Date/Place of Birth:

31 January, 1797 in Vienna.

 

Personality:

A very shy, short-sighted composer. However, to his close friends, he was charming, humorous and loyal. Sometimes, he was moody and violent, especially during his illness. Even Schubert's friend, Leopold von Sonnleithner said,"He(Schubert) never laughed fully and joyfully, but only managed a toneless chuckle,"   Besides that, being impulsive and generous, money meant nothing to Schubert. He was always run out of money and relied very much on his friends for financial support. Indeed, to Schubert, his friends was most important than anything in the world.

 

Piano-Playing Style:

Schubert's own playing was evidently explained by his friend, Albert Stadler, saying, "To see and hear him(Schubert) play his own pianoforte compositions was a real pleasure. A beautiful touch, a quiet hand, clear, neat playing with full of insight and feeling," Sometimes he played cheerfully with fingers almost dancing on the piano keys especially in his famous waltzes and ländlers. Therefore, it is no doubt that Schubert was a very able pianist and skilled accompanist as well. However, he never achieved the status of keyboard virtuoso like Beethoven.

 

Music:

Schubert's music is highly original. He, once his style was formed, broke away more than any composer of the time. In addition, Schubert's music is one of the greatest and most beautiful music ever composed. On the whole, his piano music was not intended for a virtuoso playing in a concert hall but for performing to friends or listeners in intimate surroundings. Besides that, Schubert often incorporated in his piano music singable melodies with emphasis that the melody must be played like a beautiful human voice. Other than the spirit of song was found in his music, the spirit of dance also invoked from his ländlers, minuets, écossaises etc. This indicated that Schubert's music was also played for his friends to dance.   Apart from his single-minded melodic gift, Schubert's harmonic ideas were superb -- bold modulation from key to key; introduction of a totally new, beautiful material suddenly after the opening; a surprise shift from a quiet passage to dramatic impact in a Beethovenian style. Moreover, Schubert's works were sometimes unorganized and difficult to understand as dynamic level and notes were sometimes illegible. Perhaps this was because of his very fast composing habit.   However, we must understand that Schubert was always back in a gloomy mood and sufferred severe illness. Therefore, Schubert's music, even the happiest, has a tinge of sadness. It was touching, beautiful melodies that rank Schubert among the greatest composers in the world.

 

Composing Habit:

Schubert usually concentrated on composing in the morning while he usually went to cafés for the rest of day. There is no doubt that Schubert, like Mozart, was one of the fastest composers in musical history. He could think a whole work in his head and immediately write it down. There was no sketch produced even for the big works like symphonies. There was one time when Schubert was asked by his friend to set a poem Ständchen". Just after reading that poem a few times carefully, Schubert set it to music in an incredible speed without difficulty. In addition, Schubert was very capable of producing so much of beautiful, unique melodies in his beloved songs.   Lastly, a frequent practice of Schubert's -- he left many unfinished compositions eg. Symphony no 8 "Unfinished", a few piano sonatas and string quartets. No one knows why he failed to complete his works. There were various reasons:   1) he was too ill and painful to complete his works due to his application of mercury to cure his illness;  2) he had stopped to enjoy the work and move on to another piece;  3) he was very awared of Beethoven's presence and felt that he could not compete with the confident composer;  4) he felt very sad and gave up to complete the work because most of his works were not appreciated by critics, publishers and public.  So what do you think?

 

Schubert's Quote:

"Even evening when I retire to bed, I hope I may not wake again; and each morning brings back yesterday's grief"  Schubert, 1824   "This is my end."  Schubert's last words, mourned over his poor life   "There is no man in the world as wretched and unhappy as I am!"  Schubert who was drunk in cafés at that time   "I still hope to be able to make something of myself, but who can do anything after Beethoven?"  Schubert confided to a friend, showing how stressful he was under the shadow of Beethoven

 

Schubert's Death:

Before Schubert died, his friends and admirers were helping to organise the first major public concert for him. It was unfortunately that Schubert's health worsening. At the age of 31 only, he finally died on 19 November, 1828 at his brother Fredinand's house. His funeral was attended by some of his close friends.