Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828)

[kernelbogey]

Commencing 1 February 2021: focusing on the chamber music

Monday:
Donald Macleod explores the years around the composition of Schubert’s Tenth String Quartet.

Franz Schubert’s short life spanned a crucial period in music history as the elegant, classical stylings of Mozart and Haydn were giving way to the drama and passion of the romantic era. Schubert came to embody that transformation, in music that was all about personal expression and individual inspiration. This week, Donald Macleod throws the spotlight on Schubert’s chamber music and explores the stories around five key works for small ensembles.

Schubert wrote his tenth string quartet in 1813 while still a teenager, as the introverted schoolboy was growing into a young man with a dream to be a full-time composer. He attended the Choir School of the Imperial Court Chapel in Vienna where he joined the school orchestra and encountered the music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. His school reports were good and he was singled out for special praise for his exemplary application to the art of music but he quickly outgrew the place and determined to leave so he could pursue his musical ambitions elsewhere.

[kernelbogey]

I thought I'd revive a previous COTW thread on Schubert to add to; but the last one we seem to have is nearly ten years ago.

[kernelbogey]

Also, Wednesday 3 February at 1930:
A recital by one of the greatest living interpreters of Schubert, the pianist Mitsuko Uchida. Recorded at Wigmore Hall in London at the end of 2020, Uchida performed two of Schubert’s late, great masterpieces, both of which date from the years of his life. The unfinished Sonata in C, D840, was nicknamed the Reliquie when it was published posthumously, in the mistaken belief that it was the composer’s last work. And the deeply contemplative Sonata in G, D894, was a great favourite of Schumann’s, described by the younger composer as “the most perfect in form and conception”.

Schubert Sonata in D, D940 “Reliquie”; Sonata in G, D894

[Bryn]

Also, Wednesday 3 February at 1930:
A recital by one of the greatest living interpreters of Schubert, the pianist Mitsuko Uchida. Recorded at Wigmore Hall in London at the end of 2020, Uchida performed two of Schubert’s late, great masterpieces, both of which date from the years of his life. The unfinished Sonata in C, D840, was nicknamed the Reliquie when it was published posthumously, in the mistaken belief that it was the composer’s last work. And the deeply contemplative Sonata in G, D894, was a great favourite of Schumann’s, described by the younger composer as “the most perfect in form and conception”.

Schubert Sonata in D, D940 “Reliquie”; Sonata in G, D894

"one of the greatest living interpreters of Schubert, the pianist Mitsuko Uchida"

I beg to differ.

[richardfinegold]

Not sure I know that String Quartet. Nice to see a focus on another Quartet besides Death and the Maiden..
As for Uchida, I like her better in the shorter works than the Sonata. There seem to be new Schubert piano recordings coming out all the time by scads of little known Pianists

[kernelbogey]

"one of the greatest living interpreters of Schubert, the pianist Mitsuko Uchida"

I beg to differ.

To be clear - I was of course quoting from the BBC website (as indicated by italics).

[Bryn]

To be clear - I was of course quoting from the BBC website (as indicated by italics).

No worries. I got that. I will almost certainly listen, previous experience of her Schubert notwithstanding.

[kernelbogey]

[Belgrove]

"one of the greatest living interpreters of Schubert, the pianist Mitsuko Uchida"

I beg to differ.

Me too. At a Wigmore Hall recital she gave, years ago, I got a very childish fit of the giggles on watching her absurd face-pulling. I spent the first half of the recital chewing a handkerchief and staring into my lap, trying to think of something else, then left at the interval for fear of spoiling things for the audience. The very thought of her gurning still provokes the same juvenile response.

[CallMePaul]

Not sure I know that String Quartet. Nice to see a focus on another Quartet besides Death and the Maiden..
As for Uchida, I like her better in the shorter works than the Sonata. There seem to be new Schubert piano recordings coming out all the time by scads of little known Pianists

The complete Schubert quartets (including some fragments) have been recorded by the Diogenes Quartet and are available on Brilliant Classics https://www.prestomusic.com/classica...tring-quartets (current price £19.75 for 7CD set, although I got it for under £15 in the autumn).

[mikealdren]

Commencing 1 February 2021: focusing on the chamber music

Monday:
Donald Macleod explores the years around the composition of Schubert’s Tenth String Quartet.

Franz Schubert’s short life spanned a crucial period in music history as the elegant, classical stylings of Mozart and Haydn were giving way to the drama and passion of the romantic era. Schubert came to embody that transformation, in music that was all about personal expression and individual inspiration. This week, Donald Macleod throws the spotlight on Schubert’s chamber music and explores the stories around five key works for small ensembles.

Schubert wrote his tenth string quartet in 1813 while still a teenager, as the introverted schoolboy was growing into a young man with a dream to be a full-time composer. He attended the Choir School of the Imperial Court Chapel in Vienna where he joined the school orchestra and encountered the music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. His school reports were good and he was singled out for special praise for his exemplary application to the art of music but he quickly outgrew the place and determined to leave so he could pursue his musical ambitions elsewhere.

Franz Schubert, 271 years old today.

[Bryn]

Franz Schubert, 271 years old today.

And still going strong.

[kernelbogey]

Almost more than any composer, I wonder where his music would have taken him, had he lived longer. And yet... if he hadn't been suffering a fatal disease, would we have had the works of 1828...?

[Petrushka]

Franz Schubert, 271 years old today.

I remember a visit to the Schubert birthplace museum in Vienna back in 1981. The birth room itself was very sparsely furnished, just a bed and a chair, I think, which prompted one wit in our party to exclaim: "It's unfinished!"

[kernelbogey]

On the way to my visit, about thirty years ago, I was fantasising about whether music might be playing. One of the late sonatas? The quintet...? As I approached the place where I had to pay the invigilator, the sound of his tinny transistor radio grew steadily louder - The House of the Rising Son by the Animals!