Austrian Musical Genius Franz Schubert - Essay Example

Franz Schubert was an Austrian musical genius who composed some marvelous compositions at the cusp of the Classical and Romantic ages.

Franz Schubert happened to be an early Romantic composer of Austrian origins who was born on 31 January 1797 (McKay, 1997).
Schubert happened to be a profusely melodious composer and is considered to be one of the greatest composers of all time.

Franz Schubert’s father Franz Theodor Schubert was a humble schoolmaster (McKay, 1997, p. 4). His mother, Elizabeth Vietz served in Vienna as a domestic help (McKay, 1997, p. 10). Right from childhood, Franz Schubert’s family encouraged his interest and talent in music and at a nascent stage he received violin lessons from his father, elder brother, and the organist at the local church (McKay, 1997, p. 11). By the dint of his budding talent, Schubert got selected for the choir of the Royal Seminary and the Imperial Court Chapel, where he was considered to be an outstanding student (McKay, 1997, p. 254). It is a sad fact that though Schubert started composing music at a very early age, this reticent, shy, and talented young man was never able to secure any viable permanent employment, and for most of his life either he was supported by his friends or employed by his father and well-wishers.

This great composer made significant contributions to piano, chamber, and orchestral music (Black, 2003, p. 111). The compositions of Franz Schubert influenced a whole generation of composers that came after him. Yet, the genius of Schubert rendered the most prolific service to Lieder that are the German art songs for piano and voice, of which he composed nearly 600 samples (Black, 2003). Besides, in his brief but productive life, Franz Schubert also composed an array of operas, piano music, chamber music, symphonies, masses, and sonatas (Black, 2003). Franz Schubert endowed the world of music with some of the most enchanting melodies that are a joy to listen to even in contemporary times, though only a meager of his compositions got published during his lifetime. Thereby, Franz Schubert is not known for the public acclaim he accrued during his lifetime, but is rather remembered for the heavenly compositions that stood the test of time and will continue to inspire generations.

The virtuosity of Franz Schubert lies in his ability to seamlessly bridge the gap between the Classical and the Romantic age, through a dextrous use of natural imagery, sweet melody, and ingenious scoring that not only neatly blended with the regular Classical forms but rather proceeded ahead to expand and build on them (Reed, 1997, p. 105). Schubert’s talent and capacity for contriving sweet melodies remain unsurpassed in the overall history of Western Music. Franz Schubert’s music is primarily given to bold harmonic writing with a predominant stress on the major/minor key shifts (Reed, 1997). The compositions of Schubert tend to be quite elusive and subtle that are marked by a distinct sense of passion laced intricately with a melodious genre of darkness and sadness (Clive, 1997). Yet, as already said, Schubert is best known for his contribution to German Lieder. Schubert’s songs tend to be the shining examples of a uniquely dramatic and poetic grace, attributed primarily to his capacity and talent for choosing the poems drafted by some of the most melodious poets of his times, his inspired sense of melody, and his intricate rendering of the piano parts (Clive, 1997). It is not without a reason that Schubert is attributed for inspiring some of the famous later-day composers like Hugo Wolf and Johannes Brahms.

Some of the famous works of Franz Schubert include The Fifth Symphony, the unfinished Eighth Symphony, many piano works for four hands, and the Six Moments Musicaux which are rich in feeling and expression and were written during the last phase of his career (Grout & Palisca, 2001). Some of the well-known songs composed by Schubert are Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt weiss was ich leide, his most famous song Heidenroslein, the well-known song with a strong emotive appeal that is Der Erlkonig and the melodious and soulful song Gretchen am Spinnrade (Grout & Palisca, 2001).
It would not be wrong to say that the musical career of Franz Schubert happened to be meteoric which though short and constrained was marked by immense prolificacy, talent, and creativity. Read More