173. Schubert's Brief Career.—In one sense there is no more pathetic story in musical annals than that of Schubert. He lived less than thirty-two years, cut off before the world had seen but a mere glimmer of his genius. His lot was full of material misfortune and social isolation, largely due to his peculiar make-up, but none the less sad. Though working for fifteen years in Vienna, then the musical capital of the world, his professional opportunities were pitifully meagre and the recognition of his worth confined to an obscure circle of admirers. Yet from his sixteenth year he poured forth a stream of works, over eleven hundred in all, such as no other composer has equaled. Among these were hundreds of songs that mark him as a prince in this beautiful branch of art, but among them, too, were remarkable instrumental and dramatic works that bring him into relation with Beethoven on the one hand and with Weber on the other. In positive inspiration he was fully as wonderful as Mozart, though his technical learning was much less. In spirit and poetic sensibility he was a shining exponent of the new romanticism, though his favorite idiom of expression was instinctively regular and classical. In the influence that he finally exerted he stands with the great masters just named as a powerful factor in bringing German music to the full consciousness of its mission. He therefore exemplified movements in musical art that were already plainly visible, but the drift and final goal of which were not yet seen, least of all by so unconscious an artist as Schubert himself.
Franz Schubert (d. 1828) was born in 1797, the third surviving son of a
schoolmaster at Lichtenthal, a suburb of Vienna. His surroundings were
plain and poor, but his father (d. 1830) and his elder brothers, Ignaz (d.
1844) and Ferdinand (d. 1859), were eager for music, which was the household's
one luxury. Besides instruction from them, he had lessons from
Holzer, the parish choirmaster, at 11 sang in the choir and, having a lovely
voice, was soon transferred to the Imperial Chapel and choir-school, where he
remained till 1813, having some fair instruction and many physical hardships.
His chief delights came from the work of the school orchestra, of which he
was first violin and deputy conductor, from rare chances to hear important
operas, and from frequent quartet practice at home, finally enlarged
to small symphony performances. His objects of admiration were Mozart
and Beethoven. His evident genius might have secured him a grant from the
Emperor for further study if he had made more effort in non-musical branches.
When his voice broke (1813), to avoid military service he taught primary
scholars in his father's school, mixing with the daily drudgery as much music
as he could and beginning habits of constant composition.
