Franz Schubert in His Time (English and German Edition)

by Reinhard G. Pauly and Ernst Hilmar

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0931340071
• ISBN13: 9780931340079
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Amadeus Pr
• Length: 157 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A concise and interesting look at Schubert with some of the romance removed

This concise and helpful book came out in German in 1985. It was translated and published in English in 1988. The purpose of the book is not a biography of the composer, but to remove some of the sentimentalism that grew up around the composer almost immediately after his death at thirty-one in 1829. His friends said wonderful things about him and as the composer's fame grew, they got more attention by telling better stories. Ernst Hilmar shows us how private music making in salons had been around since the Baroque and how these evening musical events evolved in Schubertiads. It was not so much something different than went on in other homes; it was just that the focus in these was the genius of a specific composer. We also get a chapter on the state of music publishing in Vienna and in neighboring countries. Schubert fared poorly with these businessmen. However, they were very grateful to have his publications once he died and his fame grew. Sound familiar? The chapter on concert life in Schubert's time is quite interesting. The rise of the musical societies transformed what was a strong culture of amateur (in the good sense) music making into these mass festivals that we saw in, say, Mendelssohn's time. The chapter on the theater and the cult of Rossini in an otherwise moribund operatic life in Vienna helps us understand why Schubert failed to write a single successful opera in his life. The chapter on dance music not only helps us understand its role in Schubert's output, we also get an idea of how the waltz evolved from something quite wild. It was banned not only for its indecent gyrations, but because it was so frantic before it became what we know today, that those who knew were sure that the rapid and deep breathing would lead to consumption. Schubert's dances focus more on the minuet, Laendler, the Ecossaise, and the popular Deutsch. It seems that the "vulgar" waltz was not sought out in Schubert's circles. I also enjoyed the chapter on the literary scene with its censorship and its effect on Schubert's friendship with Mayrhofer once the poet became a censor. Schubert was a keen judge of poetry and its suitability for setting to his music. Some of the poets he selected were not so well known that he was likely to find them without someone point him to them. However, just as some of those singers who introduced the songs are very well known today but were insignificant and unknown in their life, some of the poets are famous only because Schubert made their works into immortal Leider. The last chapter provides a summation and a vivid portrait of Schubert in his time with much of the romance about him removed. He tried to get work, was known - but not well known, had some publications - but not the major works we know today, he lived in Biedermeier Vienna - but was not himself so pedestrian, he was aware of Beethoven - but did not ape him. There is a chronology of the composer's life, a bibliography, and an inde