![]() ![]() Yet just as it seemed that he would surely flounder, Schubert began using his compositions as the natural outlet for his churning emotions, most notably in his first indisputable masterpiece, Gretchen Am Spinnrade (“Gretchen at her Spinning Wheel”, 1814). Schubert loathed teaching and, as he was barely older than many of his charges, found keeping discipline a gruelling challenge. ![]() Initially, the move seemed an unmitigated disaster. As a result he toed the family line, completed the mandatory year’s teacher training, and joined the staff at his father’s school. Yet Schubert was no Beethoven, temperamentally or creatively – the idea of making the break and trying to go it alone as a freelancer was simply not an option at this time. Yet he was a brilliant teacher, and within three years Schubert was making up for lost time, composing his first string quartets, songs, and piano pieces.īy the time he left the chapel school in 1813, the 16-year-old student had an unusually accomplished First Symphony under his belt, and a glowing reputation as a conductor. Here his main tutor was none other than Antonio Salieri, now in his mid-fifties and widely rumoured (entirely without foundation) to have poisoned Mozart out of professional jealousy some 20 years beforehand. Well, the first surprising thing about this most effortlessly spontaneous of composers is that he wasn’t a prodigy – at least not in the sense of a Mendelssohn (another genius cut short in his prime), Saint-Saëns, or Korngold.īorn the son of a Viennese schoolmaster, who picked up early on Franz’s musical ability and taught him the violin, his first notable musical achievement was to win a place in the prestigious Imperial Court chapel choir, at the age of 10. So who exactly was the self-effacing genius who achieved so much during a mere 15 years of serious composing? Yet over the years, Schubert’s fan base has widened and intensified so that few would now take issue with the great German pianist Arthur Schnabel, who described him as “the composer nearest to God”. Only they repeat the same effect for interminable stanzas.” Debussy dismissed his songs as possessing “the odour of bureau drawers of provincial old maids – ends of faded ribbon – flowers forever faded and withered – out-of-date photographs. Not everyone took equally to the great songsmith’s exalted lyrical gift, however. Declaring Schubert “the most poetic musician who ever lived”, Franz Liszt then set about making a series of celebrated song transcriptions for solo piano and Johannes Brahms later took on the responsibility of editing and seeing much of Schubert’s music safely through the printing presses. Just three months later, Felix Mendelssohn conducted the premiere in Leipzig.
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