The NY Times lists Franz Schubert as the fourth greatest composer of all time. While I think Schubert is a genius, this ranking seems a bit high to me.
Factoids:
- Much like Mendelssohn and Mozart, Franz Schubert tragically died early, not living to see his 31st birthday.
- Like many other brilliant composers, Schubert's greatness was not fully realized until after his passing.
- He lived a sad life and was vastly underappreciated aside from a select group of patrons and friends.
- You may recognize some of his other works include: The Erl King, Ave Maria and his famous song cycle Wintereisse.
- Schubert was perhaps most famous for his contribution to the genre of German Lied or German Song.
- In his pieces he writes characterful accompaniments, and increases the role of the pianist.
- Because of this, his works sound more like a duet between singer and piano rather than the typical idea of soloist with piano support.
- It is widely accepted that his "Unfinished Symphony" is No. 8, although some scholars suggest it may be No. 7.
- It is characterized as "Unfinished" because Schubert only managed to complete two of the four movements.
- It is unclear why this work was left incomplete as these movements were written roughly six years before his death.
On a side note, the opening passage always reminds me of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake...no?
Enjoy!
"On a side note, the opening passage always reminds me of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake...no?"
ReplyDeleteMe too. I googled "schubert unfinished tchaikowsky swan lake" and found your blog. Happy to confirm what my ears have been telling me for some. time. Cheers.
Oh my god!!!!
DeleteSAME STORY HERE!!!!!!!!!
Same here. I also thought the intro of the symphony was quite similar to Tchaikowsky's Swan Lake.
ReplyDeleteSame here. I also thought the intro of the symphony was quite similar to Tchaikowsky's Swan Lake.
ReplyDeleteOh my god, me too! I spent the last few hours trying to work out where Schubert Unfinished was used in popular culture as I recognised it so well but found no decent results. So glad I found this blog, ahhh, that makes so much sense as I know Swan Lake very very well
ReplyDeleteresemblance of Shubert's 8th and the Swan Lake First Movement themes is very apparent and mysterious for me for years and I never found any professionals commenting on it. However, in 'popular culture' it was used entirely elsewhere :D it's one of the main themes of The Smurfs!
DeleteYes! it resembles swan lake, or should I say swan lake resembles Schubert? It was written before Tchaikovsky was even born :)
ReplyDeleteI am also here because my orchestra is now rehearsing Schubert’s Unfinished, and I keep thinking of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.
ReplyDelete