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Franz Schubert
(1797 - 1828)
- He
was born in
Himmelpfortgrund, a suburb of Vienna, Austria, a little more than 200 years ago, on
January 31, 1797
- He
is a leading
composer of the early Romantic Period
- He
began composing
music in school, and he wrote his first
of a total 600 songs when he was 14 years old
- As a boy he
learned violin from his father, piano from his brother and, because he had
such a beautiful soprano voice, was admitted to the
Imperial Chapel and School where the court singers were trained .
- He was a school teacher for about a year, but he quit
because he felt the students bothered him too much when he was trying to
compose at his desk!
- He had many
friends and they used to get together for musical evenings they called
Schubertiads
- He was very
unsuccessful during his lifetime. On March 26, 1828, he presented a public
concert of his works. This may have been the only public performance of his
music during his lifetime.
- He was a great
admirer of Beethoven, but he was too shy to speak to him.
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The Trout Quintet
When Schubert wrote the "Trout" Quintet,
he didn’t have a record deal. Not that he would have, in
1819, but he also didn’t have any of the 19th century equivalents, like a
patron to sponsor public concerts of his works. All he had was a gentleman named
Sylvester Paumgartner, who loved his song "The Trout," and asked him to write
something based on it, using piano, violin, viola, cello, and -- this was an
unusual choice -- a double bass.
There weren’t any plans for any public
performance; Paumgartner just asked a few friends to come over, and play the
piece in his living room.
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