The Art of Song

SCHUBERT & SCHUBERTIADES, Le Salon de Musiques, February 8, 2015 —

In only 16 years of actual composing, Franz Schubert created more than a thousand works of music. It's an astonishing feat and his output has continued to influence every generation of musicians that followed him. Yet, despite this amazing achievement, Schubert's life in his home town played out as a woeful tune, full of melancholy and misery. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and other composers enjoyed the patronage of aristocrats and royalty in their adopted city of Vienna. Schubert, who was born there in 1797, could only rely on the support of his friends; when money was scarce, they paid for his wine and gave him a few florins to buy tobacco for his pipe. His mother and schoolteacher father were barely able to care for their eleven children only four of whom survived past infancy. Franz was taught piano and violin at home, clearly showing a spark of talent. After excelling in the church choir, he won a scholarship to Vienna's Imperial College at age eleven where he was tutored by Antonio Salieri. [Read more]