Franz Peter Schubert, born January 31, 1797, is accredited as one of the most gifted musicians of the 19th century (“SCHUBERT”), and is considered to be the last composer of the classical era and one of the first romantic composers (The Biography). His relentlessly impoverished life was short in comparison to many people of the era – his death was on November 19, 1828 (two months shy of his 32nd birthday) – and his music was generally unrecognized and unappreciated during his time, but his exemplification of romantic lyricism and immense amount of composing, which encompasses approximately 600 liturgical music scores and lieder (lyric songs); nine symphonies that truly represent the era of classicism; several pieces for the stage; choral music; overtures; piano music, including sonatas and trios; chamber music; string quartets; impromptus; three song cycles; incidental music; seven masses; and scherzos (Forney 273, “Franz”), has earned him an unfaltering legacy among the musical community.
Schubert, born in Himmelpfortgrund, Vienna (located in Austria), was the fourth surviving son of a parish schoolmaster, named Franz Theodor Schubert, and homemaker Elisabeth Schubert (The Biography). Throughout Schubert’s early childhood, he was noted as having a remarkable musical talent. He began receiving instruction from his father and older brother (Ignaz Schubert), who taught him to play both the violin and piano; this helped in developing his passion for music (Columbia).
Following this initial introduction into music, he began singing at a local church and studying organ. He gained admittance as a singer into Stadkonvikt (Imperial Seminary), a university that “trained young vocalists so they could one day sing at the chapel of the...
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...ard Wilberforce. Wm. H. Allen & Co., 13, Waterloo Place, S.W., 1866. Web. 17 April 2014.
http://books.google.com/books?id=zEgBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR9&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false
(encyclopedia) “SCHUBERT, Franz Peter.” Funk & Wagnall’s New World Encyclopedia, 2009. EBSCO. Web. 16 April 2014.
http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=caadfcce-98a7-4ed4-a348-246b6c2314fb%40sessionmgr4002&vid=1&hid=4102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=funk&AN=SC060700
“Schubert’s Circle.” Franz Peter Schubert. franzpeterschubert.com, NA. Web. 22 April 2014.
http://www.franzpeterschubert.com/schuberts_circle.html
Tommasini, Anthony. “The Greatest.” NYTimes.com, 21 January 2011. The New York Times. Web. 16 April 2014.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/arts/music/23composers.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1397692806-eeP49AqC8OKvWuc4kHWK9w
Sadie, Stanley. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Essays on his Life and his Music. United States: Oxford University Press. 1996, Print.
It was not only until the spring of that year that he for first time left Hamburg professionally. He undertook a tour with the Hungarian violinist Eduard Remenyi for the purpose of introducing himself and his works. At Gottingen they gave a concert in which the young pianist made a deep impression upon the musicians present. He and Remenyi were to play Beethoven?s Kreutzer sonata, but at the last moment it was discovered that the piano was half a tone too low.
Johannes Brahms, a striking individual of unmistakable character, is defined by his compositions as meticulous and enlightened. His comprehensive grasp on classical and baroque form, with his familiarity of counterpoint and musical development, allowed him to effortlessly traverse and cultivate upon the musical architecture laid out by the likes of Bach and Beethoven. Born in Hamburg in 1833, he was the son of Johann Jacob Brahms, who travelled from North Germany, in which the family name “Brahms(t)” propagated (Musgrave 4). His father being a musician by profession instigated Brahms into his own domain of music. With Brahms’ first instruments being the violin, cello and the natural horn (predecessor of the French horn), it was discovered that the genius possessed absolute pitch and had also developed a system of notation on his own even before formal introductions into music (Musgrave 9). His astonishing understanding of musical rudiments was further cemented at age seven by his first teacher Otto Friedrich Willibald Cossel, with piano literature ranging from Bach to Schubert to Clementi (Musgrave 10). The young gifted talent quickly matured, with his compositions being sedulously characterized in craft similar to the seasoned taste of aged liquor. Following in the wake of Beethoven, his style of romanticism seemed restrained, and viewed as being confined to classical forms. With his preference towards absolute music, his works demonstrated “as [Ian] McEwan/ [Clive] Linley would have it, at the intersection of emotion and reason” and of “powerful intellect and of passionate expressivity” (Platt and Smith 4). However, being the headstrong romantic that he is, he manipulated the limiting factor into an area of expanse, in which he...
In 1681, Georg Philipp Telemann was born into a family connected to the Lutheran Church. He had exceptional musical abilities, mastering the keyboard, violin, zither, and flute by the age of ten. He composed an opera “Sigismundus” at the age of twelve as well. Telemann was determined to excel in music especially with the disapproval from his parents. After finishing grade school at Hildesheim Gymnasium, he began college at Leipzig University studying language and science. That eventually changed when he created the student Colle...
One of the most famous German composers of the romantic erra was Johannes Brahms. Brahms mastered in composing both concert and recital literature. Though he was a very self-critical composer, and he took longer to complete some his most ambitious pieces, he created beautiful literature for a variety of instruments. For voice, Brahms is believed to have composed over 100 German lieder songs. Some standard lieder songs that are often performed by vocalist today are “Vergebliches Ständchen” “Wie Melodien zieht es mir”.
In 1896, he attended the funeral of his friend Clara Schumann who he had known since 1853. On his return, he was seriously ill and died a year later. Generations later, his music and name may still provoke argument in musical circles. However, there can be utterly no doubt that he is included in the first dozen composers of all music history (Weinstock 456). Part of Johannes Brahms’s unique history include the story of his life, his influences, and his exceptional music. Today, his popularity is still continuing to grow and he will remain in music history as a remarkable and outstanding Romantic music composer.
Beethoven’s early life was one out of a sad story book. For being one of the most well-known musicians one would think that sometime during Beethovens childhood he was influenced and inspired to play music; This was not the case. His father was indeed a musician but he was more interested in drinking than he was playing music. When his father saw the smallest sliver of music interest in Beethoven he immediately put him into vigorous musical training in hopes he would be the next Mozart; his training included organ, viola, and piano. This tainted how young Beethoven saw music and the memories that music brought. Nevertheless Beethoven continued to do what he knew and by thirteen he was composing his own music and assisting his teacher, Christian Neefe. Connections began to form during this time with different aristocrats and families who stuck with him and became lifelong friends. At 17 Beethoven, with the help of his friends, traveled to Vienna, the music capitol of the world, to further his knowledge and connection...
Steen, Michael. The Lives and Times of the Great Composers. New York: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.
Now in time there are many great composer that have outlived their dying age by making an impact and leaving a permanent seal on this planet with the great symphonies they have composed, which in turn has inspired many composers throughout the preceding centuries.
Schubert's instrumental works show development over a long period of time, but some of his greatest songs were composed before he was 20 years old. In Schubert's songs the literary and musical elements are perfectly balanced, composed on the same intellectual and emotional level. Although Schubert composed strophic songs throughout his career, he did not follow set patterns but exploited bold and free forms when the text demanded it. Except for his early training as a child, Schubert the composer, was largely untrained and self-taught. His gift of being able to create melodies that contained both easy naturalness and sophisticated twists at the same time was unprecedented for his time. On this quality rests the reputation that music history finally gave Schubert.
Newman, Ernest “Bach, Johann Sebastian.” The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, 1985, 11th Edition, pp. 102-108
Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven. Two composers who marked the beginning and the end of the Classical Period respectively. By analysing the last piano sonata of Haydn (Piano Sonata No. 62 in E-flat major (Hob. XVI:52)) and the first and last piano sonatas of Beethoven (Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor Op. 2, No.1, Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor Op. 111), this essay will study the development of Beethoven’s composition style and how this conformed or didn’t conform to the Classical style. The concepts of pitch and expressive techniques will be focused on, with a broader breakdown on how these two concepts affect many of the other concepts of music. To make things simpler, this essay will analyse only the first movements of each of the sonatas mentioned.
When researching various romantic composers, it is easy to see how different they are and the reflection pinpointed during the romantic era. Although Franz Schubert and Franz Liszt have some minor similarities, the differences between the romantic composers are remarkable.
Mozart was born on Jan. 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria. His father was Leopold Mozart, a composer and a popular violinist. Mozart received his early musical training from his father. At the early age of 3 Mozart showed signs of being a musical genius. Then, at the age of five Mozart started composing. Beginning in 1762 Mozart’s father took young Mozart and his older sister, Maria Anna, on tours in Europe where they played the piano, harpsichord, violin, and organ, together and separately. Mozart learned to play the piano, harpsichord, and violin from his father. He gave public concerts and played at numerous courts and received several commissions.
During his lifetime, Joseph Haydn composed 107 symphonies, about 50 divertimenti, 84 string quartets, about 58 piano sonatas, and 13 masses. In all, his surviving musical works include over 750 compositions and over 330 songs. (A large number of Haydn's works were destroyed in the 1770's, so these totals would be even higher had it not been for the two fires.) He produced such an abundance of works during his long career that a man named Anthony von Hoboken compiled a directory of the master's works, the title of which translates to Joseph Haydn - Thematic-bibliographic Listing of his Works. This three-volume directory was so helpful in sorting through the massive quantity of music that most of Haydn's works are now known through their Hoboken reference number as well as their title.