he was the Prince of Song but large structures (symphonies etc) weren't his strong suit
he was not successful in his lifetime
he suspected he was going to die young and lived his last few years with death hanging over him
he didn't advocate for himself (too shy and modest) and was not very business-savvy
i infodump about this below the break.
Schubert was relatively popular and well-known in his lifetime... as a song composer. He was recognized as a master of those genres considered 'trivial' - songs, duets, anything that could be played at home or as part of a social activity. He made a decent amount of money from his songs, too, and he was a pretty beloved public figure. Everyone knew him and he knew everybody.
I think it's fair to say that Schubert is best known for elevating these genres out of the trivial and into the 'great'. I've heard a lot of people today praise Schubert for his contribution to the German song form and claim that's where his greatest influence lies. I thought this was true myself until very recently!
But throughout his life, while financial necessity forced him to continue working (and innovating) in popular genres, Schubert was simultaneously trying to make a name for himself as a 'serious' composer, and the pieces he worked in vain to promote - including chamber music, sonatas, and a symphony (yes, a, singular; more on that later) - were equal to anything Beethoven was writing at the time.
But no one knew. It took decades for these pieces to even be discovered, and when they were, people were blown away. The major reason for this is that Beethoven WAS writing things at the time, and publishers didn't have space for new large-scale instrumental works, which never sold that well anyway. Schubert masterpieces got turned down by publishers again and again and almost none got published.... until Beethoven died in 1827.
With Beethoven's death, a space opened for Schubert, and he made the most of it. His great instrumental works began receiving interest for the first time, and he gave his first concert in 1828, which was a massive success. He was poised to become the next famous, great composer, the successor to Beethoven... when he died, suddenly, at age 31. It came as a huge shock to everyone - not least to Schubert himself.*
(*The myth that he died of syphilis seems to have been disproven... he probably did catch the illness in his early 20s, but he recovered, albeit with a weakened immune system. For the rest of his life he was much more frequently ill, and often worried about his health. He was preoccupied with themes of death, but his own took him by surprise. That very month, he'd been on a long hiking tour with his friends to visit Haydn's grave. Two days before he died, he talked enthusiastically with his friend Bauernfeld about the opera they were writing together**, making grand plans for the future. His friends all report that they were shocked to hear of his death.)
After his death, Schubert compositions were gradually published and many were 'discovered' throughout the following decades. This is the reason he's considered a great composer today... but with a catch.
Firstly, Schubert liked to practice. There are a LOT of unfinished pieces in Schubert's repertoire (the so-called 'Unfinished Symphony' is only the most famous.) They weren't unfinished for any tragic reason... actually, Schubert never intended to publish them. Of the great mass of music posthumously 'discovered' and published, only a handful are pieces that Schubert meant to show the world. For example, his C Major Symphony, called the 'Great', is given the number nine. But when advocating it to publishers, Schubert said it was the only symphony he'd written... because it was the only REAL symphony he'd written. The man was still in his 20s; he knew he would write more; he was in no rush.
Schubert knew how good he was, and he knew he had written masterpieces. The works he tried and failed to publish in his lifetime are peerless. Unfortunately, they've gotten bogged down among a lot of early and 'practice' pieces that, posthumously, were hailed as 'lost Schubert masterpieces' by publishers wanting to make a quick buck. Combined with the fact that Schubert's closest friends and most loyal advocators weren't very musical themselves, and therefore tended to value and promote Schubert as a song composer after his death, this led to the ENDURING perception of Schubert as a composer who couldn't handle long forms.
(**'The Count of Equals.' Schubert had collaborated with his friends on operas before, but Bauernfeld was the first one who could actually write (offense very much intended, Schober). 'The Count of Equals' was rejected by the censors, which is how you know it's good (it's very progressive and i'm pretty sure the central love triangle resolves by all three of them getting together). The rejection didn't dissuade Schubert at all and he was very excited about the project up until his death.
This is also related to the myth that Schubert was this shy, modest kid. He was indeed modest, by all accounts! But modesty only means something if you know how good you are; it shouldn't be confused with self-doubt. Even though his friends couldn't match him musically, and didn't always pick up what he was throwing down, he never abandoned them or thought he was too good for them. He wrote an opera with Schober even though Schober couldn't write for shit. He never belittled, either, the song and duet forms that had made him popular; he composed great music within them and he often referred back to them in his large-scale works, too. His first and only concert is well-balanced; he promotes his new string quartet and his spectacular Trio in Eb, a tribute to Beethoven, but surrounds them with songs he knew the public would enjoy. He wasn't pretentious, but he was certainly self-assured. If his friends were his major advocates when he was younger, by his late 20s he had become savvy enough to promote himself, and with success, too!)
Studying for my music exam but The Elfking by Schubert is lowkey fire 🔥 idc what nobody says like hell yeah I see why German children love to learn about the song when a dad and son are riding on horseback and the son is warning the dad about the elfking and the dad doesn’t listen which results in the son’s death 🔥
This just came to me. It's been years since I last heard this song. Mahler's Lieder were quite meaningful at one point of my life, and they are still worth the listen.
