K. Vasilyeva
Franz Schubert
1797 - 1828
short essay life and creativity
book for young people
"Music", 1969
(pdf, 3 MB)

Amazing fate wonderful people! They have two lives: one ends with their death; the other continues after the death of the author in his creations and, perhaps, will never fade away, preserved by subsequent generations, grateful to the creator for the joy that the fruits of his labor bring to people. Sometimes the life of these creatures (whether they are works of art, inventions, discoveries) begins only after the death of the creator, no matter how bitter it is.
This is exactly how the fate of Schubert and his works unfolded. Most of it best essays, especially large genres, were not heard by the author. Much of his music might have disappeared without a trace if not for the vigorous search and enormous work of some ardent connoisseurs of Schubert (including such musicians as Schumann and Brahms).
And so, when the great musician’s warm heart stopped beating, his best works began to be “born again”, they started talking about the composer, captivating listeners with their beauty, deep content and skill.

His music gradually began to sound everywhere where true art was appreciated.
Speaking about the peculiarities of Schubert’s work, academician B.V. Asafiev notes in him “the rare ability to be a lyricist, but not to withdraw into one’s personal world, but to feel and convey the joys and sorrows of life in the way that most people feel and would like to convey them.” Perhaps it is impossible to more accurately and deeply express the main thing in Schubert’s music, what its historical role is. Schubert created huge amount works of all genres that existed in his time without exception - from vocal and piano miniatures to symphonies.
In every field, except theatrical music, he said a unique and new word, leaving wonderful works that are still alive today. Given their abundance, one is struck by the extraordinary variety of melody, rhythm, and harmony.
“What an inexhaustible wealth of melodic invention was in this untimely ended
his career as a composer,” Tchaikovsky wrote with admiration. “What a luxury of fantasy and sharply defined originality!”
Schubert's song wealth is especially great. His songs are valuable and dear to us not only as independent works of art. They helped the composer find his musical language in other genres. The connection with the songs was not only in the general intonations and rhythms, but also in the peculiarities of presentation, development of themes, expressiveness and colorfulness of harmonic means. Schubert opened the way for many new musical genres- impromptu, musical moments, song cycles, lyric-dramatic symphony. But no matter what genre Schubert wrote - traditional or created by him - everywhere he appears as a composer of a new era, romantic era, although his work is firmly based on classical musical art.
Many features of the new romantic style were then developed in the works of Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, and Russian composers of the second half of the 19th century century.

Schubert's music is dear to us not only as a magnificent artistic monument. It deeply moves listeners. Whether it splashes with fun, plunges you into deep thoughts, or causes suffering - it is close and understandable to everyone, so vividly and truthfully does it reveal human feelings and thoughts expressed by the great Schubert in his boundless simplicity.

MAIN WORKS OF SCHUBERT

For symphony orchestra
Eight symphonies, including:
Symphony No. 4, C minor (Tragic), 1816
Symphony No. 5, B flat major, 1816
Symphony No. 7, B minor (Unfinished), 1822
Symphony No. 8, C major, 1828
Seven overtures.

Vocal works (notes)
Over 600 songs, including:
Cycle “The Beautiful Miller's Wife”, 1823
Cycle "Winter Retreat", 1827
Collection “Swan Song” (posthumous), 1828
More than 70 songs based on Goethe's texts, among them:
"Margarita at the Spinning Wheel", 1814
"The Forest King", 1815
More than 30 spiritual works, including:
Mass in A flat major, 1822
Mass in E flat major, 1828
More than 70 secular works for choir and various ensembles.

Chamber ensembles
Fifteen quartets, including:
Quartet in A minor, 1824
Quartet in D minor, 1826
Quintet "Trout", 1819
String Quintet, 1828
Two piano trios, 1826 and 1827
Octet, 1824

Piano works
Eight impromptu songs, 1827-1828.
Six musical moments, 1827
Fantasy "The Wanderer", 1822
Fifteen sonatas, including:
Sonata in A minor, 1823
Sonata in A major, 1825
Sonata in B flat major, 1828
56 piano duets.
Hungarian divertissement, 1824
Fantasia in F minor, 1828
24 collections of dances.

Musical and dramatic works
Eight Singspiels, including:
"Friends from Salamanca", 1815
"Twins", 1819
Operas:
"Alfonso and Estrella", 1822
"Fierabras", 1823
"Home War" ("Conspirators"), 1823
The rest are not finished.
Melodrama “The Magic Harp”, 1820

(1797- 1828)

The biography of Schubert Franz, limited to a short period of time, is striking in the richness of the events contained in it. Was born famous composer in the capital of Austria, Vienna, on January 31, 1797. His father was a school teacher. Schubert showed his extraordinary musical abilities in infancy, and, starting at the age of seven, he began to seriously study singing and learn to play several musical instruments. As a teenager, Franz sang in a chapel organized at the royal court. Led this musical group famous Austrian composer Antonio Salieri, who began to give the talented boy lessons on the basics of composition.

During his life from 1814 to 1818, Franz Schubert worked as a teacher's assistant at school and studied creative activity. During this period of time he created many interesting musical works, among them there are many songs that were written by the composer based on poetry famous poets of that time, such as Goethe, Schiller and Heine, and there are few works famous writers of that time. At the age of 17, Franz Schubert wrote two symphonies (the second and third), three masses, and his song heritage was replenished with real masterpieces - “Margarita at the Spinning Wheel”, “The Forest King”. For very short life this genius created more than 600 songs.

A great popularizer of the composer's vocal heritage was his contemporary, the famous singer in Vienna, I. M. Vogl. Thanks to his propaganda activities and the efforts of Franz Schubert's friends, his works began to be published.

Schubert not only created beautiful works, until now admirable descendants, but his work is also distinguished by its innovation. Thus, the song cycles he created, “Winter Road” and “The Beautiful Miller’s Wife,” are a cycle of vocal monologues united by one plot. No one had created such musical works before him.

Possessing a truly multifaceted talent, Franz Schubert wrote a lot for the theater. He created 6 symphonies, and among them “Unfinished”. The operas he wrote, except for The Magic Harp, had no great success. The composer also worked a lot on creating sacred music, but most of these works remained unknown. The only exceptions are the As-dur and Es-dur masses. During his very short life, the composer created almost 1000 works.

Franz Peter Schubert is a great Austrian composer, one of the founders of romanticism in music. He wrote about 600 songs, nine symphonies (including the famous “Unfinished Symphony”), liturgical music, operas, and large number chamber and solo piano music.

Franz Peter Schubert was born on January 31, 1797 in Lichtental (now Alsergrund), a small suburb of Vienna, in the family of a schoolteacher who played music as an amateur. Of the fifteen children in the family, ten died in early age. Franz showed musical talent very early. From the age of six he studied at a parish school, and his household taught him to play the violin and piano.

At the age of eleven, Franz was accepted into the Konvict - the court chapel, where, in addition to singing, he studied playing many instruments and music theory (under the guidance of Antonio Salieri). Leaving the chapel in 1813, Schubert took a job as a teacher at a school. He studied mainly Gluck, Mozart and Beethoven. He wrote his first independent works - the opera Des Teufels Lustschloss and the Mass in F major - in 1814.

In the field of song, Schubert was a successor to Beethoven. Thanks to Schubert, this genre received art form, enriching the field of concert vocal music. The ballad “The Forest King” (“Erlk?nig”), written in 1816, brought fame to the composer. Soon after it appeared “The Wanderer” (“Der Wanderer”), “Praise of Tears” (“Lob der Thr?nen”), “Zuleika” (“Suleika”) and others.

Of great importance in vocal literature are Schubert’s large collections of songs based on the poems of Wilhelm Müller - “The Beautiful Miller’s Wife” (“Die sch?ne M?llerin”) and “Winter Reise” (“Die Winterreise”), which are, as it were, a continuation of Beethoven’s idea expressed by in the collection of songs “Beloved” (“An die Geliebte”). In all these works Schubert showed remarkable melodic talent and a wide variety of moods; he gave accompaniment higher value, greater artistic meaning. Also remarkable is the collection “Swan Song” (“Schwanengesang”), from which many songs were acquired worldwide fame(for example, "St?ndchen", "Aufenthalt", "Das Fischerm?dchen", "Am Meere"). Schubert did not try, like his predecessors, to imitate national character, but his songs involuntarily reflected the national current, and they became the property of the country. Schubert wrote almost 600 songs. Beethoven enjoyed his songs last days life. Schubert's amazing musical gift was reflected in the areas of piano and symphony. His fantasies in C major and F minor, impromptu songs, musical moments, and sonatas are proof of his rich imagination and great harmonic erudition. In the string quartet in d-minor, the quintet in c-dur, the piano quartet “Trout” (Forellen Quartett), the large symphony in c-dur and the unfinished symphony in b-minor, Schubert is Beethoven’s successor. In the field of opera, Schubert was not so gifted; although he wrote about 20 of them, they will add little to his fame. Among them, “Der h?usliche Krieg oder die Verschworenen” stands out. Certain numbers of his operas (for example, Rosamund) are quite worthy of a great musician. Of Schubert's numerous church works (masses, offertories, hymns, etc.), the Mass in es major is especially distinguished by its sublime character and musical richness. Schubert's musical productivity was enormous. Beginning in 1813, he composed incessantly.

In the highest circle, where Schubert was invited to accompany his vocal compositions, he was extremely reserved, was not interested in praise and even avoided it; Among his friends, on the contrary, he highly valued approval. The rumor about Schubert's intemperance has some basis: he often drank too much and then became hot-tempered and unpleasant to his circle of friends. Of the operas performed at that time, Schubert liked most of all “The Swiss Family” by Weigel, “Medea” by Cherubini, “John of Paris” by Boieldier, “Cendrillon” by Izouard and especially “Iphigenie in Tauris” by Gluck. Italian opera, which was in his time in big fashion, Schubert was little interested; only “The Barber of Seville” and some passages from Rossini’s “Othello” seduced him. According to biographers, Schubert never changed anything in his compositions, because he did not have it for that time. He did not spare his health and, in the prime of his life and talent, died at the age of 32. The last year of his life, despite his poor health, was especially fruitful: it was then that he wrote a symphony in C major and a mass in es major. During his lifetime he did not enjoy outstanding success. After his death, a mass of manuscripts remained that later saw the light (6 masses, 7 symphonies, 15 operas, etc.).

Schubert lived only thirty-one years. He died exhausted physically and mentally, exhausted by failures in life. None of the composer's nine symphonies were performed during his lifetime. Of the six hundred songs, about two hundred were published, and of the two dozen piano sonatas, only three.

***

Schubert was not alone in his dissatisfaction with the life around him. This dissatisfaction and protest the best people societies were reflected in a new direction in art - romanticism. Schubert was one of the first Romantic composers.
Franz Schubert was born in 1797 in the Vienna suburb of Lichtenthal. His father school teacher, came from peasant family. Mother was the daughter of a mechanic. The family loved music very much and constantly organized musical evenings. His father played the cello, and his brothers played various instruments.

Having discovered musical abilities in little Franz, his father and older brother Ignatz began to teach him to play the violin and piano. Soon the boy was able to take part in home performances of string quartets, playing the viola part. Franz had in a wonderful voice. He sang in church choir, performing difficult solo parts. The father was pleased with his son's success.

When Franz was eleven years old, he was assigned to a konvikt - a training school for church singers. Situation educational institution favored the development musical abilities boy. In the school student orchestra, he played in the first violin group, and sometimes even served as conductor. The orchestra's repertoire was varied. Schubert met symphonic works various genres (symphonies, overtures), quartets, vocal compositions. He confided to his friends that Mozart's Symphony in G Minor shocked him. High example Beethoven's music became for him.

Already in those years, Schubert began to compose. His first works were fantasia for piano, a number of songs. The young composer writes a lot, with great passion, often to the detriment of other school activities. The boy's outstanding abilities attracted the attention of the famous court composer Salieri, with whom Schubert studied for a year.
Over time, rapid development musical talent Franz began to cause concern in his father. Knowing well how difficult the path of musicians was, even world famous ones, the father wanted to protect his son from a similar fate. As punishment for his excessive passion for music, he even forbade him to holidays be at home. But no prohibitions could delay the development of the boy’s talent.

Schubert decided to break with the convict. Throw away boring and unnecessary textbooks, forget about worthless cramming that drains your heart and mind, and go free. Give yourself entirely to music, live only by it and for its sake. On October 28, 1813, he completed his first symphony in D major. On last sheet Schubert wrote in the score: “The end and the end.” The end of the symphony and the end of the convict.

For three years he served as an assistant teacher, teaching children literacy and other elementary subjects. But his attraction to music and his desire to compose becomes stronger. One can only be amazed at the resilience of his creative nature. It was during these years of school hard labor from 1814 to 1817, when it seemed that everything was against him, that he created an amazing number of works.

In 1815 alone, Schubert wrote 144 songs, 4 operas, 2 symphonies, 2 masses, 2 piano sonatas, string quartet. Among the creations of this period there are many that are illuminated by the unfading flame of genius. These are the Tragic and Fifth B-flat major symphonies, as well as the songs “Rosochka”, “Margarita at the Spinning Wheel”, “The Forest King”, “Margarita at the Spinning Wheel” - a monodrama, a confession of the soul.

“The Forest King” - a drama with several actors. They have their own characters, sharply different from each other, their own actions, completely dissimilar, their own aspirations, opposing and hostile, their own feelings, incompatible and polar.

The story behind the creation of this masterpiece is amazing. It arose in a fit of inspiration.” “One day,” recalls Shpaun, a friend of the composer, “we went to see Schubert, who was then living with his father. We found our friend in the greatest excitement. With a book in his hand, he walked back and forth around the room, reading “The Forest King” aloud. Suddenly he sat down at the table and began to write. When he stood up, the magnificent ballad was ready.”

The father's desire to make his son a teacher with a small but reliable income failed. The young composer firmly decided to devote himself to music and left teaching at school. He was not afraid of a quarrel with his father. All further short life Schubert represents a creative feat. Experiencing great material need and deprivation, he worked tirelessly, creating one work after another.

Financial adversity, unfortunately, prevented him from marrying his beloved girl. Teresa Grob sang in the church choir. From the very first rehearsals, Schubert noticed her, although she was inconspicuous. Blonde-haired, with whitish eyebrows, as if faded in the sun, and a grainy face, like most dull blondes, she did not sparkle with beauty at all.Rather, on the contrary - at first glance she seemed ugly. Traces of smallpox clearly appeared on her round face. But as soon as the music sounded, the colorless face was transformed. It had just been extinguished and therefore lifeless. Now, illuminated by the inner light, it lived and radiated.

No matter how accustomed Schubert was to the callousness of fate, he did not imagine that fate would treat him so cruelly. “Happy is he who finds a true friend. Even happier is he who finds it in his wife.” , he wrote in his diary.

However, the dreams went to waste. Teresa's mother, who raised her without a father, intervened. Her father owned a small silk-spinning factory. Having died, he left the family a small fortune, and the widow turned all her worries to ensuring that the already meager capital did not decrease.
Naturally, she pinned hopes for a better future on her daughter’s marriage. And it is even more natural that Schubert did not suit her. In addition to the penny salary of an assistant schoolteacher, he had music, which, as we know, is not capital. You can live by music, but you can’t live by it.
A submissive girl from the suburbs, brought up in subordination to her elders, did not even allow disobedience in her thoughts. The only thing she allowed herself was tears. Having cried quietly until the wedding, Teresa walked down the aisle with swollen eyes.
She became the wife of a pastry chef and lived a long, monotonously prosperous gray life, dying at the age of seventy-eight. By the time she was taken to the cemetery, Schubert’s ashes had long since decayed in the grave.

For several years (from 1817 to 1822) Schubert lived alternately with one or the other of his comrades. Some of them (Spaun and Stadler) were friends of the composer from the convict days. Later they were joined by the multi-talented artist Schober, the artist Schwind, the poet Mayrhofer, the singer Vogl and others. The soul of this circle was Schubert.
Short, stocky, very short-sighted, Schubert had enormous charm. His radiant eyes were especially beautiful, in which, as in a mirror, kindness, shyness and gentleness of character were reflected. And the delicate, changeable complexion and curly brown hair gave it appearance special attraction.

During meetings, friends got acquainted with fiction, poetry of the past and present. They argued heatedly, discussing issues that arose, and criticized the existing social order. But sometimes such meetings were devoted exclusively to Schubert’s music; they even received the name “Schubertiad”.
On such evenings, the composer did not leave the piano, immediately composing ecosaises, waltzes, landlers and other dances. Many of them remained unrecorded. Schubert's songs, which he often performed himself, evoked no less admiration. Often these friendly gatherings turned into country walks.

Saturated with bold, lively thought, poetry, and beautiful music, these meetings represented a rare contrast with the empty and meaningless entertainment of secular youth.
Unsettled life fun entertainment could not distract Schubert from his creativity, stormy, continuous, inspired. He worked systematically, day after day. “I compose every morning, when I finish one piece, I start another” , - admitted the composer. Schubert composed music unusually quickly.

On some days he created up to a dozen songs! Musical thoughts were born continuously, the composer barely had time to write them down on paper. And if it wasn’t at hand, he wrote the menu on the back, on scraps and scraps. Needing money, he especially suffered from a lack music paper. Caring friends supplied the composer with it. Music also visited him in his dreams.
When he woke up, he tried to write it down as soon as possible, so he did not part with his glasses even at night. And if the work did not immediately develop into a perfect and complete form, the composer continued to work on it until he was completely satisfied.

Yes, for some poetic texts Schubert wrote up to seven versions of songs! During this period, Schubert wrote two of his wonderful works- “The Unfinished Symphony” and the cycle of songs “The Beautiful Miller’s Wife”. ” Unfinished Symphony” does not consist of four parts, as is customary, but of two. And the point is not at all that Schubert did not have time to finish the remaining two parts. He started on the third - a minuet, as demanded classical symphony, but abandoned his idea. The symphony, as it sounded, was completely completed. Everything else would turn out to be superfluous and unnecessary.
And if the classical form requires two more parts, you have to give up the form. Which is what he did. Schubert's element was song. In it he reached unprecedented heights. He elevated the genre, previously considered insignificant, to the level of artistic perfection. And having done this, he went further - saturated with songfulness chamber music- quartets, quintets, - and then symphonic.

The combination of what seemed incompatible - miniature with large-scale, small with large, song with symphony - gave a new, qualitatively different from everything that came before - a lyric-romantic symphony. Her world is a world of simple and intimate human feelings, subtle and deep psychological experiences. This is a confession of the soul, expressed not with a pen or a word, but with sound.

The song cycle “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” is a clear confirmation of this. Schubert wrote it based on poems by the German poet Wilhelm Müller. “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” is an inspired creation, illuminated by gentle poetry, joy, and the romance of pure and high feelings.
The cycle consists of twenty separate songs. And all together they form a single dramatic play with a beginning, twists and turns, and a denouement, with one lyrical hero - a wandering mill apprentice.
However, the hero in “The Beautiful Miller's Wife” is not alone. Next to him there is another, no less important hero - a stream. He lives his stormy, intensely changing life.

Works last decade Schubert's life is very varied. He writes symphonies, piano sonatas, quartets, quintets, trios, masses, operas, a lot of songs and much other music. But during the composer’s lifetime, his works were rarely performed, and most of them remained in manuscripts.
Having neither funds nor influential patrons, Schubert had almost no opportunity to publish his works. Songs, the main thing in Schubert's work, were then considered more suitable for home music playing than for open concerts. Compared to the symphony and opera, songs were not considered an important musical genre.

Not a single Schubert opera was accepted for production, and not a single one of his symphonies was performed by an orchestra. Moreover, the notes of his best Eighth and Ninth Symphonies were found only many years after the composer’s death. And the songs based on Goethe’s words, sent to him by Schubert, never received the poet’s attention.
Timidity, inability to manage his affairs, reluctance to ask, to humiliate himself in front of influential people were also an important reason for Schubert's constant financial difficulties. But, despite the constant lack of money, and often hunger, the composer did not want to go either into the service of Prince Esterhazy or as a court organist, where he was invited. At times, Schubert did not even have a piano and composed without an instrument. Financial difficulties did not prevent him from composing music.

And yet the Viennese came to know and love Schubert’s music, which itself made its way to their hearts. Like the old ones folk songs, passed from singer to singer, his works gradually gained admirers. These were not regulars of brilliant court salons, representatives of the upper class. Like a forest stream, Schubert's music found its way to the hearts of ordinary residents of Vienna and its suburbs.
A major role was played here by the outstanding singer of that time, Johann Michael Vogl, who performed Schubert's songs to the accompaniment of the composer himself. Insecurity and continuous failures in life had a serious impact on Schubert's health. His body was exhausted. Reconciliation with his father in the last years of his life, a calmer, more balanced home life could no longer change anything. Schubert could not stop composing music; this was the meaning of his life.

But creativity required a huge expenditure of effort and energy, which became less and less every day. At the age of twenty-seven, the composer wrote to his friend Schober: “I feel like an unhappy, insignificant person in the world.”
This mood is reflected in the music last period. If earlier Schubert created mainly bright, joyful works, then a year before his death he wrote songs, uniting them under the common title “Winter Reise”.
This has never happened to him before. He wrote about suffering and suffered. He wrote about hopeless melancholy and was hopelessly melancholy. He wrote about the excruciating pain of the soul and experienced mental anguish. “Winter Way” is a journey through torment and lyrical hero, and the author.

The cycle, written in the blood of the heart, excites the blood and stirs the hearts. A thin thread woven by the artist connected the invisible, but indissoluble bond the soul of one person with the soul of millions of people. She opened their hearts to the flow of feelings rushing from his heart.

In 1828, through the efforts of friends, the only concert of his works during Schubert’s lifetime was organized. The concert was a huge success and brought the composer great joy. His plans for the future became more rosy. Despite his failing health, he continues to compose. The end came unexpectedly. Schubert fell ill with typhus.
The weakened body could not stand it serious illness, and on November 19, 1828, Schubert died. The remaining property was valued for pennies. Many works have disappeared.

The famous poet of the time, Grillparzer, who had composed a funeral eulogy for Beethoven a year earlier, wrote on the modest monument to Schubert in the Vienna cemetery:

A stunning, deep and, it seems to me, mysterious melody. Sadness, faith, renunciation.
F. Schubert composed his song Ave Maria in 1825. Initially, this work by F. Schubert had little to do with Ave Maria. The title of the song was "Ellen's Third Song" and the lyrics to which the music was written were taken from German translation Walter Scott's poem "The Maid of the Lake" by Adam Stork.

Franz Schubert

Abstract: 9th grade student B of Gymnasium No. 1 Elena Nevzorova.

Orenburg 2001

1) Historical information.

Romanticism brought to art not only new themes and new heroes, it updated and musical forms. A man who pushed the boundaries of musical XIX culture century, is the Austrian composer and musician Franz Schubert.

Revolutionary upheavals and Napoleonic wars in Europe, the old order prevailing in the Austrian Empire was almost untouched. The Habsburg monarchy was a multinational patchwork state. Austrian Germans, Czechs, Slovaks, Croats, Hungarians, Italians and other peoples lived here. And although the Austrian Germans were a minority in the empire, they ruled all the peoples annexed into different times through both dynastic marriages and direct seizures. Management was carried out through German officials, the national culture of these peoples was suppressed. The peoples of the Habsburg Empire sought to gain independence. The desire for national independence was manifested in numerous peasant uprisings and unrest in the cities.

Ferdinand, who sat on the Habsburg throne at that time, was not distinguished by his talents. All management was concentrated in the hands of Chancellor Metternich, who main role saw in the fight against revolutionary and national movements.

A significant part of the bourgeoisie was dissatisfied with the prohibitive policy of the Habsburgs.

The heyday of Schubert's work fell in the 20s of the 19th century, when everything revolutionary and progressive was persecuted. ABOUT high ideas french revolution freedom, equality, fraternity could not even be mentioned. People were given one opportunity to withdraw into their narrow, family interests, have fun, and have fun. Such forced limitations were painful for Schubert. Therefore, the gloomy mood of his last works can also be seen as a reflection of Austrian society at that time.

But at that time, Vienna, where the composer lived, was one of the largest musical cities not only in Austria, but throughout Europe. People came here best composers of that time. On stage Vienna Theater operas, symphonies and chamber works sounded in concerts. Virtuosos competed in their performing skills. People lived and worked here all over the world famous Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven.

All of Schubert's heroes are capable of deeply feeling and have a hard time experiencing the oppressive atmosphere of the police regime in Austria. A character in one of Schubert's poems says:

I have only been given great pain,

And every hour the strength diminishes.

Oh, aren't they killing me too?

Are these times meaningless?

2) Childhood.

a) Family, parents.

Franz Schubert was born in 1797 in the Vienna suburb of Lichtenthal. And he was the twelfth of 14 children, of whom only five survived. His father, a school teacher, came from a peasant family. Mother was the daughter of a mechanic. The family loved music very much and constantly organized musical evenings. His father played the cello, and his brothers played various instruments.

b) Franz's musical abilities.

Having discovered little Franz's musical abilities, Franz's father Theodor and older brother Ignaz began teaching him to play the violin and piano. Soon the boy was able to take part in home performances of string quartets, playing the viola part. Franz had a wonderful voice. He sang in the church choir, performing difficult solo parts. The father was pleased with his son's success. When Franz was eleven years old, he was assigned to Konvikt, a training school for church singers.

c) Singing in Konvikta.

The environment of the educational institution was conducive to the development of the boy’s musical abilities. In the school student orchestra, he played in the first violin group, and sometimes even served as conductor. The orchestra's repertoire was varied. Schubert became acquainted with symphonic works of various genres (symphonies, overtures), quartets, and vocal works. He confided to his friends that Mozart's Symphony in G Minor shocked him. Beethoven's music became a high model for him.

3) Youth.

a) First works.

Already in those years, Schubert began to compose. His first works were fantasia for piano, a number of songs. The young composer writes a lot, with great passion, often to the detriment of other school activities. The boy's outstanding abilities attracted the attention of the famous court composer Salieri, with whom Schubert studied for a year. He studied harmony and counterpoint, and Salieri soon declared that the student knew everything there was to know about music. By this time, some of his songs had already been published. In 1813 he created his first symphony and by the age of 17 he continued to produce a new symphony every year.

b) Disagreements with father.

Over time, the rapid development of Franz's musical talent began to cause concern in his father. Knowing well how difficult the path of musicians was, even world famous ones, the father wanted to protect his son from a similar fate. As punishment for his excessive passion for music, he even forbade him to be at home on holidays. But no prohibitions could delay the development of the boy’s talent.

c) Break with Konvikt.

Schubert decided to break with the convict. Throw away boring and unnecessary textbooks, forget about worthless cramming that drains your heart and mind, and go free. Give yourself entirely to music, live only by it and for its sake.

On October 28, 1813, he completed his first symphony in D major. On the last sheet of the score, Schubert wrote: “The end and the end.” The end of the symphony and the end of the convict.

4) The flourishing of creativity.

a) Teaching in a parish school.

Schubert's father, having married a second time, convinced Franz to work at his school. Schubert taught there for three years, although he felt disgust for this work and earned little. He served as a teacher's assistant, teaching children literacy and other elementary subjects. At this time, Rossini was the latest craze in Vienna, and Schubert tried to follow his recipe for success by composing operas. But his creations were complete failures; the most successful lasted only 12 days. Schubert realized that his talents lay in a different direction - in composing music for home listening. But his attraction to music and his desire to compose is becoming stronger. One can only be amazed at the resilience of his creative nature. It was during these years of school hard labor, from 1814 to 1817, when it seemed that everything was against him, that he created an amazing number of works. In 1815 alone, Schubert wrote 144 songs, 4 operas, 2 symphonies, 2 masses, 2 piano sonatas, and a string quartet. Among the creations of this period there are many that are illuminated by the unfading flame of genius. These are the Tragic and Fifth B-flat major symphonies, as well as the songs “Rosochka”, “Margarita at the Spinning Wheel”, “Forest King”.

b) "Forest King"

“Margarita at the Spinning Wheel” is a monodrama, a confession of the soul. "The Forest King" is a drama with several characters. They have their own characters, sharply different from each other, their own actions, completely dissimilar, their own aspirations, opposing and hostile, their own feelings, incompatible and polar.

The story behind the creation of this masterpiece is amazing. It arose in a fit of inspiration.

“Once,” recalls Shpaun, a friend of the composer, “we went to see Schubert, who was then living with his father. We found our friend in the greatest excitement. With a book in his hand, he, walking back and forth around the room, read aloud “The King of the Forest.” Suddenly he sat down at the table and began to write. When he got up, the magnificent ballad was ready."

"The Forest King" is a dramatic story about a horseman who rushes with a sick child through an evil fairy forest. The piano part either depicts a gloomy, mysterious night thicket to the listener, or conveys the frantic rhythm of the race, leading to a tragic ending. Important role in ballads, romances, and songs, pictures of nature are played. The gusty, excited melody of the romance Shelter gives rise to the image of restless seething waves, behind which one can discern the rebellious and restless soul of the romantic heroes.

c) Schubert leaves school.

The father's desire to make his son a teacher with a small but reliable income failed. The young composer firmly decided to devote himself to music and left teaching at school. He was not afraid of a quarrel with his father. The entire subsequent short life of Schubert represents a creative feat. Experiencing great material need and deprivation, he worked tirelessly, creating one work after another. In 1816, Schubert finally left his father's school and applied for the position of music director in Laibach, but since Salieri did not support his request, he was unable to take this post. Soon, however, he received 100 florins for the cantata Prometheus, which has now been lost. This was the first time he was paid for a composition.

5) Unhappy love.

Financial adversity, unfortunately, prevented him from marrying his beloved girl. Teresa Grob sang in the church choir. From the very first rehearsals, Schubert noticed her, although she was inconspicuous. Blonde-haired, with whitish eyebrows, as if bleached by the sun, and a grainy face, like most dull blondes, she did not sparkle with beauty at all. Rather, on the contrary - at first glance she seemed ugly. Traces of smallpox were clearly visible on her round face.

But as soon as the music sounded, the colorless face was transformed. It had just been extinguished and therefore lifeless. Now, illuminated by an inner light, it lived and radiated.

No matter how accustomed Schubert was to the callousness of fate, he did not imagine that fate would treat him so cruelly.