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To: Publius

Well done. Schubert had no idea he was dying. He had made plans with a teacher to study counterpoint in early 1829. But his early instrumental music is much better then a poor man’s Haydn and Mozart. The Trout Quintet is pure Schubert. His orchestral music actually got Rossini-ish after the latter’s operas had a huge vogue in Vienna in the 1810s.


7 posted on 12/30/2007 1:33:37 PM PST by Borges
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To: Borges
Rossini's influence on Schubert was always problemmatic. In the finale of the Third Symphony, Schubert absorbs Rossini almost without effort. The finale's feet never touch the ground. But the Sixth Symphony shows what can happen when you absorb too much Rossini. You end up with a trivial symphony.

Schubert had problems absorbing from Beethoven because Schubert's mentor, Antonio Salieri, believed that everything Beethoven had written after the Second Symphony was a waste of music paper. It was only after Salieri's death in 1825 that Schubert plunged headfirst into Beethoven's music. The dactylic rhythm of the second movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony shows up constantly in his songs after this time. The monument to Beethoven was the E-flat Piano Trio. Had Beethoven been able to hear that, he would have patted Schubert on the back.

The last homage to Rossini is in the rondo finale of the G Major String Quartet. One of the more ingratiating themes is derived from the "Factotum" aria in "The Barber of Seville". By this time, Schubert understood that Rossini was like a fine spice. You add a little to a piece, not base the entire piece on it.

8 posted on 12/30/2007 1:50:17 PM PST by Publius (A = A)
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To: Borges
He had made plans with a teacher to study counterpoint in early 1829.

The teacher was Simon Sechter, who became the mentor of Anton Bruckner.

13 posted on 12/30/2007 2:22:11 PM PST by Publius (A = A)
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