Franz Schubert history of life and work. Biography of Schubert

Franz Peter Schubert (January 31, 1797, Himmelpfortgrund, Austria - November 19, 1828, Vienna) - Austrian composer, one of the founders of romanticism in music, author of about 600 songs, nine symphonies, as well as a large number of chamber and solo piano music. Interest in Schubert's music during his lifetime was moderate, but grew significantly posthumously. Schubert's works are still popular and are among the most famous examples of classical music.
Biography
Franz Schubert(1797-1828), Austrian composer. Franz Peter Schubert, the fourth son of the schoolteacher and amateur cellist Franz Theodor Schubert, was born on January 31, 1797 in Lichtental (a suburb of Vienna). Teachers paid tribute to the amazing ease with which the boy mastered musical knowledge. Thanks to his success in learning and good command of the voice, Schubert in 1808 was admitted to the Imperial Chapel and to Konvikt, the best boarding school in Vienna. During 1810-1813 he wrote many works: an opera, a symphony, piano pieces and songs. young musician A. Salieri became interested, and from 1812 to 1817 Schubert studied composition with him. In 1813 he entered the teacher's 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 a poem by Goethe Gretchen at the spinning wheel - this was Schubert's first masterpiece and the first great German song.
The years 1815-1816 are notable for their phenomenal productivity 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 sounding Fifth in B flat major, as well as another mass and over 100 songs. Among the songs of these years are the Wanderer and the famous Forest King. Through his devoted friend J. von Shpauna 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 inspirational performance of Schubert's songs, they gained popularity in the Viennese salons. The composer himself continued to work at the school, but in the end, in July 1818, he left the service and left for Geliz, 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 called The Twin Brothers. It was completed by January 1819 and performed at the Kärtnertorteater in June 1820. Summer holidays in 1819, Schubert spent together with Vogl in Upper Austria, where he composed the well-known Forel piano quintet.
The following years proved to be difficult for Schubert, since he, by nature, did not know how to achieve the favor of influential Viennese musical figures. The romance of the Forest Tsar, published as op. 1, marked the beginning of the regular publication of Schubert's writings. In February 1822 he completed the opera Alfonso et Estrella; in October the Unfinished Symphony saw the light of day. The next year is marked in Schubert's biography by illness and despondency of the composer. His opera was not staged; he composed two more, The Conspirators and Fierrabras, but they suffered the same fate. A wonderful vocal cycle The beautiful miller's wife and the music for Rosamund's dramatic play, well received by the audience, testify that Schubert did not give up. At the beginning of 1824 he worked on the string quartets in A minor and D minor and on the octet in F major, but the need forced him to become a teacher again in the Esterhazy family. A summer stay in Zeliz had a beneficial effect on Schubert's health. There he composed two opuses for piano four hands - the Grand Duet 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 were given the warmest welcome.
In 1826, Schubert petitioned for a place as bandmaster in the court chapel, but the request was not granted. His last string quartet and songs based on Shakespeare's words appeared during a summer trip to Währing, a village near Vienna. In Vienna itself, Schubert's songs were widely known and loved at that time; held regularly in private homes musical evenings dedicated exclusively to his music. In 1827, among other things, the vocal cycle The Winter Road and cycles of piano pieces were written.
In 1828 there were alarming signs of an impending illness; the hectic pace of Schubert's composing activity can be interpreted both as a symptom of an illness and as a reason that accelerated death. Masterpiece followed masterpiece: a majestic Symphony in C, a vocal cycle posthumously published under the title of Swan Song, a string quintet in C, 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 on an invitation with 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 at the Vienna Central Cemetery.
Song-romance genre in the interpretation of Schubert is 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 variants of this form, so that classification here is hardly possible. In principle, Lied is of two types: strophic, in which all or almost all of the verses are sung to one melody; "through", in which each verse can have its own musical solution. The field rosette is an example of the first kind; The young nun is the second. Two factors contributed to the rise of Lied: the ubiquity of the pianoforte and the rise of German lyric poetry. Schubert managed to do what his predecessors could not: by composing for a certain poetic text, he created a context with his music that gives the word new meaning. It could be a sound-pictorial context - for example, the murmur of water in the songs from the Beautiful Miller's Girl or the whirring of a spinning wheel in Gretchen at the spinning wheel, or an emotional context - for example, the chords that convey the reverent mood of the evening in Sunset or the midnight horror in The Double. sometimes between Thanks to the special gift of Schubert, a mysterious connection is established by the landscape and the mood of the poem: for example, the imitation of the monotonous hum of a hurdy-gurdy in the Organ Grinder 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. Wrong are those who question the literary taste of the composer on the grounds that among the more than six hundred poetic texts he voiced there are very weak verses - for example, who would remember the poetic lines of the romances Forel or To music, if not for the genius of Schubert? But still, the greatest masterpieces were created by the composer on the texts of his favorite poets, luminaries German literature- Goethe, Schiller, Heine. Schubert's songs - whoever the author of the words may be - are characterized by the immediacy of the 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 compositions are somewhat less expressive than romances. Vocal ensembles contain excellent pages, but none of them, except perhaps the five-part No, only the one who knew, captures the listener like romances. The unfinished spiritual opera The Resurrection of Lazarus is more of an oratorio; the music here is beautiful, and the score contains anticipations of some of Wagner's techniques.
Schubert composed six masses. They also have very bright parts, but still, in Schubert, this genre does not rise to those heights of perfection that were achieved in the masses of Bach, Beethoven, and later Bruckner. It is only in the last Mass that Schubert's musical genius overcomes his detached attitude towards Latin texts.
Orchestral music. In his youth, Schubert led and conducted a student orchestra. Then he mastered the skill of instrumentation, but life rarely gave him reasons to write for the orchestra; after six youthful symphonies, only a symphony in B minor and a symphony in C major were created. In series early symphonies the most interesting is the fifth (in B minor), but only Schubert's Unfinished introduces us to new world far from the classical styles of the composer's predecessors. Like theirs, the development of themes and textures in Unfinished is full of intellectual brilliance, but in terms of the strength of the emotional impact, Unfinished is close to Schubert's songs. In the majestic C-major symphony, such qualities are even brighter.
Among other orchestral works, overtures stand out. In two of them, written in 1817, the influence of G. Rossini is felt, and their subtitles indicate: "in the Italian style." Of interest are also three opera overtures: Alfonso and Estrella, Rosamund and Fierrabras - the most perfect example of this form in Schubert.
Chamber instrumental genres. Chamber works to the greatest extent reveal inner world composer in addition, they clearly reflect the spirit of his beloved Vienna. The tenderness and poetry of Schubert's nature are captured in the masterpieces, which are usually called the "seven stars" of his chamber heritage. The Trout Quintet is a herald of a new, romantic worldview in the chamber-instrumental genre; charming melodies and cheerful rhythms brought great popularity to the composition. Five years later, two string quartets appeared: the quartet in A minor, perceived by many as the composer's confession, and the quartet Girl and Death, where melody and poetry are combined with deep tragedy. The last Schubert quartet in G major is the quintessence of the composer's skill; the scale of the cycle and the complexity of the forms present some obstacle to the popularity of this work, but the last quartet, like the symphony in C major, is the absolute pinnacle of Schubert's work. The lyrical-dramatic character of the early quartets is also characteristic of the quintet in C major, but it cannot be compared in perfection with the quartet in G major.
Piano compositions. Schubert composed many pieces for pianoforte 4 hands. Many of them are charming music for home use. But among this part of the composer's heritage there are more serious works. Such are the Grand Duo sonata with its symphonic scope, the variations in A-flat major with their sharp characteristic, and the fantasy in F minor op. 103 is a first-class and widely recognized composition. About two dozen of Schubert's 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. Sonatas in A minor, D major and G major demonstrate the composer's understanding of the sonata principle: dance and song forms are combined here with classical techniques for developing themes. In three sonatas that appeared shortly before the death of the composer, song and dance elements appear in a purified, sublime form; the emotional world of these works is richer than in the early opuses. The last sonata in B-flat major is the result of Schubert's work on the thematic and form of the sonata cycle.
Creation
Schubert's creative heritage covers a variety of genres. He created 9 symphonies, over 25 chamber-instrumental works, 15 piano sonatas, many pieces for piano in two and four hands, 10 operas, 6 masses, a number of works for the choir, for a vocal ensemble, and finally, about 600 songs. In life, yes and enough long time after the death of the composer, he was valued mainly as a songwriter. Only from the 19th century did researchers begin to gradually comprehend his achievements in other areas of creativity. Thanks to Schubert the song for the first time became equal in importance to other genres. Her poetic images reflect almost the entire history of Austrian and German poetry, including some foreign authors. In the field of song, Schubert became Beethoven's successor. Thanks to Schubert, this genre acquired art form, enriching the area of ​​the concert vocal music. Schubert's musical gift also affected piano music. His Fantasies in C major and F minor, impromptu, musical moments, sonatas are proof of the richest imagination and great harmonic erudition. in the chamber and symphonic music- the string quartet in D minor, the quintet in C major, the piano quintet "Forellenquintett", the "Great Symphony" in C major and the "Unfinished Symphony" in B minor - Schubert is the successor of Beethoven. Of the operas performed at that time, Schubert most liked Josef Weigl's The Swiss Family, Luigi Cherubini's Medea, François Adrien Boildieu's John of Paris, Izuard's Sandrillon, and especially Gluck's Iphigenia en Tauris. Italian opera, which was in great fashion in his time, Schubert was little interested; only The Barber of Seville and some excerpts from Otello by Gioachino Rossini seduced him.
Unfinished symphony
The exact date of creation of the symphony in B minor (Unfinished) is unknown. It was dedicated to amateur musical society in Graz, and Schubert presented two parts of it in 1824. The manuscript was kept for more than 40 years by Schubert's friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner, until the Viennese conductor Johann Herbeck discovered it and performed it in concert in 1865. The symphony was published in 1866. It remained a secret of Schubert himself, why he did not complete the "Unfinished" symphony. It seems that he intended to bring it to its logical conclusion, the first scherzos were completely finished, and the rest were found in sketches. From another point of view, the “Unfinished” symphony is a completely completed work, since the range of images and their development exhausts itself within two parts. So, in his time, Beethoven created sonatas in two parts, and later, among romantic composers, works of this kind became commonplace.

Trusting, frank, incapable of betrayal, sociable, talkative in a joyful mood - who knew him differently?
From the memories of friends

F. Schubert is the first great romantic composer. Poetic love and pure joy of life, despair and cold of loneliness, yearning for the ideal, thirst for wandering and hopelessness of wandering - all this found an echo in the composer's work, in his naturally and naturally flowing melodies. The emotional openness of the romantic worldview, the immediacy of expression raised the genre of the song to an unprecedented height until then: this formerly secondary genre in Schubert became the basis artistic world. In a song melody, the composer could express a whole range of feelings. His inexhaustible melodic gift allowed him to compose several songs a day (there are more than 600 in total). Song melodies also penetrate into instrumental music, for example, the song "Wanderer" served as material for the piano fantasy of the same name, and "Trout" for a quintet, etc.

Schubert was born into the family of a school teacher. The boy very early showed outstanding musical ability and he was sent to study in convict (1808-13). There he sang in the choir, studied music theory under the direction of A. Salieri, played in the student orchestra and conducted it.

In the Schubert family (as well as in the German burgher environment in general) they loved music, but allowed it only as a hobby; the profession of a musician was considered insufficiently honorable. The novice composer had to follow in the footsteps of his father. Within a few years (1814-18) school work distracted Schubert from creativity, and yet he composes an extremely large amount. If in instrumental music the dependence on the style of the Viennese classics (mainly W. A. ​​Mozart) is still visible, then in the song genre, the composer already at the age of 17 creates works that fully revealed his individuality. The poetry of J. W. Goethe inspired Schubert to create such masterpieces as Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel, The Forest King, songs from Wilhelm Meister, etc. Schubert also wrote many songs to the words of another classic of German literature, F. Schiller.

Wanting to devote himself entirely to music, Schubert left work at the school (this led to a break in relations with his father) and moved to Vienna (1818). There remain such fickle sources of livelihood as private lessons and the publication of essays. Not being a virtuoso pianist, Schubert could not easily (like F. Chopin or F. Liszt) win a name for himself in the musical world and thus promote the popularity of his music. The nature of the composer did not contribute to this either, his complete immersion in composing music, modesty and, at the same time, the highest creative integrity, which did not allow any compromises. But he found understanding and support among friends. A circle of creative youth is grouped around Schubert, each of whose members must certainly have had some kind of artistic talent (What can he do? - every newcomer was greeted with such a question). The participants of the Schubertiads became the first listeners, and often co-authors (I. Mayrhofer, I. Zenn, F. Grillparzer) of the brilliant songs of the head of their circle. Conversations and heated debates about art, philosophy, politics alternated with dances, for which Schubert wrote a lot of music, and often just improvised it. Minuets, ecossesses, polonaises, landlers, polkas, gallops - such is the circle of dance genres, but waltzes rise above everything - no longer just dances, but rather lyrical miniatures. Psychologizing the dance, turning it into a poetic picture of the mood, Schubert anticipates the waltzes of F. Chopin, M. Glinka, P. Tchaikovsky, S. Prokofiev. A member of the circle, the famous singer M. Vogl, promoted Schubert's songs on the concert stage and, together with the author, toured the cities of Austria.

Schubert's genius grew out of a long musical tradition in Vienna. The classical school (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven), multinational folklore, in which the influences of Hungarians, Slavs, Italians were superimposed on the Austro-German basis, and finally, the special predilection of the Viennese for dance, home music making - all this determined the appearance of Schubert's work.

The heyday of Schubert's creativity - the 20s. At this time, the best instrumental works: lyrical-dramatic "Unfinished" symphony (1822) and epic, life-affirming in C major (the last, Ninth in a row). Both symphonies for a long time were unknown: the C major was discovered by R. Schumann in 1838, and the "Unfinished" was found only in 1865. Both symphonies influenced composers of the second half of the 19th century, defining various paths of romantic symphonism. Schubert never heard any of his symphonies professionally performed.

There were many difficulties and failures with opera productions. Despite this, Schubert constantly wrote for the theater (about 20 works in total) - operas, singspiel, music for the play "Rosamund" by V. Chesi. He also creates spiritual works (including 2 masses). Schubert wrote music of remarkable depth and impact in chamber genres (22 piano sonatas, 22 quartets, about 40 other ensembles). His impromptu (8) and musical moments (6) marked the beginning of the Romantic piano miniature. The new appears in songwriting. 2 vocal cycles on verses by W. Muller - 2 stages life path person.

The first of them - "The Beautiful Miller" (1823) - a kind of "novel in songs", covered by a single plot. A young man, full of strength and hope, goes towards happiness. spring nature, a briskly babbling brook - everything creates a cheerful mood. Confidence is soon replaced by a romantic question, the languor of the unknown: Where to? But now the stream leads the young man to the mill. Love for the miller's daughter, her happy moments are replaced by anxiety, the torments of jealousy and the bitterness of betrayal. In the gentle murmuring, lulling streams of the stream, the hero finds peace and solace.

The second cycle - "Winter Way" (1827) - a series of mournful memories of a lonely wanderer about unrequited love, tragic thoughts, only occasionally interspersed with bright dreams. IN last song, "organ grinder", the image of a wandering musician is created, forever and monotonously spinning his hurdy-gurdy and nowhere finding either a response or an outcome. This is the personification of the path of Schubert himself, already seriously ill, exhausted by constant need, overwork and indifference to his work. The composer himself called the songs of "Winter Way" "terrible".

Crown vocal creativity- " Swan Song" - a collection of songs to the words of various poets, including G. Heine, who turned out to be close to the "late" Schubert, who felt the "split of the world" more sharply and more painfully. At the same time, Schubert never, even in last years life, did not close in mournful tragic moods (“pain sharpens the thought and tempers feelings,” he wrote in his diary). The figurative and emotional range of Schubert's lyrics is truly limitless - it responds to everything that excites any person, while the sharpness of contrasts in it is constantly increasing (the tragic monologue "Double" and next to it - the famous "Serenade"). Schubert finds more and more creative impulses in the music of Beethoven, who, in turn, got acquainted with some of the works of his younger contemporary and appreciated them very highly. But modesty and shyness did not allow Schubert to personally meet his idol (one day he turned back at the very door of Beethoven's house).

The success of the first (and only) author's concert, organized a few months before his death, finally attracted the attention of the musical community. His music, especially songs, begins to spread rapidly throughout Europe, finding the shortest path to the hearts of listeners. She has a huge influence on Romantic composers. next generations. Without the discoveries made by Schubert, it is impossible to imagine Schumann, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Mahler. He filled the music with the warmth and immediacy of song lyrics, revealed the inexhaustible spiritual world of man.

K. Zenkin

Schubert's creative life is estimated at only seventeen years. Nevertheless, listing everything he wrote is even more difficult than listing the works of Mozart, creative way which was longer. Just like Mozart, Schubert did not bypass any area of ​​musical art. Some of his heritage (mainly operatic and spiritual works) was pushed aside by time itself. But in a song or a symphony, in a piano miniature or a chamber ensemble, they found expression the best sides Schubert's genius, the wonderful immediacy and ardor of the romantic imagination, the lyrical warmth and quest of the thinking human XIX century.

In these areas musical creativity Schubert's innovation manifested itself with the greatest courage and scope. He is the founder of the lyrical instrumental miniature, romantic symphony - lyrical-dramatic and epic. Schubert fundamentally changes the figurative content in large forms chamber music: in piano sonatas, string quartets. Finally, the true brainchild of Schubert is a song, the creation of which is simply inseparable from his very name.

Schubert's music was formed on Viennese soil, fertilized by the genius of Haydn, Mozart, Gluck, Beethoven. But Vienna is not only a classic presented by its luminaries, but also busy life life music. The musical culture of the capital of a multinational empire has long been subjected to a tangible impact of its multi-tribal and multi-lingual population. Crossing and interpenetration of Austrian, Hungarian, German, Slavic folklore over the centuries, a non-decreasing influx of Italian melos led to the formation of a specifically Viennese musical flavor. Lyrical simplicity and lightness, intelligibility and grace, cheerful temperament and dynamic street life, good-natured humor and ease dance movement left a characteristic imprint on the everyday music of Vienna.

The democratism of Austrian folk music, the music of Vienna, fanned the work of Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven also experienced its influence, according to Schubert - a child of this culture. For his commitment to her, he even had to listen to reproaches from friends. Schubert's melodies "sometimes sound too domestic, too in Austrian, - writes Bauernfeld, - they remind folk songs, whose somewhat low tone and ugly rhythm have no sufficient basis for penetrating into a poetic song. To this kind of criticism, Schubert replied: “What do you understand? This is how it should be!” Indeed, Schubert speaks the language of genre music, thinks in its images; from them grow works of high forms of art of the most diverse plan. In a broad generalization of song lyrical intonations that matured in the musical routine of the burghers, in the democratic environment of the city and its suburbs - the nationality of Schubert's creativity. The lyrical-dramatic "Unfinished" symphony unfolds on a song and dance basis. The transformation of genre material can be felt both in the epic canvas of the “Great” symphony in C-dur and in an intimate lyrical miniature or instrumental ensemble.

The element of song permeated all spheres of his work. Song melody forms the thematic basis of Schubert's instrumental compositions. For example, in the piano fantasy on the theme of the song "Wanderer", in the piano quintet "Trout", where the melody of the song of the same name serves as the theme for variations of the finale, in the d-moll quartet, where the song "Death and the Maiden" is introduced. But in other works that are not related to the themes of specific songs - in sonatas, in symphonies - the song warehouse of thematism determines the features of the structure, the methods of developing the material.

It is natural, therefore, that although the beginning of Schubert's composing path was marked by an extraordinary scope of creative ideas that prompted experiments in all areas of musical art, he found himself first of all in the song. It was in it, ahead of everything else, that the facets of his lyrical talent shone with a wonderful play.

“Among the music not for the theater, not for the church, not for the concert, there is a particularly remarkable section - romances and songs for one voice with piano. From a simple, couplet form of a song, this kind has developed to whole small single scenes-monologues, allowing all the passion and depth of spiritual drama.

This kind of music was magnificently manifested in Germany, in the genius of Franz Schubert,” wrote A. N. Serov.

Schubert - "the nightingale and the swan of song" (B. V. Asafiev). In the song - all his creative essence. It is the Schubert song that is a kind of boundary that separates the music of romanticism from the music of classicism. The era of song, romance, which has come since the beginning of the 19th century, is a pan-European phenomenon, which “can be called Schubertism, after the greatest master of urban democratic song-romance, Schubert” (B.V. Asafiev). The place of the song in Schubert's work is equivalent to the position of the fugue in Bach or the sonata in Beethoven. According to B. V. Asafiev, Schubert did in the field of song what Beethoven did in the field of symphony. Beethoven summarized the heroic ideas of his era; Schubert, on the other hand, was a singer of "simple natural thoughts and deep humanity." Through the world of lyrical feelings reflected in the song, he expresses his attitude to life, people, the surrounding reality.

Lyricism is the essence creative nature Schubert. Range lyrical themes in his work is exceptionally wide. The theme of love, with all the richness of its poetic nuances, sometimes joyful, sometimes sad, is intertwined with the theme of wandering, wandering, loneliness, permeating all romantic art, with the theme of nature. Nature in Schubert's work is not just a background against which a certain narrative unfolds or any events take place: it "humanizes", and the radiation of human emotions, depending on their nature, colors the images of nature, gives them one or another mood and corresponding color.

In Vienna, in the family of a school teacher.

Schubert's exceptional musical abilities manifested themselves in early childhood. From the age of seven, he studied playing several instruments, singing, and theoretical disciplines.

At the age of 11, Schubert was a boarding school for soloists of the court chapel, where, in addition to singing, he studied playing many instruments and music theory under the guidance of Antonio Salieri.

While studying at the choir in 1810-1813, he wrote many compositions: an opera, a symphony, piano pieces and songs.

In 1813 he entered the teachers' seminary, and in 1814 began teaching at the school where his father served. In his spare time, Schubert composed his first Mass and set Johann Goethe's poem "Gretchen behind the spinning wheel" to music.

His numerous songs date back to 1815, including "The Forest King" to the words of Johann Goethe, the 2nd and 3rd symphonies, three masses and four singspiel (comic opera with spoken dialogues).

In 1816 the composer completed his 4th and 5th symphonies and wrote over 100 songs.

Wanting to devote himself entirely to music, Schubert left his job at school (this led to a break in relations with his father).

At Gelize, the summer residence of Count Johann Esterházy, he acted as a music teacher.

At the same time, the young composer became close to the famous Viennese singer Johann Vogl (1768-1840), who became a promoter of Schubert's vocal work. During the second half of the 1810s, numerous new songs came out from Schubert's pen, including the popular Wanderer, Ganymede, Forellen, and the 6th Symphony. His singspiel The Twin Brothers, written in 1820 for Vogl and staged at the Kärntnertor Theater in Vienna, was not particularly successful, but brought fame to Schubert. A more serious achievement was the melodrama "Magic Harp", staged a few months later at the Theater An der Wien.

He enjoyed the patronage of aristocratic families. Schubert's friends published his 20 songs by private subscription, but the opera "Alfonso and Estrella" to a libretto by Franz von Schober, which Schubert considered his great success, was rejected.

In the 1820s, the composer created instrumental works: the lyric-dramatic "Unfinished" symphony (1822) and the epic, life-affirming symphony in C major (the last, ninth in a row).

In 1823 he wrote the vocal cycle "The Beautiful Miller" to the words of the German poet Wilhelm Müller, the opera "Fiebras", the singspiel "The Conspirator".

In 1824, Schubert created the A-moll and D-moll string quartets (his second movement is variations on an earlier Schubert song "Death and the Maiden") and a six-part Octet for wind and strings.

In the summer of 1825, in Gmunden near Vienna, Schubert made sketches of his last symphony, the so-called "Big".

In the second half of the 1820s, Schubert enjoyed a very high reputation in Vienna - his concerts with Vogl gathered a large audience, and publishers willingly published the composer's new songs, as well as pieces and piano sonatas. Among Schubert's works of 1825-1826, piano sonatas, the last string quartet and some songs, among which "The Young Nun" and Ave Maria, stand out.

Schubert's work was actively covered in the press, he was elected a member of the Vienna Society of Friends of Music. On March 26, 1828, the composer gave an author's concert in the hall of the society with great success.

This period includes the vocal cycle "Winter Way" (24 songs to the words of Müller), two impromptu notebooks for pianoforte, two piano trios and masterpieces of the last months of Schubert's life - the Es-dur Mass, the last three piano sonatas, the String Quintet and 14 songs, published after the death of Schubert in the form of a collection called "Swan Song".

On November 19, 1828, Franz Schubert died in Vienna of typhus at the age of 31. He was buried in the Waring Cemetery (now Schubert Park) in northwest Vienna, next to the composer, Ludwig van Beethoven, who had died a year earlier. On January 22, 1888, Schubert's ashes were reburied at the Vienna Central Cemetery.

Before late XIX century, a significant part of the composer's extensive heritage remained unpublished. The manuscript of the "Great" symphony was discovered by the composer Robert Schumann in the late 1830s - it was first performed in 1839 in Leipzig under the baton of the German composer and conductor Felix Mendelssohn. The first performance of the String Quintet took place in 1850, and the first performance of the "Unfinished Symphony" in 1865. The catalog of Schubert's works includes about one thousand positions - six masses, eight symphonies, about 160 vocal ensembles, over 20 completed and unfinished piano sonatas, and over 600 songs for voice and piano.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

The first romantic composer, Schubert is one of the most tragic figures in the history of world musical culture. His life, short and uneventful, was cut short when he was in the prime of life and talent. He did not hear most of his compositions. In many ways, the fate of his music was also tragic. Priceless manuscripts, partly kept by friends, partly donated to someone, and sometimes simply lost in endless journeys, could not be put together for a long time. It is known that the “Unfinished” symphony had been waiting for its performance for more than 40 years, and the C major symphony for 11 years. The paths opened in them by Schubert remained unknown for a long time.

Schubert was a younger contemporary of Beethoven. Both of them lived in Vienna, their work coincides in time: "Margarita at the Spinning Wheel" and "Forest Tsar" are the same age as Beethoven's 7th and 8th symphonies, and his 9th symphony appeared simultaneously with Schubert's "Unfinished". Only a year and a half separate the death of Schubert from the day of Beethoven's death. Nevertheless, Schubert is a representative of a completely new generation of artists. If Beethoven's creativity was formed under the influence of the ideas of the Great french revolution and embodied its heroism, Schubert's art was born in an atmosphere of disappointment and fatigue, in an atmosphere of the most severe political reaction. It was initiated by the Congress of Vienna in 1814-15. Representatives of the states that won the war with Napoleon united then in the so-called. "Holy Alliance", the main goal of which was the suppression of revolutionary and national liberation movements. The leading role in the "Holy Alliance" belonged to Austria, more precisely the head of the Austrian government, Chancellor Metternich. It was he, and not the passive, weak-willed Emperor Franz, who actually ruled the country. It was Metternich who was the true creator of the Austrian autocratic system, the essence of which was to stop any manifestations of free thought in the bud.

The fact that Schubert spent the entire period of his creative maturity in Metternich's Vienna determined to a large extent the nature of his art. In his work there are no works related to the struggle for a happy future for mankind. His music is not characterized by heroic moods. At the time of Schubert, there was no longer any talk of universal human problems, of the reorganization of the world. The struggle for all this seemed pointless. The most important thing seemed to be to preserve honesty, spiritual purity, the values ​​​​of one's spiritual world. Thus was born an artistic movement, called « romanticism". This is art, in which for the first time the individual personality with its uniqueness, with its searches, doubts, sufferings, took the central place. Schubert's work is the dawn of musical romanticism. His hero is a hero of modern times: not a public figure, not a speaker, not an active changer of reality. This is an unfortunate, lonely person whose hopes for happiness cannot come true.

The fundamental difference between Schubert and Beethoven was content his music, both vocal and instrumental. The ideological core of most of Schubert's works is the collision of the ideal and the real. Every time the collision of dreams and reality receives an individual interpretation, but, as a rule, the conflict is not finally resolved. It is not the struggle for the sake of asserting a positive ideal that is at the center of the composer's attention, but the more or less distinct exposure of contradictions. This is the main evidence of Schubert's belonging to romanticism. Its main theme was theme of deprivation, tragic hopelessness. This topic is not invented, it is taken from life, reflecting the fate of a whole generation, incl. and the fate of the composer himself. As already mentioned, Schubert passed his short career in tragic obscurity. He was not accompanied by success, natural for a musician of this magnitude.

Meanwhile, the creative legacy of Schubert is enormous. In terms of the intensity of creativity and the artistic significance of music, this composer can be compared with Mozart. Among his compositions are operas (10) and symphonies, chamber-instrumental music and cantata-oratorio works. But no matter how outstanding Schubert's contribution to the development of various musical genres, in the history of music his name is associated primarily with the genre songs- romance(German Lied). The song was the element of Schubert, in it he achieved the unprecedented. Asafiev noted, "what Beethoven accomplished in the field of the symphony, Schubert accomplished in the field of the song-romance..." IN full assembly of Schubert's compositions, the song series is represented by a huge figure - more than 600 works. But the matter is not only in quantity: in the work of Schubert, a qualitative leap was made, which allowed the song to take a completely new place in a number of musical genres. The genre, which played an obviously secondary role in the art of the Viennese classics, became equal in importance to the opera, symphony, and sonata.

Instrumental creativity of Schubert

Schubert's instrumental work includes 9 symphonies, over 25 chamber-instrumental works, 15 piano sonatas, many pieces for piano in 2 and 4 hands. Growing up in an atmosphere of live influence of the music of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, which was not the past for him, but the present, Schubert surprisingly quickly - already by the age of 17-18 - perfectly mastered the traditions of the Viennese classical school. In his first symphonic, quartet and sonata experiments, the echoes of Mozart are especially noticeable, in particular, the 40th symphony (the young Schubert's favorite work). Schubert is closely related to Mozart clearly expressed lyrical mindset. At the same time, in many ways, he acted as the heir to the Haydnian traditions, as evidenced by the proximity to the Austro-German folk music. He adopted from the classics the composition of the cycle, its parts, the basic principles of organizing the material. However, Schubert subordinated the experience of the Viennese classics to new tasks.

Romantic and classical traditions form a single fusion in his art. Schubert's dramaturgy is the result of a special plan dominated by lyrical orientation and songwriting, as main principle development. Schubert's sonata-symphonic themes are related to songs - both in their intonation structure and in the methods of presentation and development. The Viennese classics, especially Haydn, often also created themes based on song melody. However, the impact of songwriting on instrumental drama as a whole was limited - the developmental development of the classics is purely instrumental character. Schubert in every possible way emphasizes the song nature of the themes:

• often expounds them in a reprise closed form, likening to a finished song (GP I of the sonata A-dur);
• develops with the help of varied repetitions, variant transformations, in contrast to the symphonic development traditional for the Viennese classics (motivational isolation, sequencing, dissolution in general forms of movement);
• the ratio of the parts of the sonata-symphony cycle also becomes different - the first parts are often presented at a leisurely pace, as a result of which the traditional classical contrast between the fast and energetic first part and the slow lyrical second part is significantly smoothed out.

The combination of what seemed incompatible - miniature with scale, song with symphony - gave a completely new type sonata-symphonic cycle - lyric-romantic.

Franz Peter Schubert was a representative of the current of musical romanticism in Austria. In his works, there was a longing for a bright ideal, which was so lacking in real life. Schubert's music, hearty and sincere, took a lot from the traditional folk art. His works are distinguished by melody and harmony, a special emotional mood.

Franz Peter Schubert was a representative of the current of musical romanticism in Austria. In his works, there was a longing for a bright ideal, which was so lacking in real life. Schubert's music, hearty and soulful, took a lot from traditional folk art. His works are distinguished by melody and harmony, a special emotional mood.

Schubert was born on January 31, 1797, in the family Franz Theodor Schubert- School teacher and amateur cellist. boy with early age fell in love with music and easily mastered musical instruments. Young Schubert sang beautifully - he had an excellent voice as a child - so in 1808 he was admitted to the Imperial Chapel. He received his general education at the Konvikt boarding school. In the school orchestra, Schubert was the second violin, but Latin and mathematics were not easy for him.

From choir chapel Schubert was expelled as a teenager. In 1810, Schubert began writing music. Within 3 years he composed several pieces for piano, a symphony and even an opera. The famous himself became interested in the young talent Salieri. (He studied composition with Schubert in the period 1812-17.)

From 1813 Schubert taught at the school. That year he composed his first famous masterpiece- the song Gretchen am Spinnrade ("Gretchen at the spinning wheel") on the verses of Goethe.

In 1815–16 Schubert wrote many works: more than one and a half hundred songs, several instrumental quartets and symphonies, four operettas, two masses. In 1816, his famous Fifth Symphony in B flat major, the songs "Forest King" and "Wanderer" were written.

The composer was lucky to meet the eminent baritone singer M. Foglem. Vogl began to perform Schubert's songs, and they soon gained popularity in all Viennese salons.

In the summer of 1818, Schubert left the service at school and went to the residence of a well-known art connoisseur, patron of the arts - Count Johann Esterhazy. There he taught and continued to write music. During this period, the Sixth Symphony was created. Returning to Vienna, the composer received a lucrative commission for the operetta The Twin Brothers. The premiere of the musical performance took place in 1820 - it was a success.

The next two years were financially difficult for the composer. He did not know how to achieve the favor of patrons and did not want to. In 1822 he completed Alfonso e Estrella, but it was never staged.

During 1823 the composer was persecuted severe illness. Despite his physical weakness, he wrote two more operas. These works also did not see the stage. The composer did not lose heart and continued to create. The music for Rosamund's play and the song cycle called "The Beautiful Miller's Girl" were well received by the audience. Schubert again left to teach at the Esterhazy family and there, in the country princely residence, improved his health a little.

In 1825, the composer toured extensively with Vogl in Austria. At this time, a vocal cycle was written to the words of Scott, which included the famous ode "Ave Maria".

The songs and vocal cycles of Schubert were known and popular in Austria - both among the noble public and among common people. Many private houses then held evenings devoted exclusively to the works of the composer - the Schubertiades. In 1827 the composer created famous cycle"Winter Way".

The composer's health, meanwhile, was getting worse. In 1828, he felt signs of another serious illness. Instead of paying attention to the state of health, Schubert feverishly continued to work. At this time, the main masterpieces of the composer saw the light of day: the famous "Symphony in C major", the quintet "in C major" for string instruments, three piano sonatas and a vocal cycle with symbolic name"Swan song". (This cycle was published and performed after the death of the composer).

Not all publishers agreed to publish Schubert's works; it happened that he was paid unreasonably little. He did not give up and worked until the last days.

Schubert died on November 19, 1828. The cause of death was typhus - the composer's body, weakened by hard work, could not cope with the disease. He was buried next to Beethoven, but later the ashes were transferred to the central cemetery in Vienna.

The composer lived only 31 years, but his contribution to the musical Legacy XIX century is huge. He worked a lot in the song-romance genre; he wrote about 650 songs. At that time, German poetry was flourishing - it became a source of his inspiration. Schubert took poetic texts and with the help of music gave them their own context, a new meaning. His songs were characterized by a direct impact on the listeners - they became not observers, but participants in the plot of the musical composition.

Not only in song, but also orchestral genre Schubert managed to do a lot. His symphonies introduce listeners to a new, original music world far from classical XIX style century. All his orchestral works are distinguished by the brightness of emotions, the enormous power of influence.

The harmonious inner world of Schubert is reflected in his chamber works. The composer often wrote four-hand pieces intended for "home" use. His trios, quartets, quintets captivate with frankness and emotional openness. Such was Schubert - he had nothing to hide from his listener.

Schubert's piano sonatas are second only to Beethoven's in their emotional intensity and mastery. They combine traditional song and dance forms with classical musical techniques.

All of Schubert's works are imbued with the charm of his beloved city - old Vienna. During his lifetime, it was not always easy for him, and Vienna did not always appreciate his talent at its true worth. After his death, many unpublished manuscripts remained. Musicians and critics, friends and relatives of the composer have made great efforts to find, translate and publish a significant number of his works. The popularization of this wonderful music continued for a century. She led to worldwide recognition musical genius- Franz Peter Schubert.

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