January 30, 2012. Franz Schubert. Last week we celebrated Mozart’s anniversary and this week it’s Franz Schubert’s turn: he was born on January 31, 1797. Mozart and Schubert had very few things in common, except that both were musical geniuses and both died tragically early, Mozart at the age of 35, and Schubert even earlier, at age 31. Mozart was a child prodigy; he became famous at the age of seven, was employed by royalty and accepted in the finest salons of Europe. Schubert, on the other hand, was not very popular during his lifetime (very little of his symphonic music was performed until it was rediscovered by Schumann, Mendelssohn, Liszt, and other Romantic composers), he lived his whole life in Vienna and never visited another country, never married, and till the last three years of his life earned money mostly by teaching. What they do have in common is one person who played a significant role in both of their lives - Antonio Salieri. Mozart’s rival and nemesis at the court of Emperor Joseph II, Salieri became Schubert’s benefactor: when Schubert was seven, Salieri noticed his vocal talents and helped him to join Stadtkonvikt (Imperial seminary) on a choir scholarship. Salieri later gave Schubert private lessons in composition.
But of course the real difference between the two is in their music. Mozart’s was the pinnacle of classical Viennese style. Schubert, while deeply affected by it (he was influenced by both Mozart and Beethoven) evolved in a different direction, which we now call Romanticism. His song cycles, such as Winterreise, late piano sonatas (D. 958, 959 and 960), string quartets and symphonies, not just paved the way for Schumann, Berlioz, Mendelssohn and other Romantics – they ultimately represent some of the greatest achievements in all of 19th century music.
Since our library has a large number of Schubert’s works, we’ll present some of the latest uploads, as we did last week. Here is String Quartet No. 13 in a minor, D. 804, the so-called Rosamunde quartet (its second movement is based on the theme Schubert used in his incidental music to the play "Rosamunde"). It’s performed by the violinists Alexi Kenney and Kobi Malkin, Molly Carr, Viola and Jonathan Dormand , cello. The pianist Yael Weiss plays "Wanderer" Fantasy in C major, D. 760 (here). The violinist Diana Cohen plays the early Sonatina No. 3 for Violin and Piano in g minor, D. 408. Ron Regev is on the piano (here). Finally, one of Schubert’s last works, String Quintet in C Major, D. 956 (it was written two months before his death). Playing here are violinists Wonhyee Bae and Je Hye Le, Yoonji Kang, viola, Narek Hakhnazaryan and the great Laurence Lesser, cellos.
Schubert 2012
January 30, 2012. Franz Schubert. Last week we celebrated Mozart’s anniversary and this week it’s Franz Schubert’s turn: he was born on January 31, 1797. Mozart and Schubert had very few things in common, except that both were musical geniuses and
both died tragically early, Mozart at the age of 35, and Schubert even earlier, at age 31. Mozart was a child prodigy; he became famous at the age of seven, was employed by royalty and accepted in the finest salons of Europe. Schubert, on the other hand, was not very popular during his lifetime (very little of his symphonic music was performed until it was rediscovered by Schumann, Mendelssohn, Liszt, and other Romantic composers), he lived his whole life in Vienna and never visited another country, never married, and till the last three years of his life earned money mostly by teaching. What they do have in common is one person who played a significant role in both of their lives - Antonio Salieri. Mozart’s rival and nemesis at the court of Emperor Joseph II, Salieri became Schubert’s benefactor: when Schubert was seven, Salieri noticed his vocal talents and helped him to join Stadtkonvikt (Imperial seminary) on a choir scholarship. Salieri later gave Schubert private lessons in composition.
But of course the real difference between the two is in their music. Mozart’s was the pinnacle of classical Viennese style. Schubert, while deeply affected by it (he was influenced by both Mozart and Beethoven) evolved in a different direction, which we now call Romanticism. His song cycles, such as Winterreise, late piano sonatas (D. 958, 959 and 960), string quartets and symphonies, not just paved the way for Schumann, Berlioz, Mendelssohn and other Romantics – they ultimately represent some of the greatest achievements in all of 19th century music.
Since our library has a large number of Schubert’s works, we’ll present some of the latest uploads, as we did last week. Here is String Quartet No. 13 in a minor, D. 804, the so-called Rosamunde quartet (its second movement is based on the theme Schubert used in his incidental music to the play "Rosamunde"). It’s performed by the violinists Alexi Kenney and Kobi Malkin, Molly Carr, Viola and Jonathan Dormand , cello. The pianist Yael Weiss plays "Wanderer" Fantasy in C major, D. 760 (here). The violinist Diana Cohen plays the early Sonatina No. 3 for Violin and Piano in g minor, D. 408. Ron Regev is on the piano (here). Finally, one of Schubert’s last works, String Quintet in C Major, D. 956 (it was written two months before his death). Playing here are violinists Wonhyee Bae and Je Hye Le, Yoonji Kang, viola, Narek Hakhnazaryan and the great Laurence Lesser, cellos.