# Best of Franz Schubert



## peeyaj

I dedicate this thread to Franz Schubert who will be celebrating his 183th death anniversary this coming month, and to all Schubert fans out there.. (Artemis, Mango, Toccatta, Art Rock, StLukes, to name a few)










For someone who died so young, Schubert's musical output is amazing. He created almost a thousand of works with masterpieces such as his 600+songs, his last eight chamber works, the last two symphonies and piano music.

Schubert's ability in setting text to music, (word painting) is unsurpassed. He is the best songwriter who ever lived, and his sudden, effortless modulations (major to minor, vice versa) is extraordinary to behold. The promise unfilfilled by his early death at 31, is the most tragic in classical music.

To those who is still unconvinced, listen to these:











Questions:

*
a. If someone is exploring Schubert's music, what would you recommend listenging?

b. What do you think is Schubert's best music?

c. How do you compare Schubert's music, let's say to Beethoven, Schumann or Brahms, etc?*


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## Ukko

Good luck with this thread. Much of Schubert's music 'hits me where I live'. Too visceral to talk about.

[I tried to elucidate, but can't seem to put it into words. I am stuck comparing the 'essence' of his music to Beethoven's, some of which is also solar plexus stuff, but words escape me.]


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## kv466

So many great works...I'm just beginning to re-dip myself into the world of Schubert but I would say start with something light like the Impromptus. As far as the b and c, I put him right there with some of my favorites because I love his solo piano (which is my favorite form) music as much as his orchestral which is something that only happens with my truly favorite composers. I love that quintet you posted as well as the Quartet in d-minor, the symphonies, sonatas. Hope to learn from this thread quite a bit myself.


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## jalex

His songs do it for me. Once a year during winter I make sure to sit down and listen to Die Schonne Mullerin and Winterreise in one sitting.

I don't hear much about his late quartets which seem to be overshadowed by the quintet but they are also very worthy works. As are the Masses.


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## Ukko

jalex said:


> His songs do it for me. Once a year during winter I make sure to sit down and listen to Die Schonne Mullerin and Winterreise in one sitting.
> [...]


Wow. No way I can do that in 'one sitting'. Maybe not in one week. Winterreise not before mid-February; winter is hard enough already.


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## jdavid

Recently acquired the Harnoncourt/Concertgebouw 9 Symphonies and it is a wonderful set! For sure 'Die Winterreise', I have Fischer-Diskau, and would like another artist (recs?). Rada Lupu's love for the sonatas is staggeringly apparent in the boxed set of his years with Decca after he won the first Van Cliburn Competition. I also have the great C major Quintet with Emerson and Rostropovich and the also great Sonata No. 21 in Bb with Brendel, and also Lupu. The Fantasia in F minor, D. 940 for piano, 4-hands, is an important and beautiful work - recommend Lupu and Perahia (you also get the Sonata for 2 Pianos in D major of Mozart), also Julia Fischer with Martin Helmchen are quite wonderful.


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## Evelina

Schubert is one of the first composers I really "took to" when I became interested in classical music. Like Hilltroll72 said, there's something very stirring about his music that I can't really put into words... and that's the best kind of music to me, because I don't _have_ to analyze it to appreciate it.

For someone new to his work, I might recommend his string quartets, especially No. 14 "Death and the Maiden." His symphonies are also excellent for newbs (or at least they were for me). And for piano, I adore this piece and have listened to it countless times.

I certainly couldn't pick his _best_ work, but his string quartets are the most vigorous and surprising works, to me.

Edit -- just saw jdavid's post before mine about the Fantasia for 4 hands! I agree with you on the Lupu and Perahia recording, too.


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## Ukko

His first two symphonies were composed with amateur musicians in mind, and so are pretty simple. I think I would start them with the third. 

For me, the 'Death and the Maiden' quartet needs to be paired with the 'Trout' quintet - the order doesn't seem to matter. The quintet in C is very affecting for me - it's about as much a downer as Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony. Avoid it if your significant other has just dumped you.


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## Nix

His String Quintet, String Quartet #15 in G, and _Die Schoene Mullerin _ are at the top of my list, and I've explored quite a bit of Schubert. Except those darn piano sonatas I still have to get around to...

For someone whose often described as the 'first true romantic' I don't think an awful lot of his music is about love... Friendships certainly, but mostly death and insanity which I think _must_ have had something to do with his illness and early death. When I listen to Schubert I think of someone so in love with music, and so not ready to let it go.


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## Lisztian

I simply adore his last piano sonata, D.960. Truly one of the greatest sonatas in the repetoire!


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## peeyaj

Hilltroll72 said:


> For me, the 'Death and the Maiden' quartet needs to be paired with the 'Trout' quintet - the order doesn't seem to matter.


Here it is!












> http://www.amazon.com/Schubert-Quintet-Maiden-Amadeus-Quartet/dp/B000001GXF


I think Schubert's quintet is the greatest chamber work ever written, withstanding LVB late quartets.

It is full of life! And he wrote the greatest scherzo in classical music in the quintet!


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## StlukesguildOhio

Where to start with Schubert? I started with the Trout Quintet, the Death and the Maiden Quartet, the last two symphonies, and the Impromptus. Having read a sizable biography on Schubert I badly wanted to get hold of his lieder... but at the time it was virtually impossible to find recordings of these outside of some huge record stores in the big cities that had access to imports. In the mid/late 1990's the major classical lables such as DG and EMI began to re-release remastered classic recordings from the 50s and 60s (and earlier). At that time I finally came upon _Winterreise_. I was absolutely stunned. It was an experience at once harrowing and phenomenally beautiful. The final song, Der Leiermann was like nothing I had expected or experienced before. Schubert had raised the lowly song... the mere lieder... into the stratosphere in the same manner as Beethoven had achieved with the piano sonata.


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## Rapide

His string quartets, German songs and a few other chamber pieces.


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## Olias

I have a soft spot for Schubert's 5th Symphony. Its not really groundbreaking. Its very much in the classical style, almost Haydn-like, with a few harmonic twists that reveal it as the work of Schubert. But its beautiful, clever, and structured perfectly.


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## tdc

He is among my favorite composers. The Schubert works that initially jumped out at me the most and are still among my favorites: SQ #14 'Death and the Maiden' , Symphony #9, and The Impromptus.


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## DavidMahler

A Schubert top 12:

12. Piano Trio No. 2 (D. 929) - Schubert's 2 Piano Trios are probably the greatest ever composed, I love the second one more, but they're both the best
11. Piano Quintet "Trout" (D. 667) - The most popular of all chamber works
10. Piano Sonata No. 19 (D. 958) - One of the great final era works by any composer.
9. String Quartet No. 14 "Death & The Maiden" (D. 810) - One of the greatest string quartets ever
8. Winterreise (D. 911) - The definitive song cycle by the definitive lied composer
7. Symphony No. 9 "Great" (D. 944) - A fantastic symphony.....I prefer it to Beethoven's 9th
6. Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished (D. 759) - Enter the Romantic symphony with this one
5. Impromptus for Piano (D. 899) - Some of the greatest piano miniatures here...on par (or greater than) with any Chopin ever composed.
4. Piano Sonata No. 20 (D. 958) - my second favorite piano sonata
3. String Quintet (D. 956) - maybe the greatest piece of chamber music ever written for a string ensemble
2. Impromptu #2 (D. 935/ No. 2) - a prayer through from the piano
1. Piano Sonata No. 21 (D. 960) - my favorite piano sonata


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## DavidMahler

comparing to schubert to brahms, schumann and beethoven...

Schubert was/is the solitary poet of music. His music is probably the most intimate and in some ways the most simple. 

Beethoven is like One man against the world

Schumann is like One man tortured by the world

Brahms is like One man understanding of the world

Schubert is One man accepting of the world


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## Polednice

I think in Schubert, perhaps more than with any composer, you can truly find _everything_ and in masterful measure. People say Brahms is largely 'autumnal', Schumann's music is as bipolar as the composer, etc. But with Schubert, there is all manner of playfulness, profundity, _extremely_ beautiful lyricism, simplicity, melancholy, love, marvellous structure - you name it, he has it somewhere, and it is perfected.

The most important works to me are his late piano sonatas (which I think no one has played better than Murray Perahia), particularly D. 969 which I woke up humming after a general anaesthetic! I also adore the Impromptus and Moments Musicaux (an absolute delight to play as well as to listen to); the _Wanderer Fantasy_ is a piece that towers above most anything by anyone in the piano repertoire (Pollini please, not Richter!  ), and, though I don't generally listen to lieder, cycles or otherwise, I cherish _Die Schone Mullerin_.

For a special little something, both musically and in terms of performance, there's a wonderful recording of the Arpeggione Sonata (another intensely lyrical gem) recorded by Benjamin Britten and Rostropovich.


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## peeyaj

Here are selection of my favorite piano works:

1. Piano Sonata no. 21 in B Flat Major

played by incomparable Sviastoslav Richter






2. Piano Sonata no. 20 - Andantino

You could almost hear Schoenberg in this movement!






3. Wanderer Fantasy

It's one of Liszt favorite pieces! Liszt was obsessed with this..






4. Impromptu in G Flat

It's amazing...


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## itywltmt

I don't think I can add much to the thread - most of what I think has been said already. Schubert is a transitional composer, stepping fully out of the early rimaticism of Beethoven into the full-fledged romanticism of Schumann, Brahms and Liszt.

His lieder, his chamber works, his piano sonatas, the symphonies... The only things I wish we found more of in the Schubert portfolio are opera, concertante music and large-scale choral music. Had he contributed more in those areas, maybe we'd be talking more of Schubert in the vein of Bach or Haydn.

Very favourite Schubert works: Death and the Maiden quartet and the D 960 sonata - definitely on top of the hit parade in both genres, no question!


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## DavidMahler

Polednice said:


> I think in Schubert, perhaps more than with any composer, you can truly find _everything_ and in masterful measure. People say Brahms is largely 'autumnal', Schumann's music is as bipolar as the composer, etc. But with Schubert, there is all manner of playfulness, profundity, _extremely_ beautiful lyricism, simplicity, melancholy, love, marvellous structure - you name it, he has it somewhere, and it is perfected.
> 
> The most important works to me are his late piano sonatas (which I think no one has played better than Murray Perahia), particularly D. 969 which I woke up humming after a general anaesthetic! I also adore the Impromptus and Moments Musicaux (an absolute delight to play as well as to listen to); the _Wanderer Fantasy_ is a piece that towers above most anything by anyone in the piano repertoire (Pollini please, not Richter!  ), and, though I don't generally listen to lieder, cycles or otherwise, I cherish _Die Schone Mullerin_.
> 
> For a special little something, both musically and in terms of performance, there's a wonderful recording of the Arpeggione Sonata (another intensely lyrical gem) recorded by Benjamin Britten and Rostropovich.


Perahia's Schubert is my favorite as well.

Curzon did a very nice D. 960. Richter's D. 960 is extremely poignant. I happen to love Richter's D. 958 as well. In the 959 I've never heard a better one than Perahia.

Schubert's piano music is very hard to interpret. It doesn't have anything ornamental. If you are extremely skilled bu t lack musical depth, it shows. A lot of the world's most distinguished pianists do not play Schubert particularly well. It's about tone, pace, dynamics but most of all....seeing what's inside the notes. Theres poetry when played with care


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## jdavid

I found that Lupu/Perahia recording in a bargain bin for nothing! I took it out of the shrink wrap in the parking lot and popped it in the cd player and drove around and listened to the entire recording! Great, sensitive playing and such gorgeous music. 



Evelina said:


> Schubert is one of the first composers I really "took to" when I became interested in classical music. Like Hilltroll72 said, there's something very stirring about his music that I can't really put into words... and that's the best kind of music to me, because I don't _have_ to analyze it to appreciate it.
> 
> For someone new to his work, I might recommend his string quartets, especially No. 14 "Death and the Maiden." His symphonies are also excellent for newbs (or at least they were for me). And for piano, I adore this piece and have listened to it countless times.
> 
> I certainly couldn't pick his _best_ work, but his string quartets are the most vigorous and surprising works, to me.
> 
> Edit -- just saw jdavid's post before mine about the Fantasia for 4 hands! I agree with you on the Lupu and Perahia recording, too.


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## waldvogel

So much has been mentioned - I'll add the Octet, D. 803. It has moments that are ethereal, sad, funny, and ironic - like life in general. I won't post a YouTube for it, because each movement has a unique mood. But it's so rich and deep - take a string quartet, and add a double bass, clarinet, bassoon, and horn, and the overall texture is dominated by baritone sounds.


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## jdavid

I like 're-dip myself'  - just wondering if you care at all for Uchida's Schubert recordings?



kv466 said:


> So many great works...I'm just beginning to re-dip myself into the world of Schubert but I would say start with something light like the Impromptus. As far as the b and c, I put him right there with some of my favorites because I love his solo piano (which is my favorite form) music as much as his orchestral which is something that only happens with my truly favorite composers. I love that quintet you posted as well as the Quartet in d-minor, the symphonies, sonatas. Hope to learn from this thread quite a bit myself.


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## jdavid

The wonderful Impromptu in Gb with V. Horowitz is so beautifully performed. I have neglected listening to VH for many years now and growing up, there was only Horowitz, Rubinstein and Van Cliburn - my earliest heroes of the keyboard. Thanks!



peeyaj said:


> Here are selection of my favorite piano works:
> 
> 4. Impromptu in G Flat
> 
> It's amazing...


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## Polednice

jdavid said:


> just wondering if you care at all for Uchida's Schubert recordings?


You were asking kv, but I'd add that I _expected_ to really enjoy Uchida's Schubert, but, while I turn to her to fill out my collection in places, I don't consider her among the best. I think she often over-emphasises or under-emphasises the wrong things, missing out the general lyricism that Schubert is so cherished for.


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## jdavid

I would say about Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms that they all struggled with life and transcended the world through their music. Trite sounding maybe, yet listening to their music helps my life along the road, immeasurably.



DavidMahler said:


> comparing to schubert to brahms, schumann and beethoven...
> 
> Schubert was/is the solitary poet of music. His music is probably the most intimate and in some ways the most simple.
> 
> Beethoven is like One man against the world
> 
> Schumann is like One man tortured by the world
> 
> Brahms is like One man understanding of the world
> 
> Schubert is One man accepting of the world


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## mtmailey

the best are these: symphonies 4,8 & 9,string quartet 14,string quintet in c,die Schone Mullerin,wanderer fantasy,impromptus,string quartet 12 & rosamunde


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## TrazomGangflow

Mein! 

Franz Schubert/ Wilhelm Müller


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