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The youngest son of a parish schoolmaster
and a cook, was born in Vienna on 31 January
1797.
The Schubert family was musical. Father
Schubert played the violincello, and Franz`s
older brothers, Ignaz and Ferdinand, were
violinists. Their music-making gave Franz
Schubert his earliest musical impressions.
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After graduating form school, he became a
teacher to support himself. Teaching did not
suit him. He later traveled with friends and
composed/performed.
Appreciation of his music during his lifetime
was limited, but interest in Schubert's work
increased dramatically in the decades
following his death at the age of 31.
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Quintet in A, D. 667 "Trout“
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd8_fLqz
3gk&feature=related
Franz Schubert composed his Lied "Erlkönig"
in 1815 for solo voice and piano, with text
from the Goethe poem.
Der Erlkönig is a poem by Johann Wolfgang
von Goethe. It depicts the death of a child
assailed by a supernatural being.
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Narrator
Father
Son
The Erlking
All parts are sung by one vocalist
Schubert has placed each character in largely a
different vocal range, most vocalists try to use a
different vocal color for each one.
The Narrator lies in the middle range
The Father lies in the low range
The Son lies in a high range, representing the
The Erlking's vocal line undulates up and down
resulting in striking contrast. The Erlking lines
are typically sung softly, portraying a sneaky
persuasiveness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yGwoxMLeo&feature=related
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Born: Bonn ,Germany December 16, 1770
Died: Vienna March 26, 1827.
Beethoven is undoubtedly one of the best known and
most loved composers of all time. Beethoven's
mother was Magdalena Keverich and his father was
Johann Beethoven. They named their son after his
grandfather. Beethoven's musical talent showed itself
early, and his father attempted, unsuccessfully, to
exploit the boy as a prodigy.
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At the age of 22 Beethoven moved to Vienna where
he studied under Franz Joseph Haydn. In Vienna he
earned a reputation as a piano virtuoso and
improviser, and he began publishing his own
compositions soon thereafter. By the early 1800s he
had established his reputation as a great and daring
composer.
By 1801 Beethoven began to lose his hearing. He
continued composing nonetheless, and his 9th
Symphony, amongst many other works, was
composed after he had become totally deaf. The
cause of his deafness is not known for certain but has
been attributed variously to syphilis, lead poisoning,
a chill he caught in 1796 which led to a disease
believed to be typhus, or possibly even his habit of
immersing his head in cold water to stay awake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAOTCtW9v0M
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Beethoven is viewed as a transitional figure
between the Classical and Romantic eras of
musical history. He continued a trend towards
larger orchestras that has persisted throughout
the history of classical music.
He wrote only one opera, Fidelio. It has been said
that he wrote beautiful choral music without
regard for the limitations of human singers,
treating the voice as if it were a symphonic
instrument.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip_1hQpVZ88
&feature=related
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Beethoven was much taken by the ideals of the
Enlightenment. He initially dedicated his third
symphony, the Eroica, to Napoleon in the belief
that the general would sustain the democratic
ideals of the French Revolution, but later he
crossed out the dedication as Napoleon's
imperial ambitions became clear. The fourth
movement of his Ninth Symphony is a setting of
Schiller's poem Ode to Joy, an optimistic hymn
championing the brotherhood of humanity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQXwSPaO5ZI
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Moonlight sonata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT7_IZPH
Hb0
Symphony #5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRgXUFnf
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