Beethoven and Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert was born in 1797, and lived most of his short life in Vienna, during the height of Beethoven's popularity. He was exposed to Beethoven's music from an early age, and several of his works contain thematic resemblance to similar works of Beethoven. Even though both Schubert and Beethoven resided in the same city, and Schubert held Beethoven in the highest of esteem, they moved, for the most part, in different social circles for most of that time. Their first meeting was apparently in 1822, when Schubert, accompanied by the publisher Anton Diabelli visited Beethoven. Schubert had dedicated a set of Variations on a French Song (Opus 10, D 624) to Beethoven, and wanted to present the dedicatee with a copy. Schubert was apparently nervous during the interview, and nearly lost all sense of composure when the older man pointed out a minor problem in the work. This story is recounted by Anton Schindler, and is of unknown authenticity, as Schindler is known to be an unreliable biographer of Beethoven. Schubert's friend Josef Hüttenbrenner claims that Beethoven was not home when Schubert called, and the variations were left with the house staff. However, Johann Friedrich Rochlitz, the publisher of the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, recounts an 1822 meeting of his with Schubert, in which Schubert claims to have discussed Rochlitz with Beethoven, and described other details of a meeting.
When Beethoven was on his deathbed in 1827, Schindler, to give Beethoven some distractions, gave him manuscripts for a number of Schubert's songs. Beethoven was, according to Schindler, astonished at the quantity and quality of what he saw, claiming that "Truly in Schubert there is the divine spark." Schubert would visit Beethoven on his deathbed more than once. On one visit, when Schubert called with Anselm Hüttenbrenner, Beethoven remarked, "You, Anselm have my mind, but Franz has my soul." Schubert would serve as a torch-bearer at Beethoven's funeral.
Read more about this topic: Beethoven And His Contemporaries
Famous quotes containing the word beethoven:
“Jos: How was the concert, my dear?
Meredith: Beethoven nights they’re like animals.”
—Margaret Forster, British screenwriter, Peter Nichols, and Silvio Narizzano. Jos (Alan Bates)