Schubert had a close circle of friends and associates, including his teacher Antonio Salieri
and the prominent singer Johann Michael Vogl, who admired his work. The wider
appreciation of his music during his short lifetime was, however, limited at best. He was
never able to secure adequate permanent employment and for most of his career he relied
on the support of friends and family. Interest in Schubert’s music increased dramatically
in the decades following his death.
Schubert’s most popular piano works are his Impromptus and Moments Musicaux. He
also wrote numerous piano sonatas, the most popular being his sonatas in A major and B
flat major, and a large number of dances for piano. His piano Quintet in A major ‘Trout’
and his Piano Trios in E flat major and B flat major are jewels of the literature. His main
virtuosic solo piano work is his Fantasy in C major ‘Wanderer’ which is an early example
of thematic transformation and ‘orchestral’ piano writing and influenced Liszt in his own
Sonata in B minor. Schubert did not write a piano concerto.
SCHUMANN
Life
Robert Schumann (1810-1856) is one of the four great romantic composers for piano, the
others being Chopin, Liszt and Brahms.
Schumann favoured the shorter forms and a melodic style based on the cadences of
German folk song. His melodies soar and his harmonies develop logically. His piano
style avoids the alberti basses and other clichés of the classical period and often involves
the hands close together with the accompaniment divided between them. He often uses
contrapuntal devices such as canon and imitation.
Schumann hoped to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist, having been assured by his
teacher Friedrich Wieck that he could become the finest pianist in Europe after only a
few years study with him. A hand injury, however, prevented those hopes from being
realised, and he decided to focus his musical energies on composition.
Piano works
His earliest published compositions were piano miniatures and songs for voice and piano.
He later composed works for piano and orchestra, many additional songs, four
symphonies, an opera, and other orchestral, choral and chamber works. His writings
about music appeared mostly in ‘Die Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik’ (‘The New Journal for
Music’) which he co-founded.
In 1840, after a long and acrimonious legal battle with her father, he married pianist Clara
Wieck, a considerable figure of the romantic period in her own right. It was a happy
marriage and produced eight children. Unfortunately for the last two years of his life,
following an attempted suicide, Schumann was confined to a mental institution.