Born: 1797, Vienna, Austria
Died: 1828, Vienna, Austria

"O imagination! thou greatest treasure of man, thou inexhaustible wellspring from which artists as well as savants drink!"

A composer of prodigious invention and originality, Schubert made major contributions to symphonic music, chamber music, and piano music, and raised German song - composing nearly 1000! - to new heights. His music is characterized by fluent, utterly apt lyricism sharpened by a richly expressive harmonic language. The great flowering of German song in Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, Mahler, and Richard Strauss stems directly from Schubert's astonishing songs, and the "Great" C-major Symphony had a profound influence on Schumann, Brahms, and Mahler.

Further listening:

Die schöne Müllerin (song cycle, 1823)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore (EMI)

String Quartet No. 14,
"Death and the Maiden" (1824)
Amadeus Quartet (DG)

10/07