The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists , a violist , and a cellist . The double bass is almost never used in the ensemble mainly because it would sound too loud and heavy.
128-635: The Kneisel Quartet was a string quartet founded in 1885 by violinist Franz Kneisel , then concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra . It continued to perform until 1917, and was generally considered the leading string quartet of its time in the United States. The Kneisel Quartet was founded in 1885, soon after Franz Kneisel arrived in Boston as concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra . The original members of
256-456: A continuo section consisting of a bass instrument (such as the cello) and keyboard . A very early example is a four-part sonata for string ensemble by the Italian composer Gregorio Allegri that might be considered an important prototype. By the early 18th century, composers were often adding a third soloist; and moreover it became common to omit the keyboard part, letting the cello support
384-403: A related key and a minuet and trio follow; and the fourth movement is often in rondo form or sonata rondo form , in the tonic key. Some string quartet ensembles play together for many years and become established and promoted as an entity in a similar way to an instrumental soloist or an orchestra . The early history of the string quartet is in many ways the history of the development of
512-539: A vast oeuvre , including more than 600 secular vocal works (mainly Lieder ), seven complete symphonies , sacred music , operas , incidental music , and a large body of piano and chamber music . His major works include the art songs " Erlkönig ", " Gretchen am Spinnrade ", and " Ave Maria "; the Trout Quintet ; the Symphony No. 8 in B minor ( Unfinished ); the Symphony No. 9 in C major ( Great );
640-481: A Countess of youthful grace, —A pupil of Galt's; in desperate case Young Schubert surrenders himself to another, And fain would avoid such affectionate pother The setbacks of previous years were compensated by the prosperity and happiness of 1825. Publication had been moving more rapidly, the stress of poverty was for a time lightened, and in the summer he had a pleasant holiday in Upper Austria where he
768-567: A brief visit to Graz , Austria, in 1827. In 1826, he dedicated a symphony (D. 944, that later came to be known as the Great C major ) to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and received an honorarium in return. The String Quartet No. 14 in D minor (D. 810), with the variations on Death and the Maiden , was written during the winter of 1825–1826, and first played on 25 January 1826. Later in
896-512: A choir scholarship. At the Stadtkonvikt, he was introduced to the overtures and symphonies of Mozart, the symphonies of Joseph Haydn and his younger brother Michael Haydn , and the overtures and symphonies of Beethoven , a composer for whom he developed admiration. His exposure to these and other works, combined with occasional visits to the opera, laid the foundation for a broader musical education. One important musical influence came from
1024-519: A classical ensemble is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . String quartet The string quartet was developed into its present form by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn , whose works in the 1750s established the ensemble as a group of four more-or-less equal partners. Since that time, the string quartet has been considered a prestigious form; writing for four instruments with broadly similar characteristics both constrains and tests
1152-461: A composer. String quartet composition flourished in the Classical era , and Mozart , Beethoven and Schubert each wrote a number of them. Many Romantic and early-twentieth-century composers composed string quartets, including Mendelssohn , Schumann , Brahms , Dvořák , Janáček , and Debussy . There was a slight lull in string quartet composition later in the 19th century, but it received
1280-555: A considerable number of secular works for two or more voices, namely part songs , choruses and cantatas. He completed eight orchestral overtures and seven complete symphonies, in addition to fragments of six others. While he composed no concertos, he did write three concertante works for violin and orchestra. Schubert wrote a large body of music for solo piano, including eleven incontrovertibly completed sonatas and at least eleven more in varying states of completion, numerous miscellaneous works and many short dances, in addition to producing
1408-488: A different concert on the same day as the premiere of the Overture, his song Der Wanderer (D. 489) was performed. In 1822, Schubert made the acquaintance of both Weber and Beethoven but little came of it in either case; however, Beethoven is said to have acknowledged the younger man's gifts on a few occasions. On his deathbed, Beethoven is said to have looked into some of the younger man's works and exclaimed: "Truly,
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#17327975668521536-420: A few months after we began, that he had no need of any further instruction from me, and that for the future he would make his own way. And in truth his progress in a short period was so great that I was forced to acknowledge in him a master who had completely distanced and outstripped me, and whom I despaired of overtaking. His father gave him his first violin lessons when he was eight years old, training him to
1664-456: A great many songs, became one of Schubert's main proponents in Viennese musical circles. Schubert also met Joseph Hüttenbrenner (brother of Anselm), who also played a role in promoting his music. These, and an increasing circle of friends and musicians, became responsible for promoting, collecting, and, after his death, preserving his work. Heinrich Anschütz wrote in his memoirs that Schubert
1792-551: A hopeless passion for his pupil, the Countess Caroline Esterházy , but the only work that bears a dedication to her is his Fantasia in F minor for piano duet (D. 940). This dedication, however, can only be found in the first edition and not in Schubert's autograph . His friend Eduard von Bauernfeld penned the following verse, which appears to reference Schubert's unrequited sentiments: In love with
1920-441: A large set of works for piano four hands . He also wrote over fifty chamber works, including some fragmentary works. Schubert's sacred output includes seven masses, one oratorio and one requiem, among other mass movements and numerous smaller compositions. He completed only eleven of his twenty stage works. In July 1947 the Austrian composer Ernst Krenek discussed Schubert's style, abashedly admitting that he had at first "shared
2048-473: A location (e.g. the Budapest Quartet ). Established quartets may undergo changes in membership whilst retaining their original name. Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert ( German: [fʁants ˈpeːtɐ ˈʃuːbɐt] ; 31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind
2176-659: A marked advance in development and maturity of style. He began the ultimately unfinished oratorio Lazarus (D. 689) in February 1820. This was later followed by the hymn "Der 23. Psalm" (D. 706), the octet " Gesang der Geister über den Wassern " (D. 714), the Quartettsatz in C minor (D. 703), the Wanderer Fantasy in C major for piano (D. 760), and additional smaller works. In 1820, two of Schubert's operas were staged: Die Zwillingsbrüder (D. 647) appeared at
2304-584: A number of quartets: "Beethoven in particular is credited with developing the genre in an experimental and dynamic fashion, especially in his later series of quartets written in the 1820s up until his death. Their forms and ideas inspired and continue to inspire musicians and composers, such as Wagner and Bartók ." Schubert's last musical wish was to hear Beethoven's Quartet in C ♯ minor, Op. 131 , which he heard on 14 November 1828, just five days before his death. Upon listening to an earlier performance of this quartet, Schubert had remarked, "After this, what
2432-489: A part, playing works written for string orchestra , such as divertimenti and serenades , there being no separate (fifth) contrabass part in string scoring before the 19th century. However, these composers showed no interest in exploring the development of the string quartet as a medium. The origins of the string quartet can be further traced back to the Baroque trio sonata , in which two solo instruments performed with
2560-435: A perspective] is the notion that Haydn "invented" the string quartet... Although he may still be considered the 'father' of the 'Classical' string quartet, he is not the creator of the sting quartet genre itself... This old and otiose myth not only misrepresents the achievements of other excellent composers, but also distorts the character and qualities of Haydn's opp. 1, 2 and 9". The musicologist Cliff Eisen contextualizes
2688-545: A resurgence in the 20th century, with the Second Viennese School , Bartók , Shostakovich , Babbitt , and Carter producing highly regarded examples of the genre, and it remains an important and refined musical form. The standard structure for a string quartet as established in the Classical era is four movements , with the first movement in sonata form , allegro, in the tonic key; a slow movement in
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#17327975668522816-614: A role in a falling-out with Mayrhofer, with whom he was living at the time. Schubert, who was only a little more than five feet tall, was nicknamed "Schwammerl" by his friends, which Gibbs describes as translating to "Tubby" or "Little Mushroom". "Schwamm" is "mushroom" in the Austrian and Bavarian dialects of German; the ending "-erl" makes it a diminutive. Gibbs also claims he may have occasionally drunk to excess, noting that references to Schubert's heavy drinking "... come not only in later accounts, but also in documents dating from his lifetime." Schubert's compositions of 1819 and 1820 show
2944-646: A significant amount of music during these years. He completed the Mass in A-flat major , (D. 678) in 1822, and later that year embarked suddenly on a work which, more decisively than almost any other in those years, showed his maturing personal vision, the Symphony in B minor , known as the Unfinished Symphony (D. 759). The reason he left it unfinished – after writing two movements and sketches some way into
3072-585: A statement announcing their retirement, Kneisel explained that henceforth he planned to devote himself to teaching and he wanted to avoid any decline in the quality of their performances. First Violin: Second violin: Viola: Cello: The Kneisel Quartet played an important role in the growth of appreciation for chamber music in the United States, and in the spread of European standards of performance and programming. The quartet adopted an uncompromisingly serious approach in their playing and choice of repertoire, making "no concessions to public ignorance". In place of
3200-460: A third – continues to be discussed and written about, and it is also remarkable that he did not mention it to any of his friends, even though, as Brian Newbould notes, he must have felt thrilled by what he was achieving. In 1823, Schubert wrote his first large-scale song cycle , Die schöne Müllerin (D. 795), setting poems by Wilhelm Müller . This series, together with the later cycle Winterreise (D. 911, also setting texts of Müller in 1827)
3328-464: A total of five string quartets; he won Pulitzer Prizes for two of them: No. 2 and No. 3 . Three important string quartets were written by Helmut Lachenmann . The late 20th century also saw the string quartet expand in various ways: Morton Feldman's vast Second String Quartet is one of the longest ever written, and Karlheinz Stockhausen's Helikopter-Streichquartett is to be performed by the four musicians in four helicopters. Quartets written during
3456-499: A wide variety of forms and genres, including opera, liturgical music , chamber and solo piano music, and symphonic works. Perhaps most familiarly, his adventurousness is reflected in his notably original sense of modulation; for example, the second movement of the String Quintet (D. 956), which is in E major, features a central section in the distant key of F minor. It also appears in unusual choices of instrumentation, as in
3584-462: A young soprano named Therese Grob , daughter of a local silk manufacturer, and wrote several of his liturgical works (including a "Salve Regina" and a "Tantum Ergo") for her; she was also a soloist in the premiere of his Mass No. 1 (D. 105) in September 1814. Schubert wanted to marry her, but was hindered by the harsh marriage-consent law of 1815 requiring an aspiring bridegroom to show he had
3712-401: Is done, I begin another." During this year, he focused on orchestral and choral works, although he also continued to write Lieder. Much of this work was unpublished, but manuscripts and copies circulated among friends and admirers. In early 1817, Schober introduced Schubert to Johann Michael Vogl , a prominent baritone twenty years Schubert's senior. Vogl, for whom Schubert went on to write
3840-590: Is known for compiling the first comprehensive catalogue of Schubert's works. This was first published in English in 1951 ( Schubert Thematic Catalogue ) and subsequently revised for a new edition in German in 1978 ( Franz Schubert: Thematisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke in chronologischer Folge – Franz Schubert: Thematic Catalogue of his Works in Chronological Order). Confusion arose quite early over
3968-646: Is left for us to write?" Wagner, when reflecting on Op. 131's first movement, said that it "reveals the most melancholy sentiment expressed in music". Of the late quartets , Beethoven cited his own favorite as Op. 131 , which he saw as his most perfect single work. Mendelssohn 's six string quartets span the full range of his career, from 1828 to 1847; Schumann 's three string quartets were all written in 1842 and dedicated to Mendelssohn, whose quartets Schumann had been studying in preparation, along with those of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Several Romantic-era composers wrote only one quartet, while Dvořák wrote 14. In
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4096-427: Is not a true song cycle like Die schöne Müllerin or Winterreise . ) The Great C major symphony is dated 1828, but Schubert scholars believe that this symphony was largely written in 1825–1826 (being referred to while he was on holiday at Gastein in 1825—that work, once considered lost, is now generally seen as an early stage of his C major symphony) and was revised for prospective performance in 1828. The orchestra of
4224-478: Is pointless to guess at what more [Schubert] might have achieved. He did enough; and let them be honoured who have striven and accomplished as he did", and the pianist András Schiff said that: "Schubert lived a very short life, but it was a very concentrated life. In 31 years, he lived more than other people would live in 100 years, and it is needless to speculate what could he have written had he lived another 50 years. It's irrelevant, just like with Mozart: these are
4352-560: Is widely considered one of the pinnacles of Lieder. He also composed the song Du bist die Ruh' ( You are rest and peace , D. 776) during this year. Also in that year, symptoms of syphilis first appeared. In 1824, he wrote the Variations in E minor for flute and piano; Trockne Blumen , a song from the cycle Die schöne Müllerin ; and several string quartets. He also wrote the Sonata in A minor for arpeggione and piano (D. 821) at
4480-475: The Sonata in A minor for arpeggione and piano (D. 821), or the unconventional scoring of the Trout Quintet (D. 667) for piano, violin, viola, cello, and double bass, whereas conventional piano quintets are scored for piano and string quartet . Although Schubert was clearly influenced by the Classical sonata forms of Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart, his formal structures and his developments tend to give
4608-879: The String Quartet No. 14 in D minor ( Death and the Maiden ); the String Quintet in C major ; the Impromptus for solo piano; the last three piano sonatas ; the Fantasia in F minor for piano four hands ; the opera Fierrabras ; the incidental music to the play Rosamunde ; and the song cycles Die schöne Müllerin , Winterreise and Schwanengesang . Born in the Himmelpfortgrund suburb of Vienna , Schubert showed uncommon gifts for music from an early age. His father gave him his first violin lessons and his elder brother gave him piano lessons, but Schubert soon exceeded their abilities. In 1808, at
4736-533: The Tantum Ergo (D. 962) in the same key, the String Quintet in C major (D. 956), the second "Benedictus" to the Mass in C major (D. 961), the three final piano sonatas (D. 958, D. 959, and D. 960), and the collection 13 Lieder nach Gedichten von Rellstab und Heine for voice and piano, also known as Schwanengesang ( Swan-song , D. 957). (This collection – which includes settings of words by Heinrich Heine , Ludwig Rellstab , and Johann Gabriel Seidl –
4864-714: The Theater am Kärntnertor on 14 June, and Die Zauberharfe (D. 644) appeared at the Theater an der Wien on 21 August. Hitherto, his larger compositions (apart from his masses) had been restricted to the amateur orchestra at the Gundelhof (Brandstätte 5, Vienna), a society which grew out of the quartet-parties at his home. Now he began to assume a more prominent position, addressing a wider public. Publishers, however, remained distant, with Anton Diabelli hesitantly agreeing to print some of his works on commission. The first seven opus numbers, all songs, appeared on these terms; then
4992-583: The Zentralfriedhof where they are next to the later graves of Johann Strauss II and Johannes Brahms. Anton Bruckner was present at both exhumations, and he reached into both coffins and held the revered skulls in his hands. The cemetery in Währing was converted into a park in 1925, called the Schubert Park, and his former grave site was marked by a bust. His epitaph, written by his friend,
5120-460: The classical period usually had four movements, with a structure similar to that of a symphony : The positions of the slow movement and third movement are flexible. For example, in Mozart's six quartets dedicated to Haydn , three have a minuet followed by a slow movement and three have the slow movement before the minuet. Substantial modifications to the typical structure were already present by
5248-466: The numbering of Schubert's late symphonies . Schubert's last completed symphony, the Great C major D 944 , was assigned the numbers 7, 8, 9 and 10, depending on publication. Similarly the Unfinished D ;759 has been indicated with the numbers 7, 8, and 9. The order usually followed for these late symphonies by English-language sources is: An even broader confusion arose over
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5376-634: The numbering of the piano sonatas , with numbering systems ranging from 15 to 23 sonatas. Among pianos Schubert had access to were a Benignus Seidner piano (now displayed at the Schubert Geburtshaus in Vienna) and an Anton Walter & Sohn piano (today in the collection of the Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum ). Schubert was also familiar with instruments by Viennese piano builder Conrad Graf . He appreciated
5504-456: The "classical" string quartet around 1757, but the consensus amongst most authorities is that Haydn is responsible for the genre in its currently accepted form. The string quartet enjoyed no recognized status as an ensemble in the way that two violins with basso continuo – the so-called ' trio sonata ' – had for more than a hundred years. Even the composition of Haydn's earliest string quartets owed more to chance than artistic imperative. During
5632-480: The "prince of song", although there was recognition of some of his larger-scale efforts. In 1838 Robert Schumann , on a visit to Vienna, found the dusty manuscript of the C major Symphony (D. 944) and took it back to Leipzig where it was performed by Felix Mendelssohn and celebrated in the Neue Zeitschrift . An important step towards the recovery of the neglected works was the journey to Vienna which
5760-533: The 1750s, when the young composer was still working mainly as a teacher and violinist in Vienna, he would occasionally be invited to spend time at the nearby castle at Weinzierl of the music-loving Austrian nobleman Karl Joseph Weber, Edler von Fürnberg. There he would play chamber music in an ad hoc ensemble consisting of Fürnberg's steward, a priest, and a local cellist, and when the Baron asked for some new music for
5888-414: The 1860s, 50 instalments with songs published by Diabelli and dozens of first publications Peters ), but the manuscripts of many of the longer works, whose existence was not widely known, remained hidden in cabinets and file boxes of Schubert's family, friends, and publishers. Even some of Schubert's friends were unaware of the full scope of what he wrote, and for many years he was primarily recognized as
6016-712: The Austrian police who, in the aftermath of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars , were on their guard against revolutionary activities and suspicious of any gathering of youth or students. One of Schubert's friends, Johann Senn , was put on trial, imprisoned for over a year, and then permanently forbidden to enter Vienna. The other four, including Schubert, were "severely reprimanded", in part for "inveighing against [officials] with insulting and opprobrious language". While Schubert never saw Senn again, he did set some of his poems, Selige Welt (D. 743) and Schwanengesang (D 744), to music. The incident may have played
6144-443: The Gesellschaft reportedly read through the symphony at a rehearsal, but never scheduled a public performance of it. The reasons continue to be unknown, although the difficulty of the symphony is a possible explanation. In the last weeks of his life, he began to sketch three movements for a new Symphony in D major (D 936A); In this work, he anticipates Mahler 's use of folksong-like harmonics and bare soundscapes. Schubert expressed
6272-510: The Op. 20 quartets as follows: "Haydn's quartets of the late 1760s and early 1770s [opp. 9, 17, and 20] are high points in the early history of the quartet. Characterized by a wide range of textures, frequent asymmetries and theatrical gestures...these quartets established the genre's four-movement form, its larger dimensions, and ...its greater aesthetic pretensions and expressive range." That Haydn's string quartets were already "classics" that defined
6400-474: The Schubert melody is not an original setting. The original only opens with the greeting "Ave Maria", which also recurs only in the refrain. In 1825, Schubert also wrote the Piano Sonata in A minor (D 845, first published as op. 42), and began the Symphony in C major ( Great C major , D. 944), which was completed the following year. From 1826 to 1828, Schubert resided continuously in Vienna, except for
6528-544: The aforementioned indirect references by his friends, and uncritically repeated ever since. Schubert was buried, at his own request, near the grave of Beethoven, whom he had admired all his life, in the village cemetery of Währing on the edge of the Vienna Woods . A year earlier he had served as a torchbearer at Beethoven's funeral . In 1872, a memorial to Franz Schubert was erected in Vienna's Stadtpark . In 1888, both Schubert's and Beethoven's graves were moved to
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#17327975668526656-457: The age of eleven, he became a pupil at the Stadtkonvikt school, where he became acquainted with the orchestral music of Joseph Haydn , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , and Ludwig van Beethoven . He left the Stadtkonvikt at the end of 1813 and returned home to live with his father, where he began studying to become a schoolteacher. Despite this, he continued his studies in composition with Antonio Salieri and still composed prolifically. In 1821, Schubert
6784-405: The age of five, Schubert began to receive regular lessons from his father, and a year later he was enrolled at his father's school. Although it is not known exactly when he received his first musical instruction, he was given piano lessons by his brother Ignaz, but they lasted for a very short time as Schubert excelled him within a few months. Ignaz later recalled: I was amazed when Franz told me,
6912-399: The bass line alone. Thus when Alessandro Scarlatti wrote a set of six works entitled Sonata à Quattro per due Violini, Violetta [viola], e Violoncello senza Cembalo (Sonata for four instruments: two violins, viola, and cello without harpsichord), this was a natural evolution from the existing tradition. The musicologist Hartmut Schick has suggested that Franz Xaver Richter invented
7040-483: The chief credit of originating the short models of piano forte pieces which the romantic school has preferably cultivated.... Schubert created a new epoch with the Lied.... All other songwriters have followed in his footsteps." When Schubert died he had around 100 opus numbers published, mainly songs, chamber music and smaller piano compositions. Publication of smaller pieces continued (including opus numbers up to 173 in
7168-549: The commission ceased, and he began to receive parsimonious royalties. The situation improved somewhat in March 1821 when Vogl performed the song " Erlkönig " (D. 328) at a concert that was extremely well received. That month, Schubert composed a Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli (D 718), being one of the fifty composers who contributed to the Vaterländischer Künstlerverein publication. The production of
7296-493: The depiction of the spinning wheel and treadle in the piano in "Gretchen" and the furious and ceaseless gallop in " Erlkönig ". He composed music using the poems of myriad poets, with Goethe, Mayrhofer , and Schiller the most frequent, and others, including Heinrich Heine , Friedrich Rückert , and Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff . Of particular note are his two song cycles on the poems of Wilhelm Müller , Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise , which helped to establish
7424-616: The difference between one masterpiece and the next." The musicologist Roger Hickman has however demurred from this consensus view. He notes a change in string quartet writing towards the end of the 1760s, featuring characteristics which are today thought of as essential to the genre – scoring for two violins, viola and cello, solo passages, and absence of actual or potential basso continuo accompaniment. Noting that at this time other composers than Haydn were writing works conforming to these 'modern' criteria, and that Haydn's earlier quartets did not meet them, he suggests that "one casualty [of such
7552-413: The early "quartets" are actually symphonies missing their wind parts. They have five movements and take the form: fast movement, minuet and trio I, slow movement, minuet and trio II, and fast finale . As Ludwig Finscher notes, they draw stylistically on the Austrian divertimento tradition. After these early efforts, Haydn did not return to the string quartet for several years, but when he did so, it
7680-467: The early 1820s, Schubert was part of a close-knit circle of artists and students who had social gatherings together that became known as Schubertiads . Many of them took place in Ignaz von Sonnleithner 's large apartment in the Gundelhof (Brandstätte 5, Vienna). The tight circle of friends with which Schubert surrounded himself was dealt a blow in early 1820. Schubert and four of his friends were arrested by
7808-606: The end of 1813, Schubert left the Stadtkonvikt and returned home for teacher training at the St Anna Normal- hauptschule . In 1814, he entered his father's school as the teacher of the youngest pupils. For over two years, young Schubert endured severe drudgery. However, he found compensatory interests during this time. For example, Schubert continued to take private lessons in composition from Salieri, who provided him with more technical training than any of his other teachers, until they parted ways in 1817. In 1814, Schubert met
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#17327975668527936-428: The family string quartet, with his brothers Ferdinand and Ignaz on first and second violin and his father on the cello . Schubert wrote his earliest string quartets for this ensemble. Young Schubert first came to the attention of Antonio Salieri , then Vienna's leading musical authority, in 1804, when his vocal talent was recognized. In November 1808, he became a pupil at the Stadtkonvikt (Imperial Seminary) through
8064-459: The finales of nos. 2, 5 and 6. After Op. 20, it becomes harder to point to similar major jumps in the string quartet's development in Haydn's hands, though not due to any lack of invention or application on the composer's part. As Donald Tovey put it: "with Op. 20 the historical development of Haydn's quartets reaches its goal; and further progress is not progress in any historical sense, but simply
8192-535: The first series containing eight symphonies. The publication of the Neue Schubert-Ausgabe by Bärenreiter started in the second half of the 20th century. Since relatively few of Schubert's works were published in his lifetime, only a small number of them have opus numbers assigned, and even in those cases, the sequence of the numbers does not give a good indication of the order of composition. Austrian musicologist Otto Erich Deutsch (1883–1967)
8320-401: The genre and its potential for musical, poetic, and almost operatic dramatic narrative. His last collection of songs, published in 1828 after his death, Schwanengesang , is also an innovative contribution to German Lieder literature, as it features poems by different poets, namely Ludwig Rellstab , Heine, and Johann Gabriel Seidl . The Wiener Theaterzeitung , writing about Winterreise at
8448-459: The genre by 1801 can be judged by Ignaz Pleyel 's publication in Paris of a "complete" series that year, and the quartet's evolution as vehicle for public performance can be judged by Pleyel's ten-volume set of miniature scores intended for hearers rather than players – early examples of this genre of music publishing . Since Haydn's day, the string quartet has been prestigious and considered one of
8576-399: The genre by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn . There had been examples of divertimenti for two solo violins, viola and cello by the Viennese composers Georg Christoph Wagenseil and Ignaz Holzbauer ; and there had long been a tradition of performing orchestral works one instrument to a part. The British musicologist David Wyn Jones cites the widespread practice of four players, one to
8704-575: The genre. During his tenure as Master of the Queen's Music , Peter Maxwell Davies produced a set of ten entitled the Naxos Quartets (to a commission from Naxos Records ) from 2001 to 2007. Margaret Jones Wiles composed over 50 string quartets. David Matthews has written eleven, and Robin Holloway both five quartets and six "quartettini". Over nearly five decades, Elliott Carter wrote
8832-430: The group to play, Haydn's first string quartets were born. It is not clear whether any of these works ended up in the two sets published in the mid-1760s and known as Haydn's Opp. 1 and 2 ('Op. 0' is a quartet included in some early editions of Op. 1, and only rediscovered in the 1930s), but it seems reasonable to assume that they were at least similar in character. Haydn's early biographer Georg August Griesinger tells
8960-471: The highest point by the Kneisel Quartet. There were earlier workers in the field, pioneers to whom honor and credit are due, and who shall not be forgotten. But the Kneisel Quartet reached a higher level than was attained by any of them, and has exercised a correspondingly greater influence. It has been one of the greatest forces for good in the musical history of this country. This article about
9088-450: The impression more of melodic development than of harmonic drama. This combination of Classical form and long-breathed Romantic melody sometimes lends them a discursive style: his Great C Major Symphony was described by Robert Schumann as running to "heavenly lengths". It was in the genre of the lied that Schubert made his most indelible mark. Leon Plantinga remarks that "in his more than six hundred Lieder he explored and expanded
9216-484: The means to support a family. In November 1816, after failing to gain a musical post in Laibach (now Ljubljana , Slovenia ), Schubert sent Ms. Grob's brother Heinrich a collection of songs, which was retained by the family into the twentieth century. One of Schubert's most prolific years was 1815. He composed over 20,000 bars of music, more than half of which were for orchestra, including nine church works (although he
9344-439: The meantime, Schubert's talent began to show in his compositions; Salieri decided to start training him privately in music theory and composition. According to Ferdinand, the boy's first composition for piano was a Fantasy for four hands ; his first song, Klagegesang der Hagar , was written a year later. Schubert was occasionally permitted to lead the Stadtkonvikt's orchestra, the first orchestra he wrote for. He devoted much of
9472-510: The members of the Gesellschaft, most notably Ignaz von Sonnleithner and his son Leopold von Sonnleithner , had a sizeable influence on the affairs of the society, and as a result of that and of Schubert's growing reputation, his works were included in three major concerts of the Gesellschaft in 1821. In April, one of his male-voice quartets was performed, and in November, his Overture in E minor (D. 648) received its first public performance; at
9600-469: The modern era, the string quartet played a key role in the development of Schoenberg (who added a soprano in his String Quartet No. 2 ), Bartók , and Shostakovich especially. After the Second World War , some composers, such as Messiaen questioned the relevance of the string quartet and avoided writing them. However, from the 1960s onwards, many composers have shown a renewed interest in
9728-602: The music historian George Grove and the composer Arthur Sullivan made in October 1867. The travellers unearthed the manuscripts of six of the symphonies, parts of the incidental music to Rosamunde , the Mass No. 1 in F major (D. 105), and the operas Des Teufels Lustschloss (D. 84), Fernardo (D. 220), Der vierjährige Posten (D. 190), and Die Freunde von Salamanka (D. 326), and several other unnamed works. With these discoveries, Grove and Sullivan were able to inform
9856-490: The past. Eva M. Cybulska goes further and says that Schubert's syphilis is a conjecture. His multi-system signs and symptoms, she says, could point at a number of different illness such as leukaemia , anaemia , or Hashimoto's thyroiditis , and that many tell-tale signs of syphilis — chancre , mucous plaques, rash on the thorax, pupil abnormality, dysgraphia — were absent. She argues that the syphilis diagnosis originated with Schubert's biographer Otto Deutsch in 1907, based on
9984-491: The pianist Radu Lupu , who said: "[Schubert] is the composer for whom I am really most sorry that he died so young. ... Just before he died, when he wrote his beautiful two-cello String Quintet in C, he said very modestly that he was trying to learn a little more about counterpoint, and he was perfectly right. We'll never know in what direction he was going or would have gone." However, others have expressed disagreement with this early view. For instance, Robert Schumann said: "It
10112-468: The poet Franz Grillparzer , reads: Die Tonkunst begrub hier einen reichen Besitz, aber noch viel schönere Hoffnungen ("The art of music has here interred a precious treasure, but yet far fairer hopes"). Schubert was remarkably prolific, writing over 1,500 works in his short career. His compositional style progressed rapidly throughout his life. The largest number of his compositions are songs for solo voice and piano (roughly 630). Schubert also composed
10240-490: The point where he could play easy duets proficiently. Soon after, Schubert was given his first lessons outside the family by Michael Holzer, organist and choirmaster of the local parish church in Lichtental. Holzer would often assure Schubert's father, with tears in his eyes, that he had never had such a pupil as Schubert, and the lessons may have largely consisted of conversations and expressions of admiration. Holzer gave
10368-561: The popular selections and excerpts from larger works that many audiences were familiar with, they regularly played complete quartets by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, and they introduced to American audiences many compositions that are now part of the classical repertoire , but were then new and unfamiliar, including works by Brahms, Dvořák, Smetana, Franck, Debussy, Ravel, and Schoenberg. They also played many contemporary works by American composers, such as Edward MacDowell , Arthur Foote , and George Chadwick , and were exceptionally supportive of
10496-416: The potential these early nineteenth-century instruments possessed for both intimate and extrovert, virtuosic playing. A feeling of regret for the loss of potential masterpieces caused by Schubert's early death at age 31 was expressed in the epitaph on his large tombstone written by Grillparzer: "Here music has buried a treasure, but even fairer hopes." Some prominent musicians share a similar view, including
10624-527: The potentialities of the genre, as no composer before him." Prior to Schubert's influence, Lieder tended toward a strophic , syllabic treatment of text, evoking the folksong qualities engendered by the stirrings of Romantic nationalism . Among Schubert's treatments of the poetry of Goethe , his settings of " Gretchen am Spinnrade " (D. 118) and " Der Erlkönig " (D. 328) are particularly striking for their dramatic content, forward-looking uses of harmony, and use of eloquent pictorial keyboard figurations, such as
10752-635: The press in Vienna and abroad. Schubert spent the summer of 1818 as a music teacher to the family of Count Johann Karl Esterházy at their château in Zselíz (now Želiezovce , Slovakia). The pay was relatively good, and his duties teaching piano and singing to the two daughters, Marie and Caroline , were relatively light, allowing him to compose happily. Schubert may have written his Marches Militaire in D major (D. 733 no. 1) for Marie and Caroline, in addition to other piano duets. On his return from Zselíz, he took up residence with his friend Mayrhofer. During
10880-454: The progressive aims of the Op. 20 set of 1772, in particular, makes them the first major peak in the history of the string quartet. Certainly they offered to their own time state-of-the art models to follow for the best part of a decade; the teenage Mozart , in his early quartets, was among the composers moved to imitate many of their characteristics, right down to the vital fugues with which Haydn sought to bring greater architectural weight to
11008-497: The public of the existence of these works; in addition, they were able to copy the fourth and sixth symphonies, the Rosamunde incidental music, and the overture to Die Freunde von Salamanka . This led to more widespread public interest in Schubert's work. From 1884 to 1897, Breitkopf & Härtel published Franz Schubert's Works , a critical edition including a contribution made – among others – by Johannes Brahms , editor of
11136-564: The pursuit of the more advanced quartet style found in the eighteen works published in the early 1770s as Opp. 9, 17, and 20 . These are written in a form that became established as standard both for Haydn and for other composers. Clearly composed as sets, these quartets feature a four-movement layout having broadly conceived, moderately paced first movements and, in increasing measure, a democratic and conversational interplay of parts, close-knit thematic development, and skilful though often restrained use of counterpoint. The convincing realizations of
11264-697: The quartet were all members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and this remained true, in spite of changes in personnel, until 1903, when the players resigned from the orchestra in order to devote their time and energy exclusively to chamber music. In 1905 they moved from Boston to New York City , where Kneisel had accepted a position at the recently created Institute of Musical Art (now the Juilliard School of Music ). The quartet gave its final performance on 3 April 1917 in New York. In
11392-451: The rest of his time at the Stadtkonvikt to composing chamber music, several songs, piano pieces and, more ambitiously, liturgical choral works in the form of a "Salve Regina" (D 27), a "Kyrie" (D 31), in addition to the unfinished "Octet for Winds" (D 72, said to commemorate the 1812 death of his mother), the cantata Wer ist groß? for male voices and orchestra (D 110, for his father's birthday in 1813), and his first symphony (D 82). At
11520-565: The same day, the former at a tavern where he broke his afternoon's walk, the latter on his return to his lodging in the evening. The works of his last two years reveal a composer entering a new professional and compositional stage. Although parts of Schubert's personality were influenced by his friends, he nurtured an intensely personal dimension in solitude; it was out of this dimension that he wrote his greatest music. The death of Beethoven affected Schubert deeply, and may have motivated Schubert to reach new artistic peaks. In 1827, Schubert wrote
11648-569: The son of a Moravian peasant, was a well-known parish schoolmaster , and his school in Lichtental (in Vienna's ninth district ) had numerous students in attendance. He came to Vienna from Zuckmantel in 1784 and was appointed schoolmaster two years later. His mother was the daughter of a Silesian master locksmith and had been a housemaid for a Viennese family before marriage. Of Franz Theodor and Elisabeth's fourteen children (one of them illegitimate, born in 1783), nine died in infancy. At
11776-573: The song cycle Winterreise (D. 911), the Fantasy in C major for violin and piano (D. 934, first published as op. post. 159), the Impromptus for piano, and the two piano trios ( the first in B-flat major (D. 898), and the second in E-flat major, (D. 929); in 1828 the cantata Mirjams Siegesgesang ( Victory Song of Miriam , D 942) on a text by Franz Grillparzer , the Mass in E-flat major (D. 950),
11904-423: The songs by Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg , an important composer of Lieder . The precocious young student "wanted to modernize" Zumsteeg's songs, as reported by Joseph von Spaun , Schubert's friend. Schubert's friendship with Spaun began at the Stadtkonvikt and lasted throughout his short life. In those early days, the financially well-off Spaun furnished the impoverished Schubert with much of his manuscript paper. In
12032-415: The songs, could be performed in the evening concerts. He was rejected on the basis that he was "no amateur", although he had been employed as a schoolteacher at the time and there were professional musicians already among the society's membership. However, he began to gain more notice in the press, and the first public performance of a secular work, an overture performed in February 1818, received praise from
12160-407: The spark of divine genius resides in this Schubert!" Beethoven also reportedly predicted that Schubert "would make a great sensation in the world," and regretted that he had not been more familiar with him earlier; he wished to see his operas and works for piano, but his severe illness prevented him from doing so. Despite his preoccupation with the stage and subsequent official duties, Schubert wrote
12288-910: The story thus: The following purely chance circumstance had led him to try his luck at the composition of quartets. A Baron Fürnberg had a place in Weinzierl , several stages from Vienna, and he invited from time to time his pastor, his manager, Haydn, and Albrechtsberger (a brother of the celebrated contrapuntist Albrechtsberger ) in order to have a little music. Fürnberg requested Haydn to compose something that could be performed by these four amateurs. Haydn, then eighteen years old [ sic ], took up this proposal, and so originated his first quartet which, immediately it appeared, received such general approval that Haydn took courage to work further in this form. Haydn went on to write nine other quartets around this time. These works were published as his Op. 1 and Op. 2; one quartet went unpublished, and some of
12416-477: The string quartet: Further expansions have also produced works such as the String octet by Mendelssohn , consisting of the equivalent of two string quartets. Notably, Schoenberg included a soprano in the last two movements of his second string quartet , composed in 1908. Adding a voice has since been done by Milhaud , Ginastera , Ferneyhough , Davies , İlhan Mimaroğlu and many others. Another variation on
12544-532: The symptoms of his final illness do not correspond with tertiary syphilis. Six weeks before his death, he walked 42 miles in three days, ruling out musculoskeletal syphilis. In the month of his death, he composed his last work, " Der Hirt auf dem Felsen ", making neurosyphilis unlikely. And meningovascular syphilis is unlikely because it presents a progressive stroke-like picture, and Schubert had no neurological manifestation until his final delirium, which started only two days before his death. Lastly, his final illness
12672-449: The time of Beethoven's late quartets, and despite some notable examples to the contrary, composers writing in the twentieth century increasingly abandoned this structure. Bartók's fourth and fifth string quartets, written in the 1930s, are five-movement works, symmetrical around a central movement. Shostakovich's final quartet , written in the 1970s, comprises six slow movements. Many other chamber groups can be seen as modifications of
12800-412: The time of its retirement the Kneisel Quartet was widely credited with having created a more educated and appreciative audience for chamber music in the United States. As the New York critic Richard Aldrich wrote in 1917, The interest in chamber music, the appreciation of the highest possibilities of its performance, the knowledge of many of the greatest compositions in this form of art were cultivated to
12928-604: The time when there was a minor craze over that instrument. In the spring of that year, he wrote the Octet in F major (D. 803), a sketch for a "Grand Symphony," and in the summer went back to Zseliz . There he became attracted to Hungarian musical idiom and wrote the Divertissement à la hongroise in G minor for piano duet (D. 818) and the String Quartet in A minor Rosamunde (D. 804). It has been said that he held
13056-411: The time, commented that it was a work that "none can sing or hear without being deeply moved". Antonín Dvořák wrote in 1894 that Schubert, whom he considered one of the truly great composers, was clearly influential on shorter works, especially Lieder and shorter piano works: "The tendency of the romantic school has been toward short forms, and although Weber helped to show the way, to Schubert belongs
13184-550: The traditional string quartet is the electric string quartet with players performing on electric instruments . Notable works for string quartet include: Whereas individual string players often group together to make ad hoc string quartets, others continue to play together for many years in ensembles which may be named after the first violinist (e.g. the Takács Quartet ), a composer (e.g. the Borodin Quartet ) or
13312-413: The true tests of a composer's art. This may be partly because the palette of sound is more restricted than with orchestral music, forcing the music to stand more on its own rather than relying on tonal color ; or from the inherently contrapuntal tendency in music written for four equal instruments. Quartet composition flourished in the Classical era. Mozart , Beethoven and Schubert each composed
13440-429: The two operas turned Schubert's attention more firmly than ever in the direction of the stage, where, for a variety of reasons, he was almost completely unsuccessful. All in all, he embarked on twenty stage projects, each of them failures that were quickly forgotten. In 1822, Alfonso und Estrella was rejected, partly owing to its libretto, written by Schubert's friend Franz von Schober . In 1823, Fierrabras (D 796)
13568-451: The wide-spread opinion that Schubert was a lucky inventor of pleasing tunes ... lacking the dramatic power and searching intelligence which distinguished such 'real' masters as J. S. Bach or Beethoven". Krenek wrote that he reached a completely different assessment after a close study of Schubert's pieces at the urging of his friend and fellow composer Eduard Erdmann . Krenek pointed to the piano sonatas as giving "ample evidence that [Schubert]
13696-411: The wish, were he to survive his final illness, to further develop his knowledge of harmony and counterpoint, and had actually made appointments for lessons with the counterpoint master Simon Sechter . On 26 March 1828, the anniversary of Beethoven's death, Schubert gave, for the only time in his career, a public concert of his own works. The concert was a success popularly and financially, although it
13824-525: The work of women composers and musicians, such as Amy Beach and Bertha Tapper , with whom they sometimes performed. The quartet toured widely and gave concerts in small towns across North America that had rarely, if ever, heard a professional instrumental ensemble playing serious works from the chamber repertoire. It was occasionally criticized for not playing more accessible music, and even in Boston and New York its concerts were not always well attended, but by
13952-451: The year came the String Quartet No. 15 in G major, (D 887, first published as op. 161), the Rondo in B minor for violin and piano (D. 895), Rondeau brillant , and the Piano Sonata in G major , (D 894, first published as Fantasie in G , op. 78). He also produced in 1826 three Shakespearian songs, of which " Ständchen " (D. 889) and " An Sylvia " (D. 891) were allegedly written on
14080-504: The young Schubert instruction in piano and organ as well as in figured bass . According to Holzer, however, he did not give him any real instruction as Schubert would already know anything that he tried to teach him; rather, he looked upon Schubert with "astonishment and silence". The boy seemed to gain more from an acquaintance with a friendly apprentice joiner who took him to a neighbouring pianoforte warehouse where Schubert could practise on better instruments. He also played viola in
14208-470: Was "chasing women". The theory of Schubert's sexuality or "Schubert as Other" has continued to influence current scholarship. Biographer Lorraine Byrne Bodley is sceptical "...of Solomon’s "outing" of Schubert, saying this misunderstands the passionate "homosocial" friendships of 19th-century Europe." Significant changes occurred in Schubert's life in 1816 when Schober, a student from an affluent family, invited him to lodge at his mother's house. The proposal
14336-632: Was Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131 ; Holz commented: "The King of Harmony has sent the King of Song a friendly bidding to the crossing". Schubert died in Vienna, aged 31, on 19 November 1828, at the apartment of his brother Ferdinand. The cause of his death was officially diagnosed as typhoid fever, though other theories have been proposed, including the tertiary stage of syphilis . Although there are accounts by his friends that indirectly imply that he had contracted syphilis earlier,
14464-493: Was admitted to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde as a performing member, which helped establish his name among the Viennese citizenry. He gave a concert of his works to critical acclaim in March 1828, the only time he did so in his career. He died eight months later at the age of 31, the cause officially attributed to typhoid fever , but believed by some historians to be syphilis . Appreciation of Schubert's music while he
14592-470: Was alive was limited to a relatively small circle of admirers in Vienna, but interest in his work increased greatly in the decades following his death. Felix Mendelssohn , Robert Schumann , Franz Liszt , Johannes Brahms and other 19th-century composers discovered and championed his works. Today, Schubert is considered one of the greatest composers in the history of Western classical music and his music continues to be widely performed. Franz Peter Schubert
14720-547: Was an agnostic ), a symphony, and about 140 Lieder. In that year, he was also introduced to Anselm Hüttenbrenner and Franz von Schober , who would become his lifelong friends. Another friend, Johann Mayrhofer , was introduced to him by Spaun in 1815. Throughout 1815, Schubert lived at home with his father. He continued to teach at the school and give private musical instruction, earning enough money for his basic needs, including clothing, manuscript paper, pens, and ink, but with little to no money left over for luxuries. Spaun
14848-533: Was an active member of the 1817–1818 Unsinnsgesellschaft (Nonsenses Society), and various scholars agree with this. In late 1817, Schubert's father gained a new position at a school in Rossau , not far from Lichtental. Schubert rejoined his father and reluctantly took up teaching duties there. In early 1818, he applied for membership in the prestigious Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde , intending to gain admission as an accompanist, but also so that his music, especially
14976-537: Was born in Himmelpfortgrund (now a part of Alsergrund ), Vienna, Archduchy of Austria , on 31 January 1797, and baptized in the Catholic Church the following day. He was the twelfth child of Franz Theodor Florian Schubert (1763–1830) and Maria Elisabeth Katharina Vietz (1756–1812). Schubert's immediate ancestors came originally from the province of Zuckmantel in Austrian Silesia . His father,
15104-488: Was characterized by gastrointestinal symptoms (namely vomiting). These issues all led Robert L. Rold to argue that (although he believed Schubert had syphilis), the fatal final illness was a gastrointestinal one such as salmonella or indeed typhoid fever. Rold also pointed out that when Schubert was in his final illness, his close friend Schober avoided visiting him "out of fear of contagion". Yet Schober had known of his earlier possible syphilis and had never avoided Schubert in
15232-486: Was much more than an easy-going tune-smith who did not know, and did not care, about the craft of composition." Each sonata then in print, according to Krenek, exhibited "a great wealth of technical finesse" and revealed Schubert as "far from satisfied with pouring his charming ideas into conventional moulds; on the contrary he was a thinking artist with a keen appetite for experimentation." That "appetite for experimentation" manifests itself repeatedly in Schubert's output in
15360-499: Was overshadowed by Niccolò Paganini 's first appearances in Vienna shortly after. In the midst of this creative activity, his health deteriorated. By the late 1820s, Schubert's health was failing and he confided to some friends that he feared that he was near death. In the late summer of 1828, he saw the physician Ernst Rinna, who may have confirmed Schubert's suspicions that he was ill beyond cure and likely to die soon. Some of his symptoms matched those of mercury poisoning ( mercury
15488-527: Was particularly opportune, for Schubert had just made the unsuccessful application for the post of Kapellmeister at Laibach, and he had also decided not to resume teaching duties at his father's school. By the end of the year, he became a guest in Schober's lodgings. For a time, he attempted to increase the household resources by giving music lessons, but they were soon abandoned, and he devoted himself to composition. "I compose every morning, and when one piece
15616-474: Was probably Schubert's first visit away from home or school. Schubert's unhappiness during his years as a schoolteacher possibly showed early signs of depression , and it is virtually certain that Schubert suffered from cyclothymia throughout his life. In 1989, the musicologist Maynard Solomon suggested that Schubert was erotically attracted to men, a thesis that has been heatedly debated. The musicologist and Schubert expert Rita Steblin has said that he
15744-456: Was rejected: Domenico Barbaia , impresario for the court theatres, largely lost interest in new German opera due to the popularity of Rossini and the Italian operatic style, and the failure of Carl Maria von Weber 's Euryanthe . Die Verschworenen ( The Conspirators , D 787) was prohibited by the censor, apparently because of its title, and the play Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern , for which Schubert had written incidental music (D 797),
15872-439: Was then a common treatment for syphilis, again suggesting that Schubert suffered from it). At the beginning of November, he again fell ill, experiencing headaches, fever, swollen joints, and vomiting. He was generally unable to retain solid food and his condition worsened. Five days before Schubert's death, his friend the violinist Karl Holz and his string quartet visited to play for him. The last musical work he had wished to hear
16000-496: Was to make a significant step in the genre's development. The intervening years saw Haydn begin his employment as Kapellmeister to the Esterházy princes, for whom he was required to compose numerous symphonies and dozens of trios for violin, viola, and the bass instrument called the baryton (played by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy himself). The opportunities for experiment which both these genres offered Haydn perhaps helped him in
16128-656: Was welcomed with enthusiasm. It was during this tour that he produced the seven-song cycle Fräulein am See , based on Walter Scott 's The Lady of the Lake , and including " Ellens Gesang III " ("Hymn to the Virgin") (D. 839, Op. 52, No. 6); the lyrics of Adam Storck's German translation of the Scott poem are now frequently replaced by the full text of the traditional Roman Catholic prayer Hail Mary ( Ave Maria in Latin), but for which
16256-524: Was well aware that Schubert was discontented with his life at the schoolhouse, and was concerned for Schubert's development intellectually and musically. In May 1816, Spaun moved from his apartment in Landskrongasse (in the inner city) to a new home in the Landstraße suburb; one of the first things he did after he settled into the new home was to invite Schubert to spend a few days with him. This
16384-442: Was withdrawn after two nights, due to the play's poor quality. Despite his operatic failures, Schubert's reputation was growing steadily on other fronts. In 1821, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde finally accepted him as a performing member, and the number of performances of his music grew remarkably. These performances helped Schubert's reputation grow rapidly among the members of the Gesellschaft and established his name. Some of
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