Schubert, Franz (1797-1828)

Schubert, Franz

COMPOSER (AUSTRIA)

BORN 31 Jan 1797, Lichtenthal (near Wien) - DIED 19 Nov 1828, Wien
BIRTH NAME Schubert, Franz Peter
CAUSE OF DEATH typhoid fever, complicated by syphilis
GRAVE LOCATION Wien: Zentralfriedhof, Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234, Simmering (Gruppe 32 A, Nummer 28)

Franz Peter Schubert was born into a large Silecian family. His father was a school teacher. The young Schubert knew at an early age that he wanted to be a composer. Supported by friends he studied composition with Salieri (1808-1813). From 1815 until 1817 he was extremely productive as a composer, although he also taught at his father's school at the time. In 1819 he wrote his "Forellenquintet".

Little is known about his romances, but somewhere down the road he contracted syphilis. By 1820 he had found himself some patrons and admirers and this helped his career as a composer. One of the families he visited was the Grob family and it's possible that he wanted to marry their daughter Therese but that he was too poor to do so. She was a talented soprano and after she married in 1820 he ceased visiting the house (Therese's married name was Bergmann and she was still alive in 1869).

Around 1825 his reputation was growing and he was negotiating with several publishers. He had fallen ill in 1823 and suffered from bad health afterwards, probably caused by the syphilis. Nevertheless he continued to work hard. In 1827 he wrote "Die Winterreisse". In the same year he took part in Beethoven's funeral as a pall bearer.

There was a first public public concert of Schubert's work in March 1828 that would also be the only one during his lifetime. He used the proceeds to buy tickets to see Paganini, who was performing a few days later and took all the press attention that Schubert could have used so well.

In October 1828 his health was a little better. He had started to diet and exercise and he decided to take a walking tour to Eisenstadt to visit the grave of Haydn. But after he returned to Vienna he relapsed and he died in November from a typhoid fever.

Schubert was buried (like Beethoven) at the Währinger Ortsfriedhof, Vienna. In 1888 his remains were moved to the Zentralfriedhof.

Related persons
• has a connection with Chézy, Helmina von
• was a friend of Fröhlich, Anna
• was written about by Kolb, Annette
• was drawn by Kriehuber, Josef
• was a friend of Kupelwieser, Leopold
• was a friend of Lachner, Franz von
• met Liszt, Franz
• was written about by Paumgartner, Bernhard
• visited Pichler, Karoline
• was pupil of Salieri, Antonio
• was a friend of Schwindt, Moritz von

Events

20/12/1823	Hemina von Chézy's "Rosamunda" is staged at the Theater an der Wien. The public didn't like the play and after the seond night it was cancelled. It was created by Chézy on request of Joseph Kupelwieser, who intended it to be a benefit for his lover Emilie Neumann. Franz Schubert used the ouverture for the opera "Alfonso und Estralla" from 1822 as music for the play. The libretto of the play was recovered in 1996. [Chézy, Helmina von]
10/2/1830	First performance of Schubert's "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen" by Anna Milder-Hauptmann in Riga. It had been written for her by Schubert and she performed it at the Schwarzhäuptersaal in Riga. [Milder-Hauptmann, Anna]
20/1/1897	Emperor Franz Joseph opens the Schubert centenary in Vienna [Franz Joseph von Habsburg, Emperor of Austria]

Images
The grave of Franz Schubert at the Zentralfriedhof, Vienna. Picture by Androom (15 Aug 1995)	Statue of Franz Schubert near the entrance of the Hoppenlau Friedhof in Stuttgart. Picture by Androom (31 Jan 2007)