366 | Franz Schubert

Today is the birthday of Franz Schubert, a composer of the Romantic era. The most poetic composer ever. Despite his relatively short life, Schubert composed nearly a thousand works. The arrangement above and the arty reference books / birthday calendars were made by me, Frieke.

Franz Schubert was born on January 31, 1797, in Vienna. His father was a schoolteacher, and from an early age Franz displayed extraordinary musical talent. As a child, he sang in the choir of the Imperial Court Chapel and received an education at the prestigious Stadtkonvikt, where he studied composition among other subjects. There he became acquainted with the music of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven—composers who would deeply influence his style.

In his teenage years, Schubert was already composing at an astonishing rate. He wrote songs, chamber music, symphonies, and sacred music, often with remarkable emotional depth. While Beethoven dominated the musical world, Schubert worked largely in the shadows, without a permanent position and without widespread public recognition.

Between 1814 and 1816, he composed works such as Gretchen am Spinnrade and later the famous Erlkönig, based on texts by Goethe. In these pieces, he demonstrated his unique ability to bring poetry to life through music—not only as melody, but as dramatic storytelling. The art song became one of his most important creative forms, and he would eventually write more than 600 songs.

Schubert led an unstable and often financially difficult life. He taught briefly, but found it unsatisfying and chose instead to pursue an independent life as a composer. He lived on friendships, temporary support, and small commissions. His circle of friends, known as the Schubertiads, organized intimate living-room concerts where his music was performed. These were warm, close-knit gatherings, far removed from the grand concert stage.

In the 1820s, Schubert expanded his musical ambitions further. He composed chamber music of exceptional quality, such as the String Quintet in C and the Trout Quintet, as well as larger works including symphonies and piano music. His music grew ever richer, as if he were probing the depths of the human soul more intensely.

Meanwhile, his health deteriorated, likely due to syphilis. His later works often carry a blend of beauty, despair, resignation, and inner conflict. During this period, he composed monumental masterpieces such as the song cycles Die schöne Müllerin and Die Winterreise,, in which love, loss, and existential loneliness take center stage.

In 1828, the final year of his life, Schubert reached a creative peak. He completed, among other works, the impressive Symphony No. 9 (“The Great”) and his last piano compositions, now regarded as pinnacles of Romantic music.

On November 19, 1828, Schubert died in Vienna at only 31 years old. During his lifetime, he never achieved the fame or financial security his talent deserved. Ironically, his reputation grew only after his death, when composers such as Schumann and Brahms rediscovered and championed his work.

Schubert is seen as a bridge between Classicism and Romanticism—a composer who transformed the art song into a deeply personal form and who wrote music filled with tenderness, melancholy, and humanity.