Franz Schubert (1797–1828)

The son of a schoolmaster in the Viennese suburbs, Franz Schubert sang as a boy in the court chapel and studied composition with Antonio Salieri. He taught for a while in his father’s school, then lived precariously, supported by a loyal circle of friends who organised the famous “Schubertiades”, evenings devoted to his music.

His output is astonishing: at seventeen he wrote Gretchen am Spinnrade, then Erlkönig; later came the song cycles Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise, symphonies, string quartets, the “Trout” Quintet and the String Quintet in C. He died in Vienna in 1828, a year and a half after Beethoven, whom he deeply admired.

At the piano Schubert thinks like a singer: his Impromptus, Moments musicaux and late sonatas unfold long melodies over steady accompaniments, with sudden modulations that change the light of a phrase. He loves to slip from major to minor on the same note, which gives his music its unique blend of smile and melancholy.

For pianists Schubert is a school of singing and patience: keeping a melody above a discreet accompaniment, making repetition live without monotony, colouring a modulation rather than underlining it.