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Search Beat > Arts > Music > Styles > Classical Music > Featured Composer > Franz Schubert

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biography

Schubert's musical genius went well beyond his incomparable gift for melody
by Thomas May

During Beethoven's funeral in 1827, one of the torchbearers was a young composer who would himself die the following year. There's a poignant irony in this image of Franz Schubert (1797-1828) paying homage to the master, for the extent of Schubert's own accomplishment was to remain one of music's best-kept secrets for decades after his death. He had indeed struck out on a uniquely personal creative path, however intense his hero worship of Beethoven was. As often happens in such periods of transition--in this case, the evolution in style and attitude from classical balance toward romantic experimentation--Schubert simply slipped through the cracks, not easily fitting into his contemporaries' sense of the direction music was taking.

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recommended recordings

	*Schubert: Trout Quintet, Adagio & Rondo / Jando, Kodaly Qt*
	Composer: Franz Schubert Performer: Jénö Jandó, István Tóth Ensemble: Kodály String Quartet Naxos - #550658 / April 5, 1993 Click here for more information
This is a good, solid version of these pieces, and the Adagio and Rondo Concertante in F is hard to find and worth hearing. At the price, it's hard to resist. The recorded sound is excellent.

	*Schubert: Symphonies 8 & 9 / Szell, Cleveland Orchestra*
	Composer: Franz Schubert Conductor: George Szell Ensemble: Cleveland Orchestra Sony Classics - #48268 / November 17, 1992 Click here for more information
Schubert's two greatest orchestral works on one CD at budget price--if the performances were indifferent this would be no bargain at all, but they are superb. In fact, these versions may have been equaled, but they have never been surpassed. George Szell understood intuitively how to balance Romantic passion with intellectual discipline. In difficult pieces like the Schubert Ninth, he rose to the challenge like an Olympic athlete after a new world record. The recordings he made in his prime with...Read more

	*Schubert: Piano Sonata D 960, etc / Mitsuko Uchida*
	Composer: Franz Schubert Performer: Mitsuko Uchida Uni/Philips - #456572 / August 11, 1998 Click here for more information
This is a marvelous musical coupling: Schubert's overwhelmingly moving last Piano Sonata and the visionary set of pieces written a few months earlier. There are several outstanding performances of the Sonata currently available, including those of Schnabel, Lupu, and Curzon. For the Piano Pieces, the only performance of comparable stature in the current catalogs seems to be one by Kyoko Tabe (Denon), which has the same Sonata for coupling. Neither pianist is very heart-on-sleeve in any of this...Read more

	*Schubert: String Quintet / Emerson Quartet, Rostropovich*
	Composer: Franz Schubert Performer: Mstislav Rostropovich Ensemble: Emerson String Quartet Uni/Deutsche Grammophon - #31792 / August 11, 1992 Click here for more information
When not composing songs, Franz Schubert was most at home with chamber music, not because he was a miniaturist, but because his most profound thoughts were most readily contained by smaller, more concentrated ensembles. His Quintet in C--by far the great work ever written for a string quartet with an extra cello--shows him at his summit with an ethereal second movement that often communicates the sense of spiritual suspended animation that the minimalists strive for but don't often achieve. The...Read more

	*Schubert: Die Winterreise / Fischer-Dieskau, Demus*
	Composer: Franz Schubert Performer: Jörg Demus, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Uni/Deutsche Grammophon - #47421 / February 13, 1996 Click here for more information
Any great concert singer is likely to have a lifelong obsession with Schubert's greatest song cycle, which tracks the winter journey of a jilted lover wandering into the snow finding ever-greater depths of alienation. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau seemed to record the piece every 10 years or so, but this 1966 outing is said to be his favorite, and it's easy to understand why. All of his customary intelligence is in full evidence, but the voice is particularly resplendent. While this carries an...Read more

works & recordings

Chamber Music
Trios, Quartets, Quintets
Choral
Secular and sacred choral music. Oratorios, Masses, Partsongs, Hymns, Carols
Instrumental
Sonatas, Suites, Overtures, Minuets, Variations, Transcriptions, Dance Music
Orchestra
Concertos, Symphonies
Theatrical Works
Ballet, Stage, Incidental Music, Film Scores
Vocal and Opera
Opera, Operetta, Song, Lieder, Musical Theater

Complete List of Works and Recordings

Browse Franz Schubert
General Arias Ballets Bargain Discs Bestsellers Box Sets Cantatas Canzone Character Pieces Choruses Concertos Dances Divertimentos Duets Ecossaise Fantasies Galop Gloria Hymns Impromptus Incidental Music Landlers Lieder Magnificats Marches Mass Melodies	Minuets Motets Octets Offertory Overtures Partsong Polonaises Preludes Psalms Quartets Quintets Romances Rondos Sanctus Scherzos Singspiel Sonatas Sonatinas Song Cycle Stabat Maters Symphonies Trios Variations Waltzes

resources

Works by Franz Peter Schubert - A discography of works by Franz Schubert.
Naxos Recordings: Schubert, Franz (1797 - 1828) - Brief biographical notes and recommendations on (surprise!) the Naxos discography.
Classical MIDI Archives: Schubert - Links to 186 MIDI files on one page, by Pierre Schwob.
Operaglass: Franz Peter Schubert - A chronological list of Schubert's not-all-too-important operas and dramatic works, with premiere details.
Classical Net: Schubert - Intoduction, links, major works and recommended recordings, by Dave Lampson.
Schubert Project - The life and 1825 travels of Franz Schubert: photographs and text (by Tomoko Yamamoto) (Japanese/English)
Musik-Kolleg: Franz Schubert - A series of pages on Franz Schubert presented by the Austrian Cultural Information System. Includes a nice collection of Schubert pictures.
Austrian Composer: Franz Schubert - A comprehensive site on Schubert and his music. By the Austrian Tourist Board.
Sounds Like Schubert - Works catalog, with MIDI files of themes; selected but detailed discography; bibliography; many links.
Schubert Lieder - Lyrics of over 600 songs, many with English translation. (maintained by Emily Ezust)
Hyperion: Franz Schubert Collection - The Hyperion discography for Graham Johnson's recordings of the complete collection of Schubert songs.
Winterreise - Parallel texts of songs, sound files, notes.
The Secrets behind Franz Schubert - Biographical notes; major works; polls and fan notes.
Franz Schubert - Brief biography, major works and links, by Heart's Ease.
Notes on Franz Schubert - From Bart Berman's pianist perspective. Brief biography, questions and answers, analysis of some piano duets and the unfinished sonatas, links and Berman's Schubert discography.
Schubert - Eulogy and appreciation, biographies of ten Lieder performers, bibliography and Schubert links.
The Schubert Institute (UK) - Details of SIUK, works list, bibliographies, essays, events, Schubert family tree, links.
Schubert and Muller - Die Winterreise: argument for performing the cycle of songs by Franz Schubert in the order of the poems by Wilhelm Muller.
Leeds International Schubert Conference - A forum for Schubert research, focusing on performance practice and analytical studies. June 29 - July 2, 2000.
Schubert 200 - An extensive biography and articles on Schubert's music with recommended reocrdings, by Michael Tanner.
Schubert Kosegarten cycle - Schubert's 1815 settings of 20 texts by Kosegarten - research and conclusions.
Societe Franz-Schubert (France) - Chronology; catalogs by Deutsch number and by style; discography; midi files; French/English mailing list; links. Mostly French. Summaries in English of the leading articles from the magazine 'Cahiers Franz Schubert'.
Winterreise - Exploration of Schubert's Winterreise. Includes MIDI files and translations.
Schubert Foundation (Netherlands) - Information on Masterclasses; wav files; Lieder links.
Listening for Schubert's 'Doppelgaengers' - An analysis of Schubert's setting of the Heine poem "Der Doppelgaenger". Article by David Loberg Code.

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