony in C major (1828) were created. In the series of early symphonies, the fifth (B minor) is the most interesting, but only Schubert’s Unfinished introduces us to a new world, far from the classical styles of the composer’s predecessors. Like them, the development of themes and texture in Unfinished is full of intellectual brilliance, but in terms of the strength of its emotional impact, Unfinished is close to Schubert’s songs. In the majestic C major symphony, such qualities appear even more clearly.

The music for Rosamunde contains two intermissions (in B minor and B major) and lovely ballet scenes. Only the first intermission is serious in tone, but all the music for Rosamunde is purely Schubertian in the freshness of its harmonic and melodic language.

Among other orchestral works, the overtures stand out. In two of them (C major and D major), written in 1817, the influence of G. Rossini is felt, and their subtitles (not given by Schubert) indicate: “in the Italian style.” Also of interest are three operatic overtures: Alfonso and Estrella, Rosamond (originally intended for the early composition of The Magic Harp - Die Zauberharfe) and Fierrabras - the most perfect example of this form by Schubert.

Chamber instrumental genres. Chamber works reveal the composer's inner world to the greatest extent; in addition, they clearly reflect the spirit of his beloved Vienna. The tenderness and poetry of Schubert’s nature are captured in the masterpieces that are commonly called the “seven stars” of his chamber heritage.

The Trout Quintet is a harbinger of a new, romantic worldview in the chamber-instrumental genre; Charming melodies and cheerful rhythms brought the composition great popularity. Five years later, two string quartets appeared: the quartet in A minor (op. 29), perceived by many as the composer’s confession, and the quartet The Girl and Death, where melody and poetry are combined with deep tragedy. Schubert's last quartet in G major represents the quintessence of the composer's mastery; The scale of the cycle and the complexity of the forms pose some obstacle to the popularity of this work, but the last quartet, like the Symphony in C major, are the absolute pinnacles of Schubert's work. The lyrical-dramatic character of the early quartets is also characteristic of the Quintet in C major (1828), but it cannot compare in perfection with the Quartet in G major.

The octet is a romantic interpretation of the classical suite genre. The use of additional woodwinds gives the composer a reason to compose touching melodies and create colorful modulations that embody Gemutlichkeit - the good-natured, cozy charm of old Vienna. Both Schubert trios – op. 99, B-flat major and op. 100, E-flat major - have both strengths and weaknesses: the structural organization and beauty of the music of the first two movements captivate the listener, while the finales of both cycles seem too lightweight.

Piano works. Schubert composed many pieces for piano 4 hands. Many of them (marches, polonaises, overtures) are charming music for home use. But among this part of the composer’s heritage there are also more serious works. Such are the Grand Duo Sonata with its symphonic scope (though, as already mentioned, there is no indication that the cycle was originally conceived as a symphony), Variations in A-flat major with their sharp characteristic and Fantasy in F minor Op. 103 is a first-class and widely recognized essay.

About two dozen Schubert piano sonatas are second only to Beethoven's in their significance. Half a dozen youthful sonatas are of interest mainly to admirers of Schubert's art; the rest are known all over the world. The sonatas in A minor, D major and G major (1825–1826) clearly demonstrate the composer’s understanding of the sonata principle: dance and song forms are combined here with classical techniques for developing themes. In the three sonatas, which appeared shortly before the composer's death, the song and dance elements appear in a purified, sublime form; the emotional world of these works is richer than in earlier opuses. The last sonata in B-flat major is the result of Schubert’s work on the thematism and form of the sonata cycle.

***

The famous poet of the time, Grillparzer, who had composed a funeral eulogy for Beethoven a year earlier, wrote on the modest monument to Schubert in the Vienna cemetery:

Franz Schubert (1797–1828) - Austrian composer. Born into the family of a school teacher. In 1808–12 he was a choirmaster at the Vienna Court Chapel. He was brought up in the Vienna convict, where he studied general bass with V. Ruzicka, counterpoint and composition (until 1816) with A. Salieri. In 1814–18 he was an assistant teacher at his father's school. By 1816, Schubert had created over 250 songs (including words based on J. V. Goethe - “Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel”, 1814, “The Forest King”, “To the Charioteer Kronos”, both 1815), 4 singspiels, 3 symphonies and etc. A circle of friends formed around Schubert - admirers of his work (including the official J. Spaun, the amateur poet F. Schober, the poet I. Mayrhofer, the poet and comedian E. Bauernfeld, the artists M. Schwind and L. Kupelwieser, the singer I.M. Fogl, who became a promoter of his songs). As a music teacher to the daughters of Count J. Esterházy, Schubert visited Hungary (1818 and 1824), together with Vogl he traveled to Upper Austria and Salzburg (1819, 1823, 1825), and visited Graz (1827). Recognition came to Schubert only in the 20s. In 1828, a few months before Schubert's death, his author's concert took place in Vienna, which was a great success. Honorary member of the Styrian and Linz Musical Unions (1823). Schubert is the first major representative of musical romanticism, who expressed, according to B.V. Asafiev, “the joys and sorrows of life” in the way “as most people feel them and would like to convey them.” The most important place in Schubert's work is occupied by the song for voice and piano (German Lied, about 600). One of the greatest melodists, Schubert reformed the song genre, endowing it with deep content. Having enriched the previous song forms - simple and varied strophic, reprise, rhapsodic, multi-part - Schubert created a new type of song of end-to-end development (with a variable motif uniting into a whole in the piano part), as well as the first highly artistic examples of the vocal cycle. Schubert’s songs used poems by about 100 poets, primarily Goethe (about 70 songs), F. Schiller (over 40; “Group from Tartarus”, “The Girl’s Complaint”), W. Müller (the cycles “The Beautiful Miller’s Wife” and “Winter Reise” "), I. Mayrhofer (47 songs; "The Rower"); among other poets are D. Schubart (“Trout”), F. L. Stolberg (“Barcarolle”), M. Claudius (“Girl and Death”), G. F. Schmidt (“Wanderer”), L. Relshtab ( “Evening Serenade”, “Shelter”), F. Rückert (“Hello”, “You are my peace”), W. Shakespeare (“Morning Serenade”), W. Scott (“Ave Maria”). Schubert wrote quartets for male and female voices, 6 masses, cantatas, oratorios, etc. Of the music for musical theater, only the overture and dances for the play “Rosamund, Princess of Cyprus” by V. Chezi (1823). In Schubert's instrumental music, based on the traditions of composers of the Viennese classical school, song-type thematics acquired great importance. The composer sought to preserve the melodious lyrical theme as a whole, giving it new light with the help of tonal recoloring, timbre and texture variations. Of Schubert’s 9 symphonies, 6 early ones (1813–18) are still close to the works of the Viennese classics, although they are distinguished by romantic freshness and spontaneity. The pinnacle examples of romantic symphonism are the lyrical-dramatic 2-part “Unfinished Symphony” (1822) and the majestic heroic-epic “Big” Symphony in C major (1825–28). Of Schubert's orchestral overtures, the two most popular are in the “Italian style” (1817). Schubert is the author of deep and significant chamber instrumental ensembles (one of the best is the trout piano quintet), a number of which were written for home music playing. Piano music is an important area of Schubert's work. Having experienced the influence of L. Beethoven, Schubert laid down the tradition of a free romantic interpretation of the piano sonata genre. The piano fantasy “The Wanderer” also anticipates the “poem” forms of the romantics (in particular, the structure of some of F. Liszt’s symphonic poems). Schubert's impromptu and musical moments are the first romantic miniatures, close to the works of F. Chopin, R. Schumann, F. Liszt. Piano waltzes, landlers, “German dances,” ecosaises, gallops, etc. reflected the composer’s desire to poetize dance genres. Many of Schubert’s works for piano 4 hands go back to the same tradition of home music-making, including “Hungarian Divertissement” (1824), Fantasia (1828), variations, polonaises, marches. Schubert's work is associated with Austrian folk art and the everyday music of Vienna, although he rarely used genuine folk song themes in his compositions. The composer also incorporated the peculiarities of the musical folklore of the Hungarians and Slavs who lived on the territory of the Austrian Empire. Of great importance in his music are color and brilliance, achieved through orchestration, enrichment of harmony with side triads, bringing together the major and minor keys of the same name, the widespread use of deviations and modulations, and the use of variational development. During Schubert's lifetime, it was mainly his songs that became famous. Many major instrumental works were performed only decades after his death (“The Great” Symphony was performed in 1839, under the baton of F. Mendelssohn; “The Unfinished Symphony” - in 1865).

Essays: Operas - Alfonso and Estrella (1822; staged 1854, Weimar), Fierabras (1823; staged 1897, Karlsruhe), 3 unfinished, including Count von Gleichen, etc.; Singspiel (7), including Claudina von Villa Bella (on a text by Goethe, 1815, the first of 3 acts has been preserved; production 1978, Vienna), The Twin Brothers (1820, Vienna), Conspirators, or Home War (1823; production 1861, Frankfurt on Main); music To plays - The Magic Harp (1820, Vienna), Rosamund, Princess of Cyprus (1823, ibid.); For soloists, choir And orchestra - 7 masses (1814–28), German Requiem (1818), Magnificat (1815), offertories and other wind works, oratorios, cantatas, including Miriam’s Victory Song (1828); For orchestra - symphonies (1813; 1815; 1815; Tragic, 1816; 1816; Small C-dur, 1818; 1821, unfinished; Unfinished, 1822; Large C-dur, 1828), 8 overtures; intimate-instrumental ensembles - 4 sonatas (1816–17), fantasia (1827) for violin and piano; sonata for arpeggione and piano (1824), 2 piano trios (1827, 1828?), 2 string trios (1816, 1817), 14 or 16 string quartets (1811–26), Trout piano quintet (1819?), string quintet ( 1828), octet for strings and winds (1824), etc.; For piano V 2 hands - 23 sonatas (including 6 unfinished; 1815–28), fantasy (Wanderer, 1822, etc.), 11 impromptu (1827–28), 6 musical moments (1823–28), rondo, variations and other pieces , over 400 dances (waltzes, landlers, German dances, minuets, ecosaises, gallops, etc.; 1812–27); For piano V 4 hands - sonatas, overtures, fantasies, Hungarian divertissement (1824), rondos, variations, polonaises, marches, etc.; vocal ensembles for male, female voices and mixed compositions with and without accompaniment; songs For vote With piano, including the cycles The Beautiful Miller's Wife (1823) and Winter's Journey (1827), the collection Swan Song (1828).