Schubert is one of the rare geniuses in music history. In his short life of 31 years, he wrote over 600 songs and eight symphonies.
//Summary - Level-C2//
Schubert composed 13 symphonies, but only eight can be performed. Due to discoveries and revisions, his works were frequently renumbered, with his final symphony now known as No. 8 in C major, D944. Despite dying young at 31, Schubert left a lasting legacy, composing over 600 songs and various symphonic, operatic, and chamber works.
1)
Last Symphony
In Schubert's defence, he was sure he would complete these unfinished works later to clear his name as the "king of unfinished works", but his life was shorter than he had imagined.
2)
It's a bit complicated, but here's the story about his symphonies. Schubert wrote 13 symphonies, of which one is a fragment and four are sketches, and it has now been concluded that only eight can be performed, excluding those.
3)
To explain the background, in the oldest numbering system, the C above Major Symphony was the seventh. However, as only Schubert's symphonies from no. 1 to no. 6 were known, this C Major Symphony was added as no. 7.
4)
Although the Unfinished Symphony was completed before the C Major, it was discovered some 37 years after the composer's death and numbered as the Eighth after the C Major.
5)
Later, the E major symphony, one of the four sketches, became more than just a sketch, and its treatment became an issue. So, it was renumbered in chronological order, and the most commonly known numbers are E significant as the Seventh, the Unfinished as the Eighth, and C major as the Ninth.
6)
However, more than 100 years after Schubert's death, when O.E. Deutsch (named after Deutsch, all opus numbers now begin with the letter D, like Mozart's K (Köchel) numbers) compiled a new catalogue in chronological order, he found that the E major Symphony was impossible to perform, and was forced to cancel it.
In the end, the unfinished Symphony No. 8 was moved to No. 7, the C major Symphony No. 9 was transferred to No. 8, and so on, in the most recent form today.
7)
After a series of very complicated changes, Schubert's last symphony is now No. 8 in C major, D944. Due to these circumstances, Schubert is thought to have had little awareness of his previous symphony.
Although the additional numbers of the symphonies are in chronological order, many mysteries continue to puzzle music historians.
8)
In his short life of 31 years, Schubert deserves to be called the King of Songs. He composed over 600 songs, eight symphonies, orchestral music, chamber music, operas, religious music, and many piano pieces. He is one of the rare geniuses in the history of music.
9)
He lived in almost the same era as Beethoven and died of illness a year after Beethoven's death. In his will, he asked to be buried next to the grave of the much respected Beethoven, and as requested, the two are buried side by side in Vienna's Central Cemetery.
This is similar to Basho's psychology, which asks to be buried next to Kiso Yoshinaka's grave.
10)
It is also reassuring that Beethoven admired Schiller and Napoleon, Dostoyevsky admired Pushkin, and Nietzsche and Bruckner admired Wagner, even beyond their respective fields.
Of course, there are many other examples in history of great people respecting other great people.
11)
Beethoven recognised Schubert's talent shortly before his death, and Schubert's early death is deeply regretted.
12)
Speaking of symphonies, their place in a composer's life is significant. Compared to his other works, many of them must be the ones in which he put the most effort. He must be proud that they are all masterpieces.
13)
Haydn was considered the father of the symphony and composed 108 symphonies in his lifetime. However, his last symphony was Symphony No. 104. No other composer in music history, before or after Haydn, has composed so many symphonies.
In his early days, however, his compositions were more like chamber music than orchestral compositions and were extremely small in scale compared to traditional symphonic compositions. However, the numbers are all correctly added.
14)
The following most numerous composer is Mozart. There are 46 symphonies, but only 41 are numbered, and his last symphony is No. 41 in C major, K551 "Jupiter".
Mozart composed many symphonies, but it is ironic that Nos. 39, 40 and 41, which he formed in just a few months in his later years, are his three great symphonies and are the most famous of all his works.
Schubert is one of the rare geniuses in music history. In his short life of 31 years, he wrote over 600 songs and eight symphonies.
https://renaissance-media.jp/articles/-/16652
