Franz Schubert ~ Complete Lieder {c. 1810-28} ~ Selections from the Hyperion Schubert Edition

≈ History ≈ {based on materials from the Grove Dictionary and Graham Johnson′s notes for the presented Edition} The life story of Franz Schubert {1797-1828} can be described as one of a continuous desire to establish a career as a composer in spite of a somewhat cold contemporary reaction to his works. True, Schubert was by no means an unknown composer: between 1821 and Schubert’s death in 1828 more than 100 opuses of his music had been published, mostly by Viennese firms, the numbers almost doubles the total for Beethoven over the same period. The differences lay in the emphasis. In this period Beethoven saw seven symphonies and half a dozen overtures published, while Schubert saw not one note of his orchestral music published and could get only a handful of youthful sacred works into print. Less than a quarter of Schubert’s music had appeared in print when he died, and publication was heavily skewed towards the least prestigious genres. Only time would gradually restore th