Clavier Companion - January/February 2012 - 60

ranz Peter Schubert was born in Himmelpfortgrund near Vienna, Austria. Franz was the twelfth of fourteen children, but only five lived to grow up. He had one sister, Maria Theresa, and three brothers— Ignaz, Karl, and Ferdinand. Franz learned to play several instruments (violin, viola, piano, and organ), and he sang very well. His first music teachers were his father and his brothers. His family often performed together during musical evenings at home, and Franz wrote many compositions for these gatherings. When he grew up, Schubert and his friends continued the tradition. These meetings became known as Schubertiades. When he was ten, Franz was accepted at a school that trained boys for the Court Chapel Choir (now known as the Vienna Boys’ Choir). He began composing and wrote a song , that impressed the school’s director, Antonio Salieri, and Salieri began to teach him. Salieri and the school’s professor of harmony called young Schubert a genius! When Schubert’s voice broke and he had to leave the choir, he was very sad. Schubert’s father was a school teacher, and he wanted Franz to become a school teacher as well. But Franz wasn’t happy. He taught school by day and composed by night. He loved composing and worked so

Meet the Composers
Born: January 31, 1797 Birthplace: Austria Died: November 19, 1828 Some favorites by Schubert: “Unfinished” Symphony, “Trout” Quintet, Gretchen am Spinnrade, Der Erlkönig, Impromptus for piano, Marche Militaire for piano duet

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hard that, before he was twenty years old, he had written more than 100 songs and many other compositions! He finally gave up school teaching altogether to focus on music. For a short time, he was the music teacher for the royal . Esterházy family. Franz wrote many kinds of music, but he is probably most famous for composing art songs, or lieder, of which he wrote more than 600! Some of the most popular art songs ever were written by Schubert. Schubert was one of the first composers in the Romantic period, and his music is often performed today. His music is filled with long, beautiful melodies and rich harmonies. But Schubert’s music was not always popular. Publishers were afraid to take a chance on a young unknown who composed using such strange harmonies for his time. Some of his fellow composers looked down on his music. And Schubert was not a strong businessman. He sold the rights to some of his best works, and other people made most of the money. Sadly, even though he was a musical genius, Franz Schubert often lived in poverty. Franz Schubert’s musical hero was Ludwig van Beethoven. Schubert carried a torch in Beethoven’s funeral procession, one year before his own death at the age of thirty-one. At Schubert’s request, he was buried near the grave of his hero. Although Franz Schubert died at a very young age, he left behind hundreds of the world’s favorite compositions.

Franz Peter Schubert

1. Schubert’s musical hero was _________________________ . 2. Schubert is probably most famous for his _______________________. 3. Schubert and his friends met for musical evenings they called ____________________.

Franz Peter Schubert
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4. Like his musical hero, Schubert helped to bridge music from the classical period to the ___________ period.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

Clavier Companion - January/February 2012

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