7 Franz Schubert 7In June 1820 Die Zwillingsbrüder was performed with
moderate success in Vienna, Vogl doubling in the parts of the
twin brothers. It was followed by the performance of inci-
dental music for the play Die Zauberharfe (The Magic Harp),
given in August of the same year. The melodious overture
became famous as the Rosamunde overture. At the close of
the year 1820, Schubert composed the Quartettsatz (Quartet-
Movement) in C Minor, heralding the great string quartets
of the middle 1820s, and another popular piece, the motet
for female voices on the text of Psalm XXIII. In December
1820 he began the choral setting of Goethe’s Gesang der
Geister über den Wassern (Song of the Spirits over the Water) for
male-voice octet with accompaniment for bass strings, D.
714, completed in February 1821.
During September and October 1821 Schubert worked
on the three-act opera, Alfonso und Estrell. It was com-
pleted in February 1822 but was never performed. In July
1822, he produced the document called Mein Traum (“My
Dream”), describing a quarrel between a music-loving
youth and his father. The autumn of 1822 saw the begin-
ning of the Symphony in B Minor (Unfinished). In November
of the same year Schubert composed a piano fantasia and
completed the Mass in A-flat Major.
At the close of 1822 Schubert contracted a venereal
disease, and the following year was one of illness and
retirement. He continued to write almost incessantly. In
February 1823 he wrote the Piano Sonata in A Minor, and in
April he made another attempt to gain success in Viennese
theatres with the one-act operetta Die Verschworenen (The
Conspirators), the title being changed later to Der häusliche
Krieg (Domestic Warfare). The famous work of the year,
however, was the song cycle Die schöne Müllerin (“The
Fair Maid of the Mill”), representing the epitome of
Schubert’s lyrical art. Schubert spent part of the summer
in the hospital and probably started work—while still a